[jaye944]

Well folks, 2am and this wacky night owl is up

well I was woken up 30 minutes ago by wife who was doing the laundry
(yes at 2 am)

to say "come and look the hot water tank is leaking" ... AND to my fuqing annoyance "Did you mess around with it when you where down here last"

Wife had already turned off hot water supply to tank and sure enough a nice big puddle in our un finished basement

can't see where the leak is, no hot water, but the tank is a rental, wife rang them so,someone is coming tomorrow

good thing, is near the tank they fitted a drain in the floor, so it looks like it all drained into there.

SO..... a question, well a couple

1> as we may not have noticed till morning, is there any warning alarm or anything to have pre-warned us ?

2> We are looking at finishing the basement, into a party room, with a washroom etc. is there anything can be build like a raised brick on the floor to kinda channel any leaks into the drain

we've had the tank 15 years from new, so may not be a problem for another 15years

is tankless a way to go ?

any and all ideas appreciated

not expecting any night owls,

so speak tommorow

[Kooch]

Bummer to hear and glad you caught it early. We switched to a tankless when we converted to gas a few years ago and love it - we never run out of hot water. We have a Navien unit that has been great.

[RickFLM4]

I've had one go out in the garage and the water just ran out through the garage door. If you have a place other than the basement to relocate it where a leak won't matter, then that would be the way to go.

Our second water heater is in a closet in our master bath, which is sitting inside a pan to catch water if it ever leaks. That would work well if you catch it soon enough like you did in this case. (Have same setup for an a/c air handler in another closet.). I look in on them every once in a while, but if it started to leak when no one was home, it would be a mess because the pan would eventually overflow.

Also, see post 6 in this thread for some maintenance you can perform to mitigate risk:

https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1369906

As far as tankless (original point of that thread), if you have gas service to your home, I'd consider it. I don't so would need to bury a propane tank (can't have above ground). I looked into electric tankless and decided against it primarily for cost reasons (mostly electrical work, not the cost of the tankless heater). There are numerous factors that go into whether tankless makes sense for you or not.

[cmyx6go]

You are very lucky. I had a hot water heater go in the middle of the night. You can't imagine the amount of water and the destruction. It just kept running and running. What a mess. I was house hunting not long ago and one of the houses we saw had an alarm - some thing that sat on the floor and would trigger if water was sensed. If you don't go tankless, this might be worth looking into.

[stevenc]

Yes they make alarms!

https://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Desig...er+alarm&psc=1

When the contacts at bottom of device get wet, the alarm triggers.

Interested in hearing your experience if you decide to go with an electric tankless option.

[XCRN]

Dont know if I read the 5th paragraph right, but you can rent a water heater?

[B58 parts]

You're supposed to maintain those once or twice a year. You have to get the hose and drain / flush it out. Google it ... most people have no idea / never do anything.

The Heisenberg tankless model is the way to go though if you're replacing .. mine has about two years or so left and I'll be getting one of those.

[jaye944]

yeah I had thought of that, but it's a rental, don't like to mess with it, but a good point, maybe every 5 years get them to check/change it,

in 15 years all that was done was the dip tube and the water psi relieve valve leaked a bit

time bomb waiting to go

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Also, see post 6 in this thread for some maintenance you can perform to mitigate risk:

.

[jaye944]

that/s a fantastic idea !

Originally Posted by stevenc

Yes they make alarms!

https://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Desig...er+alarm&psc=1

When the contacts at bottom of device get wet, the alarm triggers.

[jaye944]

I maynot not rental will go up from 30-60 bucks a month

plus now I see there is an alarm for this problem might be the cheaper solution,
that and a mini-water break / channel

Originally Posted by FCobra94

Interested in hearing your experience if you decide to go with an electric tankless option.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by jaye944

I maynot not rental will go up from 30-60 bucks a month

plus now I see there is an alarm for this problem might be the cheaper solution,
that and a mini-water break / channel

Even at $30/month you could probably buy several heaters over 15 years. Maybe they are more expensive in Canada, but I bought 2 in the last few years and they were around $1,200/each installed (USD).

[jaye944]

yes.

here in Canada (apparently) that's common, 30 bucks a month, estimated $4300 over 12 years (since 2006) but any work happens or breakdowns they come out, maintenance etc.

my wife bought the house so I inherited all the problems

Originally Posted by XCRN

Dont know if I read the 5th paragraph right, but you can rent a water heater?

[jaye944]

yeah and that wasn't done, primarily as it's a rental, as said I did have them do the dip tube and a flush but that was like once in 12 years, not enough

They will come out for maintenance, but you have to remember to ring them

lol, good point. often seen that on YT, but didnt do it

Originally Posted by YuminNuman

You're supposed to maintain those once or twice a year. You have to get the hose and drain / flush it out. Google it ... most people have no idea / never do anything.

The Heisenberg tankless model is the way to go though if you're replacing .. mine has about two years or so left and I'll be getting one of those.

[jaye944]

I guess, it's not only the price of the tank, it's also part maintenance and repairs.

At present, they'll be here by 10am to take a look and start repair work,

also due to my not being proactive, I didnt engage the "free yearly maintenance"

so add maintenance and any repairs over 12 years at $30 that kinda rounds off, also it's a gas boiler, so they look after that part of it

it's POM for $30

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Even at $30/month you could probably buy several heaters over 15 years. Maybe they are more expensive in Canada, but I bought 2 in the last few years and they were around $1,200/each installed (USD).

[Todd0131]

we had our water heater go out the other month. It was $450 from home depot and 1hr to install. It lasted about 15 years with 0 maintenance. Luckily mine is in the garage and only ran out under the door. If you are going to finish the basement I wonder if you could build up some sort of cinder block wall and leave the drain in the middle?

[zx10guy]

If anyone is considering a moisture alarm, I would go one step further and get the system which shuts off the water supply. These systems use moisture sensor discussed here that sends a signal to the shutoff valve when water is detected. It solves the problem of you not being home to do anything about a water leak situation.

And these systems support multiple sensors. So you can place sensors at other places in your home which you want monitored; such as the laundry room.

[BayMoWe335]

Originally Posted by jaye944

yes.

here in Canada (apparently) that's common, 30 bucks a month, estimated $4300 over 12 years (since 2006) but any work happens or breakdowns they come out, maintenance etc.

my wife bought the house so I inherited all the problems

I need to get into the rental business. That has to be the dumbest and most expensive way to get hot water. $4300 over 12 years....LOL. A 10 year water heater is like $800.

[jaye944]

actually it isn't dumb, IF you have the ability, to install, maintain a water tank heater, more power to you. HD's cheapest (net) with a 6 year limited w'tee is $529, that has to be installed, the gas part (not sure in the US) joe schmo just can't hook one up.

Water tank part, anode, dip tube, drain/flush, sure that easy, but again not sure about US, we can't touch or maintain or fix the gas part.

I re-checked, wife bought house in 2003, so had the heater for 15 years, and I re-checked the math, including taxes $6300 over 15 years. So it only failed catastrophically after 15 years, and only a few minors repairs, which is pretty good.

Anyones car from new lasted 15 years?

It's basically an insurance policy, right, we pay insurance on the car, sometimes a w'tee insurance, if nothing goes wrong, you've lost x amount of dollars, your engine blows, you've made money.

Now what some people do when buying houses here, go for the rental and when it's up they buy there own one and you know that's great.

What I don;t wanna have to do in the MIDDLE of winter, try and find somone to fix replace a bust heater, this is Canada eh,

Dumb no, but plenty of people do dumb sh*t so I guess it's relative

Originally Posted by BayMoWe335

I need to get into the rental business. That has to be the dumbest and most expensive way to get hot water. $4300 over 12 years....LOL. A 10 year water heater is like $800.

[jaye944]

***UPdate***

wife had amazing issues trying to get enercare out, she was livid after being a customer for 15 years and NEVER having claimed, initial contact was fine, but it got pushed to MONDAY, she went mental, she dropped the law on them, threaten social media and news coverage and cancellation of the contract if somone wasn't there THAT DAY with a tank in tow.

They wanted to UP-SELL her for another $30 some maintenance contract as well. I kinda disappeared for the rest of the call.

NOW, the enercare techs are EXCELLENT, always have been, 2 guy's turned up at 10pm
that day, our BBQ party had finished, so, we made sure they had something to eat, (gave em a couple of bottles of beer to take with them)

They finished at midnight, they hauled in a new tank, took the old one out, re-did the pipe connections and gas stuff (as the tank was different) all tested, answered all questions, no rush, absolute angels, was obviously a long day for them.

Apparently the new tanks, are glass lined for better corrosion, also they are far more energy efficient.

Nothing extra to pay, well, we've already paid right

I'll have to introduce a maintenance schedule and get them out as well to make checks.

I'll look into moisture sensors and a "gully" kind a thing when the basement builders come in

THANKS for all yall, responses

[eluded]

New ones have Wi-Fi. It will alert you.

Hey, I'm flooding your basement.

Love
The water heater

[jgoens]

Originally Posted by eluded

New ones have Wi-Fi. It will alert you.

Hey, I'm flooding your basement.

Love
The water heater

Culo