Water Heater replacement?

2002 Maxima SE

2002 Maxima SE

Joined
May 29, 2004
Messages
1,086
Location
TN
I started researching yesterday to change out the anode rod in our water heater. We've lived in our home for almost 4 years and most of the major utility appliances have been updated by the previous owner in the last decade. I'd assumed the same as the water heater. I started by pulling the model and serial number. It's an AO Smith lowboy (about 34 inches tall) 50 gallon electric that sits on our crawlspace almost dead center of the house. When I tried to pull up data from AO Smith website...nothing was found. I sent in a support email to get more information on parts and they responded that the water heater was too old and parts were obsolete l, but did not mention the age. I did some more research on the serial with AI and found that the water heater was manufactured in August of 1997, its 28 years old!

We've never had issues with it and it still gets the water quite hot. However, being 28 years old I think we need to look at replacement in the next 6 months.

I'd wanted to go with natural gas (either tank or tankless), but it seems they don't make gas tank in a low boy and venting would be an issue. Am I limited on options with the water supply being under the house in the center? The only other option i could see is having a plumber route new lines from crawlspace to garage...but the garage offers no option ro vent (there's a room above it). For those that experienced similar...what are some options to get something more efficient?

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You must have great water there. Do you ever open the drain valve to check for deposits? About the anode rod, no matter what you get I'd remove the anode rod and put Teflon tape on the threads before you install it they can be really tight and you don't want a fight in the crawl space some day. Also do some measuring and see if it will come out. They make segmented anode rods that can be installed in tight spaces. Make sure whatever brand you get that the anode rod isn't attached to the bottom of the cold water inlet nipple like the State brand heater that came in our house is, it just complicates removing the rod.

I decided earlier this year to replace the anode rod in the 7 YO gas heater and had a fight. It wouldn't budge without rotating the heater so I had to rig up bracing to the tank and use a 3 foot cheater. You may look at your new rod after a year or two and see no erosion and just forget about it.
 
AZjeff said:
You must have great water there. Do you ever open the drain valve to check for deposits? About the anode rod, no matter what you get I'd remove the anode rod and put Teflon tape on the threads before you install it they can be really tight and you don't want a fight in the crawl space some day. Also do some measuring and see if it will come out. They make segmented anode rods that can be installed in tight spaces. Make sure whatever brand you get that the anode rod isn't attached to the bottom of the cold water inlet nipple like the State brand heater that came in our house is, it just complicates removing the rod.

I decided earlier this year to replace the anode rod in the 7 YO gas heater and had a fight. It wouldn't budge without rotating the heater so I had to rig up bracing to the tank and use a 3 foot cheater. You may look at your new rod after a year or two and see no erosion and just forget about it.
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I was considering the same logistics until I realized the age of the unit. Removing what's left of the anode rod may damage and shorten what little life remains in the unit. We're going to put those funds towards replacement of the water heater in the next 6 months.
 
We’ve replaced ours (though not a lowboy) with a heat pump water heater. It’s got an app that lets me control operating modes (energy saver, high demand, heat pump only, vacation, etc) while also showing exact energy consumption by selectable time metrics and has been extremely energy efficient. It absolutely will cool and dehumidify the crawl space and requires a condensate drain (you would likely have to route that to a condensate pump to get it out of the crawl space). I got it for a song at around $800 because of a barcode and pricing snafu at the home improvement store. I’d recommend one if you have the overhead to accommodate one.
 
Remember, any electric water heater is 100% efficient. Hybrid water heaters (in the summer) often have a COP of 3.0 (3x less energy used).

Gas is less efficient. As there is always waste heat. Although natural gas is sometimes so inexpensive, there is savings over electric. Propane is not likely to be inexpensive enough to provide savings.

But any way you slice it, an electric heating element, whether in a tank or tankless, is 100% efficient.
 
AZjeff said:
I decided earlier this year to replace the anode rod in the 7 YO gas heater and had a fight. It wouldn't budge without rotating the heater so I had to rig up bracing to the tank and use a 3 foot cheater. You may look at your new rod after a year or two and see no erosion and just forget about it.
Click to expand...

Did you try an impact? My mid torque will bust them free every time.
 
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AZjeff said:
I decided earlier this year to replace the anode rod in the 7 YO gas heater and had a fight. It wouldn't budge without rotating the heater so I had to rig up bracing to the tank and use a 3 foot cheater. You may look at your new rod after a year or two and see no erosion and just forget about it.
Click to expand...

I had the same problem.
What I did was:
1) only drain a couple inches of water so the tank has some weight.
2) bought an 'electric' 1/2" drive impact gun from Harbor Freight.
Edit: I see others had a problem using impact gun.
But gee, the factory must be over-tightening them to prevent leaks.

Use teflon tape and sealant so you DON'T have to over torque when installing.
 
rijndael said:
Did you try an impact? My mid torque will bust them free every time.
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No way to use an impact gun on an anode that's attached to the bottom of the inlet nipple. Think about it. Pipe wrench.

Pulling a rod on a new tank and using tape or maybe pipe dope is good preventitive maintainence. Have the fight out in the open.
 
AZjeff said:
No way to use an impact gun on an anode that's attached to the bottom of the inlet nipple. Think about it. Pipe wrench.
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I'm confused on your wording. Isn't it just threaded in to the top of the tank?

I got the trick from a plumber, who said he uses an impact for them too.
 
dnewton3 said:
By far, the cheapest option is to just replace it in the same location with a similar unit.
I don't think just replacing the anode is a good idea; with the potential of thread issues on such an old unit, you may have issues getting it to reseal with the new one.
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It's amazing if one doesn't have a urgent need, how one can find the same water heater from 20+ years ago, still new and in the box, a very dusty box.

Our current natural gas water heater is five years old. I am searching for the exact water heater, new, at a deep discount. When I find it, I will store it as a plug and play spare----- sure beats that $3k USD service call replacement my wife would end up buying while I am working out of town.
 
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We love our heat pump water heater, never get cold water even when filling the hot tub. Since you are in Tennessee, I'd expect that crawl space to get pretty cold in the winter. I'd make sure that if you go the heat pump route, that it has a hybrid setting as well as economy mode.
We don't really have that issue here in FL, my garage is usually 85-90 degrees in the summer.
Yes, you'll need a condensate drain.
 
Panda87 said:
We’ve replaced ours (though not a lowboy) with a heat pump water heater. It’s got an app that lets me control operating modes (energy saver, high demand, heat pump only, vacation, etc) while also showing exact energy consumption by selectable time metrics and has been extremely energy efficient. It absolutely will cool and dehumidify the crawl space and requires a condensate drain (you would likely have to route that to a condensate pump to get it out of the crawl space). I got it for a song at around $800 because of a barcode and pricing snafu at the home improvement store. I’d recommend one if you have the overhead to accommodate one.
Click to expand...
That sounds awesome! We have a pump in the crawlspace currently for the heat pump and ac to evacuate drainage. The former owner kept a dehumidifier in the crawlspace and we replaced it with one with wifi to keep tabs. The dehumidifier and additional dehumidifier sounds perfect.
 
JohnnyG said:
We love our heat pump water heater, never get cold water even when filling the hot tub. Since you are in Tennessee, I'd expect that crawl space to get pretty cold in the winter. I'd make sure that if you go the heat pump route, that it has a hybrid setting as well as economy mode.
We don't really have that issue here in FL, my garage is usually 85-90 degrees in the summer.
Yes, you'll need a condensate drain.
Click to expand...
It's surprising warm in the crawlspace. The gas furnace is there and being below ground it's about 60 degrees down there.
 
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