I have a Rheem Hot Water Heater 40 gallon model 21V40-7 that was installed in February, 1993. Except for it making some noise the other night which I was told could have been from sediment or air, it still works fine.

Some techs have recommended I replace it because it is already in use over 20 years. I know the newer ones are not as good as the old.

Do you think I should replace it before it might leak all over the basement floor or might it still have more life? Thanks for any suggestions and reasons.

I'm not a big fan of replacing the old heaters until you have too... ;)

Here, if your basement is an unfinished basement then I would suggest going out and purchasing a battery-operated WATCH DOG WATER ALARM (or any brand)... available at home depot and Lowe's or online at amazon.com.

Set the water alarm on the floor near the water heater and at least if it starts to leak you should hear an alarm that tells you something is up before the basement totally floods!

If your basement is finished (or even unfinished), they also make water alarms with automatic shutoffs. One particular kind that comes to mind is the floodsafe by WATTS (shuts water and gas off automatically if the sensor senses water on the floor). This will keep your home safe from flood via water heater leak 24/7/365.

They also make whole home, main water shutoff with remote sensors, but I only recommend these in homes with finished basements and old plumbing!

Care to discuss more just let us know, OK?

Mark

Thanks Mark, for the suggestions. Probably will buy new tank AFTER I solve all my new problems - just found out I need mold remediation despite full waterproofing done 3 years ago. I also just found out before the mold remediation that I need to take care of some asbestos found on cold air returns in basement. The joys of home ownership! So I might buy one of those alarms for now. Thanks again