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> Take the Coronavirus: National Home Inspector’s Survey. > Editor’s Note: To help you stay up-to-date and connected, OREP/Working RE has established a Coronavirus (COVID-19) Discussion and Resource Page where you can share your thoughts, experiences, advice and challenges with fellow inspectors. Failure to do so could void your warranty.Professional Coverage, Competitive Pricing But you really should follow your water heaters manufacturer’s directions on care and maintenance. I’ve owned two houses and three water heaters for a total of 23 years–and I’ve never drained one, except to replace it. I suspect this gets done about as much as people clean their dryer vents… as in, not at all. One last thing: It’s important to note that water heaters should be drained once a year to help remove the sediment at the bottom of the tank. While you could certainly argue that many water heaters last much longer than 10 years, you greatly increase the risk of flooding and water damage the longer you leave an old water heater in place. If you are not home to shut the water off, it keeps coming.Ī catastrophic water heater failure can flood your house with thousands and thousands of gallons of water if you are not home to catch the problem.įor this reason alone I recommend the replacement of any water heater that is older than 10 years. If a hole were to burst in the side of your water heater, you would not only receive the 40 or 50 gallons the tank is holding.

It’s critical to understand that regardless of how big your water heater’s tank is, the system is pressurized by the incoming water line. While it’s no fun to buy water heaters, it’s even less fun to come home to a flooded basement because you waited too long to change out your water heater. Anytime I see a water heater during a home inspection that is around this age I always make sure my client understands that many water heaters have failed and flooded homes.Īny water heater that is close to the 10 year mark should be considered a unit that will need to be replaced at any time. Most water heaters have a general life expectancy of about 10 years. When Should You Replace Your Water Heater? If you use the chart above for this label you’ll see this particular water heater was part of the July 2020 production run.

The second letter of your serial number is the month of production. Bradford White Water Heater Age Chart (Month) A=January The first letter of your serial number is the year of production. Bradford White Water Heater Age Chart (Year) A = 1984 or 2004 It won’t be exact, but it should get you close. The production year will not likely be the same as the ANSI date because production years are typically a few years later than the ANSI dates. If you find yourself in a situation where you can’t get the serial number, look for the ANSI date on the label. Pro Tip: Sometimes the label is damaged and you can’t read the serial number. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens with that. This table should be good until 2023, at which time I assume they will start over with the letter A for 2024. To check the age of your water heater, simply find the serial number and cross-reference the first letter to the table below. I can’t think of a scenario that you would need to know the month your water heater was produced, but that information is available should you need it.īelow is the decoding chart that Bradford White has posted to their website. The second letter of the serial number corresponds to the month that the water heater was manufactured. The first letter of the serial number corresponds to the year that the water heater was manufactured. The first two letters of the serial number are all you need to focus on. To check the age of your water heater you will need to locate the serial number on the label.

While Bradford-White does not print a manufacturing date on the label, they do supply us with their chart so you can easily cross-reference the age of your water heater. Unless you have an obscure unit that has sat in a warehouse for an extended period of time, it’s rare to see a date of manufacturing not be within a few months of the installation date of a water heater. Obviously, the manufactured date and installation date will never be the same on any water heater, but they are typically close. For unknown reasons, some manufacturers refuse to print a calendar date on the label to tell you, the homeowner, when a water heater was manufactured. Determining the age of your Bradford-White water heater can be tricky if you don’t have the associated table to decode your serial number.