When water meets metal, there’s a chance for rust to start. Although water heaters are in danger of corroding, they’re manufactured to resist rust for many years. If you keep up with regular maintenance for your home’s water heater, as well as calling for water heater repair in Fresno, CA when needed, you probably won’t encounter signs of rust until the system is into its second decade.
But rust can happen. The conventional wisdom about rust on a water heater is it means the time has come to replace the unit. Is this always the case? Let’s look a bit deeper.
Water heaters are built to last for years without suffering leaks, corrosion, or drops in performance. But no water heater is designed to last forever. Depending on how old your current water heater is and how well it’s been maintained, you may soon find yourself needing to have the unit replaced.
You may have heard about the tankless water heater as a replacement option for the standard storage tank water heater. A tankless water heater applies heat to the water that passes through its heat exchanger, so it heats up water whenever there’s a demand for it. When a hot water tap comes on, water starts to flow through the heat exchanger, which activates it and turns on the gas jets. The heat only remains on when the water is moving, and shuts off when the demand stops. There’s no need to store the water at any point.
Unlike heating and air conditioning systems, there’s no “season” for water heaters. The average water heater does more work during winter, but it still operates almost every day of the year to meet a household’s needs.
