subject: Why Replace Your California Water Heater [print this page] There are many reasons to replace your California water heater. First of all, older units have a tendency to cause all kinds of problems including leaking, corroding, and in general, failing. Then comes energy usage, older varieties use a lot more energy than the newer ones.
Replacing your hot water heater isn't difficult and most who have general plumbing knowledge can replace them easily. It's not a big job, but will need a bit of strength in order to remove the old and bring in the new. So don't think you have to spend a lot of money on the actual removal and installation.
Older units slowly but surely fill up with debris. This can be from the source itself if it contains sand or hard water particles. It can be from the unit, as the interior slowly but surely rusts and corrodes. And in all of these cases even if it doesn't start leaking you'll see your energy usage slowly climbing.
In order to work efficiently the unit has to be able to heat to the right temperature and keep it that way. When a unit is filling up with debris, it slowly but surely must turn on and off more frequently using more energy and increasing your power bill.
The newer units are not only manufactured better, but also are created to work more efficiently. They do this by better insulation, better control modules and in some cases, being "on demand" heaters. The on demand type really are the most efficient. They don't store it warm or hot, they actually heat it as you need it.
So when it comes to California water heater units, research a bit, and then know that the newer the heater the more efficient it will be. There are plenty of places to find them, but try not to purchase used unless you really know the condition of the unit, for all you know, it's been slowly filling up with debris.
