Gas hot water heater question

[Rantes7]

I live in a small condo & my gas water heater is located in the ATTIC. It’s approximately 5-6 years old & has not been flushed. It’s working fine but how do you do maintenance on it? I’m going on vacation for 2 weeks soon & wonder if I should shut off the water supply & or the hot water heater, or both?? A neighbor just had her water heater flood out her condo, I don’t want that happening to me! Please advise.

 

[pasadena_commut]

Both.

When we go on vacation we always turn off the water heater and shut off the water inside the house. Luckily we have a shutoff valve for just the inside water, so the plants don't die in our absence. Even with a modern WH the burner will go off once and a while on a tank which is just sitting, even if there is no pilot light, and there is always the possibility the controller could malfunction in your absence.

We started doing that after the time we were literally seconds from leaving on vacation, and when I turned on the kitchen faucet to wash my hands one of the hoses underneath exploded. Had that hose blown 30 seconds later we would have returned to 10 days of water in the house.

 

[Ed O'Connell]

Great answer above for a temp fix, but ... I'd also advise a yearly maintenance agreement with a competent plumber that would include servicing your entire plumbing system, especially that heater located in an attic that has probably never been flushed or checked in the many years you indicate. // We spend thousands to take care of our cars then balk at the cost of servicing our plumbing on a regular basis that can reduce our worry and stress, protect our health, keep us safe, protect our homes, and enhance our comfort. // I can't remember the survey, when it was done, or who initiated it but if your plumbing is checked yearly then emergencies are reduced by approximately 85%. // Anecdotally, we've had maintenance agreement customers for many years and I can't remember any of 'em having an emergency. The cost for our service was $15.00 a month (or $200.00 yearly). To give some perspective, many folks with a Starbucks coffee "jones" spend more than that a week. // Last: Having an automatic leak detector that can shut off the water quickly should your heater even begin leaking should be installed in the pan under the heater ... and many insurance companies are now demanding them near all appliances or they won't pay for water leaks. // Good luck.

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

I live in a small condo & my gas water heater is located in the ATTIC. It’s approximately 5-6 years old & has not been flushed. It’s working fine but how do you do maintenance on it? I’m going on vacation for 2 weeks soon & wonder if I should shut off the water supply & or the hot water heater, or both?? A neighbor just had her water heater flood out her condo, I don’t want that happening to me! Please advise.

I was working at a client's recently, and a Plumbing and Heating tech was working on one of those "Packaged Units" or "Gas Packs" or whatever you want to call them: they are complete A/C or Heat Pump units combined with a gas furnace in a large package that sits fully outside, exposed to all the elements that nature throws their way.

I asked him, "who ever thought it was a good idea to put these items together in a fully packaged unit and leave it outside?" to which he quickly replied, "the same idiots who think it's a good idea to put a water heater in the attic..."

Hopefully you've got a drain up there so that you could drain your water heater if you need maintenance.

 

[MicEd69]

It’s working fine but how do you do maintenance on it?

With some difficulty. Some people religiously drain their water heater and replace the anode on a regular basis. The need to do such maintenance depends on your water quality. Draining and flushing the water heater is to remove any buildup of minerals that may have been deposited caused by the heating of the water. The anode rod is there as a sacrificial item to prevent corrosion of any exposed steel of the tank. I live in the St. Louis area and never drain my water heaters or change the anode rod. I get 17 to 20+ years out of a gas water heater, and it usually is a leaky tank failure. Mine is in the unfinished part of my basement and within 18" of the floor drain, so I don't have any major concerns there.

But for an attic installation, it would probably be good to change out the anode rod regularly. But the water heater being in the attic, that becomes a real project I imagine. And flushing the water heater wouldn't be much easier, just without the need for a big wrench. The main thing I would be sure of is that the drain pan is solid, that it has a good working drain line, and you have a water leak detector that you test regularly.

 

[pasadena_commut]

The cost for our service was $15.00 a month (or $200.00 yearly).

Where are you located? Plumbing costs for the house we rent out in the SF Bay Area are stupid high. I doubt there is a job so small that a plumber in that area would show up and do the work for $200.

Never snows in our area so the angle of the roof is shallow. Consequently in our attic there wouldn't be room to stand a 40 gallon tank upright. (I can't stand to full height there either.) One would fit sideways, like an RV WH, but pretty sure that isn't allowed for a home WH.