Electric Water Heater Replacement in Everett, WA: Bedroom Closet Install

The Call: A Slow Drip in the Master Closet

Plenty of water heaters live in a garage. This one lived in the walk-in closet off the master bedroom, with shirts hanging a foot away from it. The homeowner noticed a slight drip coming from the input hose and some rust building up on the connections on top of the tank. Nobody was sure how old it was. Best guess was 8 to 10 years.

A drip in a garage is an annoyance. A drip in a carpeted bedroom closet is a ceiling, a subfloor and a wardrobe waiting to get wet.

The homeowner also had a specific water heater in mind and wanted it on the estimate, so we priced it both ways: them supplying the tank, and us supplying and installing it.

What We Found: An Old Tank and a Few Install Shortcuts

When our plumber got eyes on it, the drip was the least of it. The tank was an older Rheemglas Standard electric unit, and the setup around it had the kind of problems we see a lot on older installs.

• Rust on top. The fittings and the lid of the tank were rusting, which tells you water has been sitting on them for a while.
• A dripping supply hose. The flex connector on the inlet was weeping.
• No thermal expansion tank. When water heats up it expands. On a closed system with no expansion tank, that extra pressure has to go somewhere, and it usually goes into the weakest joint or the relief valve.

Why age matters on a tank water heater

Once rust shows up on the outside of a tank, the inside is usually further along. Swapping the hose on a heater that age would have bought a little time on a tank that was already on its way out, in a room where a failure does real damage. Replacing it was the call.

The Fix: A New Electric Water Heater, Installed to Code

Here's how the job went:

1. Shut it down safely. Killed power at the breaker, shut off the cold water and drained the old tank.
2. Took out the old heater and hauled it away.
3. Set the new Rheem electric tank in a drain pan on a raised base, so if it ever does leak the water goes into the pan, not the floor.
4. Added a thermal expansion tank on the cold line to take the pressure that builds as the water heats.
5. New flex connections and seismic straps. Two straps on the new tank, tied into the wall, so it stays put if the ground shakes.
6. Reconnected the wiring, filled the tank, bled the air out of the lines and restored power.
7. Tested everything under full pressure and confirmed the heater was making hot water before we left.

If you're weighing a straight replacement against something more efficient, our water heater team can walk you through tank, tankless and heat pump options for your house.

The Result: A New Tank and a Dry Closet

Here's where the homeowner ended up:

• No more drip. New tank, new connections, every joint tested under pressure.
• Set up right. Seismic straps, a drain pan and a thermal expansion tank, the way a water heater inside the living space should be.
• A fresh warranty. A new tank comes with a new manufacturer's warranty.
• Peace of mind in the closet. No more wondering if the next drip is the one that soaks the carpet.

It's a good example of why we look past the symptom. A dripping hose was the reason for the call. An old tank with no expansion tank was the real problem. Homeowners around Everett tell us that kind of straight answer is why they call back. Read what they say.

Is Your Water Heater Telling You Something?

Go take a look at yours. It's worth a call if you see any of these:

• Rust on the lid of the tank or around the pipe connections
• Drips or dampness at the supply hoses or the relief valve line
• Water in the drain pan, or no drain pan at all on a tank inside the house
• No expansion tank on the cold water line
• You have no idea how old the tank is

If you've got water showing up somewhere and can't tell where it's coming from, our leak detection service can track it down.