Water heater age

[Robert Jones]

Anyone wanna take a stab at this one? Home was built in 1983. I am guessing original. Did call it out for replacement.

National water heater.

Model # NRG 66

Serial # 76-646467

Click to Enlarge

40.41 KB

Click to Enlarge

68.68 KB

[Neal Lewis]

Rob, could the house be older than 1983?

[Robert Jones]

According to the MLS, 1983. It seems that water heater is older than that doesn't it? I was thinking 1976 but....

[Jim Katen]

What was the date on the TPR valve?

[Robert Jones]

Jim,

I looked at the TPR valve and didn't see anything.

[Mark P]

I'd guess 76 too. What was the date of the furnace & a/c?

[Tom Raymond]

It's my experience that MLS info is marketing fluff and thus not entirely accurate. Any other clues that it's a 70's house? 70's materials will look and feel decidedly more 'Disco' than 'Miami Vice'.

[hausdok]

Hi Robert,

If I thought based on that serial number that it might be a '76 water heater ,and the house was supposed to be built after that, I'd probably just google the name of the county and the words "tax assessor" and "parcel viewer" and then plug in the address at the county parcel viewer to find out exactly when it was built.

They have an expected service life around here of about 10 to 15 years from the date of installation when properly cared for. If there wasn't any doubt in my mind that the thing was older than 15 years (Looking at that photo, there isn't any doubt.), I'd just tell the client that it's gone past the end of its expected service life, there is no way to know when it will fail - it might even fail as I'm backing out of the driveway - and I'd recommend the client be proactive and replace it now versus replacing it when it eventually does fail. When the realtorzoid pipes up and asks why I'd want to replace a perfectly good water heater that's not showing any indications of imminent failure - I'd simply point out to the client that it's easier to get it done now versus waiting for it to fail when he or she isn't home and it ruptures, floods the house, garage or basement and ruins personal property, etc..

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike