Water Heater Questions

It is urgent rather than a middle-of-the-night call, unless it is leaking heavily or sits above living space. Shut off the cold water inlet and the gas or breaker, drain the tank if you can, and schedule the replacement. A leaking tank does not repair itself and generally worsens.

It depends entirely on where the water comes from. Leaks at the inlet or outlet fittings, the drain valve, or the T&P valve are repairable and often inexpensive. Water seeping from the bottom of the tank body means the inner tank has corroded through, and no repair exists at any price.

That is the temperature and pressure relief valve doing its job, which means the tank is overheating or over-pressurized. It needs diagnosis promptly. Never cap, plug, or block that valve or its discharge line; it is the device that prevents a tank from becoming a pressure vessel failure.

Steam bubbles escaping through a sediment layer on the tank bottom. The noise itself is harmless; what it signals is that sediment is insulating the steel from the water and overheating it, which shortens the tank's life. Flushing helps early on. A heavily scaled tank usually cannot be recovered.

Eight to twelve years for a conventional tank, fifteen to twenty for a maintained tankless. Hard water shortens both considerably; in very hard water regions without softening, tanks routinely fail at six to eight years despite what the warranty implies.

120°F is the standard recommendation. It is hot enough to suppress bacterial growth in the tank, cool enough to reduce scald risk, and it slows scale accumulation compared to higher settings. At 140°F, water burns a child in seconds.

In most jurisdictions, yes, with an inspection. It matters at resale and for insurance, and it is what ensures the venting and code upgrades were done correctly. Confirm your plumber is pulling one and ask for the final inspection paperwork.