![]() The adult wasps feed on nectar, shrubs, and trees and their hosts usually include grubs or caterpillars. Mud Dauber Wasp Mud Dauber (sceliphron caementarium) Once their young hatch, the female wasp eats its host. There are three different wasps in this category: mud daubers, pollen wasps, and potter wasps. The mud dauber wasp uses mud and clay to build a nest, hence its name. They get up to one inch long and are solitary insects. They are long and thin and they are often called dirt daubers or thread wasps. Oddly, these creatures are not protective of their nests and therefore seldom sting. Mud dauber wasps prey on all types of spiders, including the black widow spider, and they often attach themselves under porches or eaves as well as in attics and walls. Their nests hold up to 20 wasps and have cells in the shape of tubes. Paper wasps get up to one and a half inches long and are very social with nests of up to 30 wasps each. But the expected lifetime for a water heater varies considerably.They are yellow and have stripes of either black or a rusty brown color. Some models can give faithful service for up to 20 years. However, others may only last around eight years. It partly depends on whether the heater uses electricity or gas for the fuel source. Some manufacturers and models tend to last longer, sometimes a lot longer. The amount of hot water you use also has a major impact on heater life. Finally, the mineral content of the water also affects it. Higher mineral content means a shorter-lived heater. ![]() With all this in mind, if you have a standard electric water heater, you can normally expect it to be in good shape for 10 to 15 years. Of course, that’s plenty long enough to lose the original sales receipt for the heater as well as the warranty and other info. Unless you keep good records, you likely can’t recall exactly when you acquired your water heater. If the heater was already installed in a property when you moved in, it’s even less likely that you’ll know when the heater was manufactured, purchased, and installed. When water heaters go bad, they can go really bad. Running out of hot water in the middle of a shower is the least of it.Ī worn-out water heater can also leak, put out water that’s too hot or too cold, reduce your water flow to a trickle or cause water to smell or look bad. In the worst case, a heater can literally explode. Water damage from a ruptured heater can easily cost thousands to repair. Warning signs like little or no hot water, low flow, and leaking fittings can alert you to the fact that your water heater is reaching the end of its useful life. This can help you decide whether to try to repair or replace the heater.Ī timely replacement of a water heater that’s about to fail can save lots of time, money, and energy compared to waiting for it to go.Īnd one of the best ways to determine whether your heater is soon to become a problem is to know how old it is. But if you use the following information, you can reliably tell how old your water heater is and, hopefully, replace it before trouble starts.Īll water heaters have information on them you can use to see how old the heater is.īut how do you do that?Īs it turns out, the answer gets a little complicated. ![]() Ideally, you can simply look at the manufacturer’s label. It will usually include the date the heater was installed. However, sometimes the installation date may not appear there. Labels get torn and even completely fall off. If that happens, you can still see how old your heater is by using the serial number. The heater’s serial number is imprinted on the heater at the factory, so it should always be there. The problem with this is approach is that there are a lot of heater manufacturers. And every manufacturer has its own way of identifying a heater’s age. If you approach the problem as if it were a puzzle or a code to break, you can still get the information you need.
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