I feel lucky to have caught it.  I had shirts that I’d left in the dryer overnight, and I went down into the basement to flip the dryer on for a few minutes to de-wrinkle them so I could wear one.   When I came back about ten minutes later to take them out I noticed a trickle of water across the floor that hadn’t been there ten minutes before.  It was coming from the bottom of the hot water heater. 

Learning about hot water heaters was another one of those things I’d never really appreciated, having spent nearly my whole life in rental apartments: just like a roof, the damn things will eventually start leaking.  But unlike a roof, a hot water tank will leak with the force of your municipal water system pressure behind it.  I’ve heard stories about those things failing all of a sudden and flooding basements, and between that and supply hoses on washing machines (which I’ve also heard these stories about) it’s kept me very nervous about my basement.  Since I bought the house I’ve developed this tick of checking for leaks every time I go down there. 

So I turned off the hot heater and shut off the water supply to it.  Then I called around for a replacement.  I’d been hoping to replace the tank when it’s day came with one of those new "tankless" hot water heaters, not only because it appealed the techo-geek in me, but also the waste-not-want-not side of me.  They don’t waste energy keeping a tank full of water sitting around at temperature waiting for you to use some.  But when I asked I discovered that the price of one of those things, installed, was around four grand.  Yikes!  I’m still paying off the new furnace I had to buy last year.  The top of the line water tank for my size house (just 40 gallons) cost eight-hundred installed.  Which was still more then I’d expected to be shelling out this month.  But better that then a flooded basement.  I still feel lucky.