Find out what water heater you have
One-time · any month works
Why it matters
You told us you're not sure what kind of water heater you have — join the club; it's the appliance people interact with least and depend on most. Here's why five minutes matters: tank and tankless units live completely different maintenance lives. A tank wants an annual flush and an anode check; a tankless wants periodic descaling. Until we know which one you've got, your year has a placeholder where real guidance should be.
What skipping it costs
$0–$800
There's no bill for not knowing — until the maintenance that fits YOUR unit never happens. A tank that's never flushed dies years early; a tankless that's never descaled throttles itself. Five minutes with a flashlight is what puts the right tasks on your calendar instead of somebody else's.
Two ways to get it done
Do it yourself
You'll need: Your phone (flashlight + camera).
- Find it: garage, basement, utility closet, laundry room, or attic (builders in warm climates love the attic).
- Big cylinder, roughly your height? That's a tank — 40 to 80 gallons of stored hot water.
- Small box on the wall, suitcase-sized, pipes underneath? That's tankless — heats on demand, no storage.
- Either way, find the data plate — the manufacturer's sticker with model and serial number — and take a clear photo. That photo is gold: it decodes age, capacity, and warranty later.
- Bonus points while you're there: note gas or electric (gas has a vent pipe and a gas line; electric just has wiring), and glance underneath — any rust streaks or water stains at the base are worth flagging now.
- Update your answer in My House and your real water heater schedule takes it from here.
- Decode the age while you're at it: the serial number embeds the manufacture date (format varies by brand — search "[brand] serial number date code"). A tank over 10 years old isn't an emergency, but it's a number worth knowing.
Hire it out
$50–$100National fair range — local labor moves this number.
Nothing to hire — but if a plumber or HVAC tech is ever at the house for anything else, point at it and ask the age-and-condition question. Thirty seconds of a pro's eyes on a water heater is a free inspection, and good techs give the honest read without turning it into a sales call.
Ask the tech
- While you're here — how old is this water heater, and what shape is it in?
Red flags you're being upsold
- Any tech who answers your 'what is this?' question with a replacement quote for a unit that isn't leaking. Age alone isn't a diagnosis.
The call
DIY, obviously — it's a five-minute look in a closet. This might be the easiest win on your whole list.