Is Your Water Heater Giving You Financial Stress?

A water heater is a vital appliance in your home, and it requires some maintenance to maintain its performance and extend its lifespan. If you want to enjoy constant warm showers, especially during winter, you should carry out regular checkups on your water heater to catch any developing problems. Whether you use propane, gas or electrical water heater, you should prevent corrosion and sediment buildup.  Sediment buildup in your water heater can reduce the performance of your water heater and shorten its life. Failure to repair the signs of wear and tear on the onset, your water heater may eventually fail completely.

Is a Water Heater a Vital Appliance in Your Home?

You betcha!  Water heaters supply hot water that makes your morning or evening showers comfortable. Some would say that if you subject your children or seniors to cold showers (especially during chilly weather), they may suffer from various respiratory problems.  Personally I think this is a wives tale, but I will leave that part up to you to decide.  Hot water from your water heater is also important for washing dishes and in laundry duties. A malfunctioning water heater can adversely affect your daily routines and reduce you and your family’s quality of your life.

Water Heater Repair and Replacement Can Be Expensive

While repairing a completely failed water heater can be  difficult for a home owner to pull off, it is not impossible.  Check post and video where I cover how to change your thermocouple in a hot water heater.  If you are unable to repair your water heater, replacing it can deeply dig into your pockets and royally screw up with your budget! Some technicians can give a quotation of over 1,000 dollars to repair or replace your water heater depending on its model, fuel type, size and accessibility.  Some of the common factors that can cause problems with your water heater include:

• Water heater’s location
  
• Quality of the water you use
• Age of the water heater
• Frequency of usage

What About Home Warranty Service for Protecting Your Water Heater?

Although you might have spent a lot of money buying that new house, chances of experiencing breakage or malfunction of some home appliances are high.  For first-time home buyers, a home protection warranty scheme can be helpful as many first-timers may not know much about home maintenance yet.

These sorts of home protection plans are generally affordable to every homeowner, and it costs from about $250 to $400 depending on the coverage you receive. Many companies give additional coverage, discounts and special sales. The payments of these warranties are paid in advance annually and renew them once they expire.  It is quite typical for one of these plans to be included when you purchase your new/used home.

How Will the Protection Plan Coverage Help You When You Have a Broken Appliance?

If you have broken system or appliance in your home, you should contact the home warranty company immediately. The company will then contact service providers who they trust with such business contracts. The service providers will then contact you and setup an appointment date when they can stop by to repair the broken appliance. If the service provider company finds the appliance is damaged beyond repair, it will finance the installation and replacement cost depending on your protection plan coverage.  Be aware that you may need to cover the removal/disposal cost of the broken appliance!  May sure you set aside a small amount of cash as an emergency fund to cover this sort of thing…

What Should You Do if the Service Provider Denies a Claim?

The service providers are sent out by the home warranty companies to perform a repair service at your home.  The home warranty company will make the ultimate decision as to what will be covered and what will not be covered.  Sometimes, the home warranty company may deny the claim for a variety of reasons… If you are not happy with the way the company is providing its services, there are a couple of options you have.  You can complain and try to negotiate some sort of coverage, or you can “punt” and try to work out a deal with the service provider since they are already there at your house.  You are basically at the mercy of the home warranty insurance compnay however….

What Don’t Home Protection Plan Companies Cover?

There are a couple standard items that nearly all home insurance plans do NOT cover.  These are:

• Pools or Spa (unless you request for a specific coverage)
• Faucet repairs
• Permit fees
• Outdoor appliances (such as lawn sprinklers)

One other item to be aware of – although you may have legitimate home protection plan coverage, the protection plan company will not finance the replacement or repair cost of your broken appliance in case of:

• Improper installation
• Uncommon wear and tear
• Code violations
• Improper maintenance
  

Is Your Water Heater Giving You Financial Stress? – Final Thoughts

With all of these factors in mind, it pays to spend a bit of time to consider what you would do if your water heater were to suffer a failure.  If you are a home owner, you will definitely want to have an emergency fund setup to fund these sorts of things.  You never know when your water heater may go.  If you think you are not disciplined enough to set aside ~$1,000, a home protection warranty plan may be a good bet for you.