Sunday morning

I should be in bed still, but I wanted to make sure that getting the new water heater yesterday solved the water leak problem.

Sure enough, it has. The floor next to the water heater, where the cat boxes are, is bone-dry. (And I'd thought the cats had been fouling up the area.)

So I did the right thing. As I said, the old water heater was 16 years old (looked like 80).

A friend of mine thought I should have gotten a tankless water heater. I don't know. There are pros and cons about those. This is from Consumer Reports:

During our long-term testing, an indicator on the tankless model warned of scale buildup. We paid $334 for special valves and a plumber to flush out the water heater with vinegar. Many industry pros recommend that tankless models be serviced once a year by a qualified technician. Calcium buildup can decrease efficiency, restrict water flow, and damage tankless models. Experts suggest installing a water softener if your water hardness is above 11 grains per gallon. Ignoring this advice can shorten your warranty.

Plumbers aren't cheap. From a website on the Internet:

Tankless heaters have pros and cons, just like everything else. They can supply an endless supply of hot water, and can save energy.

However, they are limited in the amount of hot water that can be produced at one time and they are more expensive to purchase than a conventional storage type water heater.

[Price wasn't an object in yesterday's emergency--I'd have paid anything they suggested, and they didn't suggest a tankless water heater, even though perhaps they could have made more money off me by doing so.]

They also make it take longer for you to get your hot water, since they don't start heating the water until you turn on the faucet. This problem can be solved by using a specialized pump, which in combination with the tankless unit can get your hot water to you at less than half the time it would take running the faucet full blast.

The tankless water heaters also cause an increase in water wastage since you have to let the water run longer to get your hot water. . . .

I have a 30-gallon water heater (and the new one is more energy-efficient than the 16-year-old one). When I want to use hot water, I turn on the water heater from the circuit breaker box, then wait a while. (I do this every day.) I read about this somewhere years ago as a money-saving tip, and an electrician friend said it was perfectly acceptable. When I've finished using the hot water (such as after showering or running the dishwasher (which, sad to say, has been disconnected since July 2)), I switch the water heater back off.

I don't directly pay for water here--it's included in the (exorbitant) condo fees. Even so, I try not to waste it. We have a water crisis here in South Florida.