Verdict

[baronessekat]

10 year old water heater needs to be replaced.

Plumber who is also in the barony came and looked. Did stuff. Thermocouple was not the only issue. Wonky valve added to problem. The SIMPLE fix is to replace the whole thing. The model of the heater is generic and old and the whole assembly that would need to be replaced is going to be very difficult to find. So we go with replacing whole unit, get it back under warranty and know that I won't have to deal with it again for hopefully another 10-12 years

Comments

[tusnilda.livejournal.com]

Not really funny, but when I read your prior post and now again with this one - I read "thermocouple" as "thermonuclear" -- sometimes my brain just does weird things. It just seems to be doing a lot more of it lately.

I think I'd like to be adopted by you, or I could adopt you. Any thoughts?

How's that for a segue...

[patrikia.livejournal.com]

Have you looked into the on-demand water heaters? Costlier at first, but much better on energy use, and there might even be some kind of tax rebate.

[baronessekat.livejournal.com]

Yeah. the "cheap" ones are $1000 before installation fees. I can barely scrape up the $400 to get a regular tank-style water heater.