I have the original water heater in my house--16 years old. It's leaking from the top, apparently from where the anode rod screws in. We tried to replace the rod, but it just wouldn't budge, despite copious amounts of Rustoleum. (The whole water tank itself was twisting, but the rod itself stayed put.) We cut off the gas before we started messing with it (probably unnecessarily), so the pilot went out. We went to turn the pilot light back on, and it won't light. I've looked up videos, read the instructions, and we definitely were doing it right--the thing just wouldn't light.
So now we have a leaky, 16 year old water heater with a dead pilot light. I'm all about wringing as much usage out of appliances as possible, but this seems pretty well wrung out.
Does anyone have any advice on replacing a water heater? What sort of brands/products are reliable? Is it worth it to go tankless? Any thoughts would be appreciated.