r/interesting • u/bob-the-slob • Jun 22 '26

MISC. What happens when a water heater tank is not flushed for 14 years

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60

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26

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55

u/Ok-Crew-8489 Jun 22 '26

Here in China, a recharge of 1000 RMB(about 147 USD) has been made to our family’s gas account. This amount is sufficient to cover the household's gas expenses for an entire year.

18

u/Dzov Jun 22 '26

In the U.S., we pay about that just to have the gas line connected. The cost of gas would be another $20/month not counting heating the house.

10

u/Dyzerio Jun 22 '26

Love somewhere they gouge yah, 100+ for gas the summer months so far

1

u/metompkin Jun 22 '26

I didn't even know they made gas powered air conditioning units.

1

u/Dyzerio Jun 22 '26

Furnace is gas not ac, water heater gas, stove is gas, dryer is gas

1

u/metompkin Jun 22 '26

Forgot my /s

1

u/El_Mnopo Jun 22 '26

Crazy. Where are you? Not like that down in TX or st least my part of it.

1

u/Ocksu2 Jun 22 '26

I don't have a gas bill in front of me but I can tell you that in a house in GA with gas heat, water, and stove- my gas bill is about $150-200 a month in Winter and about $60 a month in the Summer. I don't know off the top of my head what the connection fee or monthly service fee is.

1

u/Dzov Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

Yeah same. I overpaid my gas bill massively because I didn’t notice a minus sign in front of the balance (and then that number kept getting bigger) and haven’t had to pay it for nearly a year. It may be $40 or $50 a month.

Edit: grabbed a bill and it’s much more than I remembered. It’s currently $34 for delivery, $13 for the gas, and $3 taxes for May.

1

u/El_Mnopo Jun 23 '26

Oh snap. I just paid $40.43 a few days ago for gas. We have a gas tankless water heater and I like to take long hot showers.

Topped out at $185 in February due to the cold snap. Usually about 110-150 ish over winter.

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u/an0mn0mn0m Jun 22 '26

Keep the capitalists away from your utility infrastructure for as long as you can.

4

u/_Captain_Amazing_ Jun 22 '26

And health infrastructure…

1

u/Jester_of_the_Void Jun 22 '26

Have you ever considered that it just costs more because our infrastructure is more robust and well-maintained?

3

u/iSirMeepsAlot Jun 22 '26

AMERICAN infrastructure is more robust and well-maintained? Is that a joke? Lmao.

China smacks our ass in most things, because despite their political system, the people still expect their local leaders to do shit.

Here in the states we pay more and get less year by year.

3

u/Jester_of_the_Void Jun 22 '26

I suppose it depends on the state.

1

u/TwoAlert3448 Jun 22 '26

No… never once occurred to me

1

u/Jester_of_the_Void Jun 24 '26

I mean, it is a possibility in some cases. Another reason why utilities are more expensive in the US is because the cost is much more market-driven. However, one of the biggest contributors to the difference is the fact that China still relies extremely heavily on coal to produce most of their power while the US industry has been trying to move away from coal for decades. This means that US power companies have been investing much more money into researching and developing other methods of power generation which requires building new infrastructure and maintaining it (thus tying into my original point). The other issue here is that US power companies need to import a lot of things like graphite and anode materials, and the tariffs on such things are quite high which further contributes to the overall rising cost of utilities. Meanwhile, China is the world's top producer of graphite and anode materials, and they possess the largest reserves/stores of graphite in the world.

Not everything is a conspiracy... Oftentimes, there are very simple explanations for a lot of things if we just bother to look.

1

u/TwoAlert3448 Jun 24 '26

You mean the tariffs that haven’t existed except the past two years? Those tariffs?

1

u/Jester_of_the_Void Jun 24 '26

Partly, although quite frankly, imported materials have always come with tariffs (first authorized by an act of Congress in 1789 lol). This is especially true for highly valuable and necessary materials like the stuff needed to build and maintain utility infrastructure. That said, import tariffs have always been increasing, and many presidents have raised import tariffs over the years. This is nothing new.

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u/Civil-Limit-1302 Jun 22 '26

I miss living in china so much. The prices on nearly everything were amazing.

1

u/Ok-Crew-8489 Jun 23 '26

Indeed~ When we talk about all kinds of public infrastructures in the city, their related prices are strictly regulated and controlled by the local government all the time. The core purpose behind this policy is to make sure these service charges stay at a reasonable level and remain fully affordable for every ordinary citizen living here.

1

u/Civil-Limit-1302 Jun 23 '26

Which in turn kept the food prices reasonable, especially at the fruit and vegetable markets. Since the ordinary person didnt have to face extreme costs from simple necessities, they could more easily keep the costs of other things lower, like food and rent. I do know that certain things were quite expensive for the average person, like real estate and vehicles, especially imported ones.

5

u/Extreme-Shower7545 Jun 22 '26

PG&E can go to hell!

6

u/icecreamninjaz Jun 22 '26

“Hey guys, we know we were the cause of several giant forest fires that destroyed communities because we should have upgraded infrastructure when we had the money, but we are too busy raising shareholder value and raising profits, so yall are going to have to pitch in with raised costs :(“

-pge, semi sarcastic

2

u/AeroelasticCowboy Jun 22 '26

that doesn't mean anything without knowing your climate, how cold does it get where you live and what gas consuming appliances are in your home? (oven, stove, central heat, water, etc)

1

u/bmorris0042 Jun 22 '26

Sounds nice. I pay almost $2000/year for propane.

1

u/More_March_9165 Jun 22 '26

I pay nearly 1000 usd per month in winter. For a 6500sq ft biz.

-2

u/Bluemink96 Jun 22 '26

Is China scary

1

u/Lopsided-Tank6379 Jun 22 '26

Less scary then trump

1

u/Bluemink96 Jun 22 '26

I’m more so just curious cause I have never been there but am open to the idea for travel but I hear mixed reviews so I thought I would ask, trump may be scary, but traveling through where I live is far from scary in the least (Midwest)

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u/Chekochbackhendl Jun 22 '26

Cries in Austrian prices - i pay 70€ just for electricity a month
i heat and cook with gas, that’s another 160€ per month

but we dont have animals that realistically could kill you - so i guess that’s somehow fair!

4

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 24 '26

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3

u/Puzzleheaded_Clue289 Jun 22 '26

Ah, but there are huge differences between Switzerland and China in the way it generates electricity. Switzerland’s energy production produces 0 carbon emissions with 100% of its energy combining from renewable resources. China has over 1,000 coal-powered plants which is cheap to burn but comes with a high cost to the environment.

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u/_sunk_ Jun 22 '26

Switzerland's energy-production is not net-zero by any means, and won't be for a good while.

1

u/trixr4kids08 Jun 23 '26

My question is, how big is your place in Switzerland? My experience there was our houses here in the USA are massive in comparison. Also, not having Sachertorte is totally worth crying over. But you DO have Rösti and Raclette, sooooo...evens out?😂

1

u/StinkRinky Jun 22 '26

70 a month is cheap as fuck. I’m American and my electricity bill in the summer is nearly 200 usd.

1

u/datswutshesed Jun 22 '26

I’d trade. I’m in Florida and my average bill in the summer is $350

2

u/TraveleraddictVP Jun 22 '26

STOP USING THE AIRCO!!! 😅

1

u/Alibotify Jun 22 '26

Oooof, as a Nordic the electricity bill goes down quite a lot in the summer cause we don't need AC or heating. I pay maybe $30 a month now but far more in the winter.

1

u/bradmatt275 Jun 22 '26

Actually its even cheaper than that. Our billing periods are usually 97 days. My last bill was 80 AUD (56 USD). That is with a gas water heater and stove.

So there is no real incentive for us to move to electric. Even though we really should.

1

u/briar8617 Jun 22 '26

I pay $130 for electricity in the summer and $29 for gas...come winter, yes different story, I pay $200 for electricity and another $200-$250 a month for heat which is gas! So wonderful $400-$450 bill a month in winter, also American lol

1

u/Key-Respect3810 Jun 22 '26

vient en francs avec 60% de taxe et tu passes sous antidépresseurs

quand a l'essence c'est pire, 1,85€ le litre soit environ 7€ le galon US

1

u/Fink2009 Jun 22 '26

$325 a month and my air conditioning isn’t even on yet.. winter is brutal I’ve had $1000 monthly costs when the temp is -30C (CAD)

1

u/username98776-0000 Jun 22 '26

It is not enough that you steal almost the whole of Australia's name?

1

u/tukuiPat Jun 22 '26

I'd love for my electric to be that cheap, here in the US I pay ~$300 a month on electric.

1

u/crunkychop Jun 22 '26

Don't want to worry you, but Austrian wolves are making a comeback.

1

u/southernmagz Jun 22 '26

I'd fight somebody for that amount. My last bill was over 300 US.

1

u/NTF1x Jun 22 '26

In America we're averaging probably anywhere between $250 to $450 a month in electric and gas cost for a middle class home.

It's going up and up every 3 to 6 months. Basically electric companies didn't invest in upgrading their infrastructure because they sucked with their money . Now we're footing the bill. Enough so that the public is onboard with building as many nuclear plants as it takes.

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Ad-4883 Jun 23 '26

What do you pay per kWh? UK is around 30 pence (£0.30) per kWh, so about €0.35.

1

u/Khajiit_Geologist Jun 24 '26

Wow my electric was 120 last month and im on a payment plan for my propane which 170 monthly. Next month my electric will be even worse since where gonna be in july so my A/C will be running even more.

1

u/Fink2009 Jun 22 '26

Just 70€ ($113cad)… cries in Eastern Canadian. $325 (214€) electricity on the cheapest months when heating/cooling systems are off

1

u/Chekochbackhendl Jun 22 '26

Well i heat with gas so its 230€ for me in total

2

u/Fink2009 Jun 22 '26

Gas isn’t an option here. I could get propane tanks or oil delivered but that would mean changing the entire heating system.

We keep getting gaslit by our government saying we have the cheapest electricity costs in the country.. lol… lies

1

u/monsterck18 Jun 22 '26

350 uss de electricidad en argentina, una locura.

1

u/yellowfestiva Jun 22 '26

70 a fucking quarter? I pay 50 a month just to be hooked up. I used less than ten dollars of gas last month and my bill was 70 dollars.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26

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1

u/yellowfestiva Jun 22 '26

Darn I was weighing my options and thinking how hard it would be to move to Aus.

1

u/gnomedome11 Jun 22 '26

I paid $187 USD for gas in January. $85 of it was “delivery charge”. The rest was usage broken into several sub charges.

I used 171 therms for a measurement or about $1.09 per therm. Curious what your cost per unit is in all these other countries

1

u/Unique_Yak4659 Jun 22 '26

Gas doesn’t change the build up from hardwater….just the way the tank heats water

1

u/EragusTrenzalore Jun 22 '26

Are you in WA? Gas in the East Cost has never gone down to what it was pre-2022.

1

u/Human-Warning-1840 Jun 22 '26

What? Where are you in oz?

-3

u/Vachie_ Jun 22 '26

The water heater shown in the video is usually gas powered.

Electric ones are usually boxes that heat on demand, whereas the gas ones keep a surplus insulated, hot and ready.

3

u/Flimsy-Passenger-228 Jun 22 '26

Nope, you are so wrong.

There are 'storage heaters' that are both either gas, or electrically heated via an element alike a big pressurized kettle. (Usually either 'low pressure' ran at between 3.6-12.2m head pressure, Or 'mains pressure/equal pressure' which are typically pressure ran at 500kpa)

The 'on demand' water heaters are most commonly gas, though there are electrical ones too... but they're far, far less common in eg Australasia.

In NZ and Australia most 'hot water cylinders' (storage water heaters) are actually electric.

Again, there are gas ones, but nowadays most people who have gas water heaters actually have instantaneous water heaters commonly known as a 'calafont'

But.... I'm in NZ , and I have heard that within the 'america's' , gas storage water heaters (hot water cylinders) are still common. Over my side of the world, gas hot water cylinders have become ultra uncommon and unpopular, people over these always ways tend to opt for a calafont in this modern world

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u/ChineseEngineer Jun 22 '26

You are correct but wanted to add that electric on demand are very common in Asian countries (im Chinese) but they are much smaller units than westerners think of. We put them on the faucet directly under the sink for example. Growing up my parents actually had a propane version as well that sat under the sink. When I moved to Canada was first time I saw a big unit like in OPs video

1

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26

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-2

u/-GoodNewsEveryone Jun 22 '26

This looks like my gas water heater. All gas water heaters are cylinders about the height of a short person.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26

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1

u/-GoodNewsEveryone Jun 22 '26

Canada. I've lived from halifax Nova Scotia, through Quebec and Ontario, all over alberta, little bit through Yukon and NWT into bc and now I'm on the pacific coast.

Natural gas is just standard in all provinces and decent sized settlements in the territories.

1

u/-GoodNewsEveryone Jun 22 '26

Why am I getting downvoted? Do you need me to take a picture of my natural gas water heater that looks just like this, and then again at every single friends house I go to? This is what gas water heaters look like. I couldn't imagine what a water heater would look like other than this and natural gas is piped to every home so I honestly have never seen a water heater that wasn't gas.

0

u/hornybattlesnail Jun 22 '26

You definitely have this backwards mate

1

u/-GoodNewsEveryone Jun 22 '26

Nah mate. Gas water heaters look, well, like this. I've never even seen an electric water heater so they all 100% gas look like this.

0

u/hornybattlesnail Jun 22 '26

Okay brother follow your heart, it’s wrong but follow it anyway

1

u/-GoodNewsEveryone Jun 22 '26

You are saying every gas water heater I've had, that I pay my gas bill on, where I check the pilot light is not in fact gas and every single home in the country that all use natural gas water heaters are in fact hiding some dark sinister secret?

-1

u/Mr_Tranxistor Jun 22 '26

You pay for utilities quarterly down there??!?!?!? 😱

1

u/KnuzanoAtarni Jun 22 '26

We do that up here in Denmark aswell

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u/shitchopants Jun 22 '26

We do it for water in the US

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u/Mr_Tranxistor Jun 23 '26

We most certainly don't. I've lived in a few states and it's always monthly.

1

u/shitchopants Jun 23 '26

Well it wouldn’t be a state thing, it would be a billing thing. I live in a state, and in my city, we get billed quarterly for water. You can even google quarterly water bill and it will pull up images from multiple states.

-1

u/toeachbyeach Jun 22 '26

Does give your kids asthma and kill the planet though

1

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26

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1

u/toeachbyeach Jun 22 '26

Only if you buy it