I've told about a dozen people in my life that leak detectors were a thing, and they were all shocked at the info. From what I gather, their existence is not common knowledge.
> Still, water heaters get a drain pan to catch leaks.
Initial leaks yes, but eventually hot water heats fail in a dramatic fashion and spew water everywhere.
> Your condo may have been a bad install or not installed to code.
Literally every apartment complex I've lived in has had this same issue. The apartment complex's my friends live in, same issue. I figure that commercially ran complexes would be motivated to install leak detectors, but apparently not.
> Hot water heaters should last a lot longer, and when they fail it’s probably a faulty thermostat or short.
Should, sure. The warranty is 10 years on higher end models, and the last ($2000!) water heater I had fail on me failed at 9 years and 6 months.
I've seen older hot water heaters, sure, but the expectation is failure after 10 years. All the plumbers I've ever talked to have repeated exactly that. They also say that a large # of tankless units they have seen encounter motor failures after 10 years and also have to be replaced.
You seriously need to tell your condo association to get their maintenance people to flush the water heaters regularly (seasonally or annually) and check/change the anodes. If they're gas-fired heaters, the burner and air intakes should be getting cleaned.
If this isn't being done, it's probably because your maintenance is being done by plumbers, who have convinced everyone that "they just fail, you know?"
Replacing a tankless water heater because the motor has failed is silly. You replace the motor. And tankless heaters don't fail very often unless, again, they don't see regular maintenance. As in: flush/descale annually and water/air filter cleanings.
2) anodes stop heavy corrosion in the system by sacrificing themselves.
But I think there must be a regional difference. Maybe hot water tanks fail more depending on the climate or water acidity or something...
Kinda seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy or one could even say planned obsolescence.
I don't really get how you can extract a conspiracy out of something lasting as long as the manufacturer expected it to last.
It is an accurate estimate, done to increase sales.
America moves hot water just fine.
EDIT: yes water heaters can fail. Usually due to bad install, people store stuff on the pipes or on top of the unit treating the mechanical closet like a utility storage closet for brooms vacuum ironing board stuffed in, or subjected to a freeze. Nothing wrong with the device itself, everything to do with improper install or maintenance.