So I have been out of power since Tuesday and I have an electric water heater. When I get power back do I need to do anything before I try and use hot water?

Make sure the water heater is full before you turn power back on, then wait for the water to get hot... I turned my breaker off until I knew it was full. Most have two heating elements instead of one at the bottom like gas.

Our power was out a couple of days and there were no problems with the water heater once it came back on.

Of course, you'll have to wait for the water to get hot.

Agreed. If there’s no interruption in of water supply. Don’t even sweat it

X3

Thanks guys

I heard last night DFW was out of water heaters, and their warehouses were out as well

Truck drivers will bring more

I had to replace mine on Thanksgiving weekend. Even then, plumbing parts were hard to find.

Ole Jimbo says trucks need to stay in Nebraska

so, if the power was on, but it was partially empty, is that a huge problem? Our water is hot, so I'm assuming it's ok.

mine is leaking, never lost gas or water and it never shut off. i checked the obvious, lines, pressure valve, drain valve, top of the vent. it's leaking from the bottom. it's still in its warranty years but all i get is the busy signal every time i call the warranty number

FWIW, I have seen a water heater go from a small leak to Niagara Falls in a mater of hours.

Got mine replaced last Thursday, actually busted / started leaking the Sunday snow started. Think I was pretty luck to get someone to do it on Thursday, and was grateful to have it done.

update, finally got through to rheem warranty. replacement water heater has been approved. they did say they are swamped with calls right now, which i do not doubt. but after i did get in, it went very smooth. thumbs up for rheem warranty

yeah, i did see niagra falls on my original water heater so i've been keeping a close eye on this one. the only good thing is, it's in the garage and the water flow goes outside

No he didn't!

Not saying yours was due to freezing, but their uptick in calls is probably a result of that. A busted heater due to a freeze isn’t a warranty issue.

Tank style heaters are still on hand in Dfw....tankless, not so much.
Most tankless units mounted outdoors froze up to the point of no repair.

So....how hard is it to replace a gas tank water heater yourself?

For me it would be easy; I would just call the man...I would come out way cheaper that way than f'ing it up myself and then calling the man...

Don't solder the wrong line!

I had to replace my water heater last night. Took maybe thirty minutes. Pretty easy job really unless the thing is in a really bad spot.