The last house I owned before this one (but I had two rentals in between) was nearly 100 years old and the furnace/boiler was 40. The 100 year old house was a solid as they get and I had no problem with the house! But the furnace worked until one very cold snap it did not. We were two weeks without heat! My then DH and I were separating, and he was staying elsewhere, so I got to stay in the very cold (in more ways than one) house.

I replaced the heating system and added AC in my current house shortly after I bought it. The old system was old and improperly installed (CO hazard) and the chimney needed alot of work. So I put in an electric heat pump system with central AC. It's very efficient and cozy for my little one-story house. By next winter I'll have my woodstove hooked up and I'll be even cozier (even when the power goes out).

ny biker, I don't know how long water heaters are supposed to last, but I think it's good to be proactive. Normally I believe in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," but when it comes to water in your attic, best to take care of that before it becomes an even bigger problem.

Back to the issue at hand...I'm so happy with the bikes that I have that I'm not even tempted to consider buying another one. Not that I can at the moment anyways. My kitchen has taken care of any non-essential purchases for a loooooong time. (But it's so nice to have a kitchen again!)