A Water Heater Maintenance Tip

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I flushed my natural gas fired water heater last weekend. No, I wasn't playing poker, and this was surely not a gamble. I was just performing upkeep to enhance the lifespan and sustain power efficiency of a main dwelling appliance. On the contrary, not flushing a tank annually is a gamble that increases the odds of premature failure. And premature failure odds boost if you have an electric water heater, where sediment will bury and corrode the heating element inside the bottom of the tank.

Flushing is an annual chore relatively effortless to do, and doesn't take too substantially time whilst 40 or 50 gals water drains and refills the tank. Flushing removes calcium or other mineral sediment construct-up on the bottom of the tank that otherwise reduces capacity and insulates the water from the bottom fired gas burner or in-tank electrical element, lowering heating efficiency. Annual upkeep is necessary is an location such as Salt Lake City, where the water is somewhat alkaline.

Here's the basic setup. Modify the water heater's original compression drain valve outlet at the bottom of the tank, replacing it with a quarter turn ball valve with hose threading to enable sediment to pass by means of with out restriction. Then, all you require is to hook up a brief length of garden hose from the valve to a nearby floor drain.

Now, here's the flushing procedure, to be performed when there is low household demand for hot water. 1st, and quite importantly, turn off the gas supply or electrical energy to the water heater so the empty tank or element will not burn. Now, shut off the home water supply valve from the water meter. Then open an upstairs sink hot water faucet or two to enable air to replace water draining out of the lines and tank. Soon after a garden hose is connected from the water heater drain outlet to a basement floor drain, open the drain outlet ball valve. Monitor water flow out of the hose. Hot water should begin to flow at least moderately. If water flow is a mere trickle, there might possibly be sediment blocking the ball valve. Turn on and off the house water supply valve a lot of times to break up and jet force sediment by way of the valve.

Soon after water ceases to flow out of the hose, the water heater is drained, and most sediment should certainly be gone. Now, close the drain ball valve, and open the house water supply valve to fill the tank. Do not forget that when the tank is full, air in the tank and water lines is replaced by water which will come out of the sinks hot water faucets, so shut them off. Lastly, turn on the electrical power or gas supply to the water heater. On most gas water heaters, the pilot light will have to have to be relit. Hot water recovery time will be about an hour.

Now you have got peace of mind in the assurance that you've carried out what you can to prolong the life of your water heater, and cut down on your electrical or gas utility bill.