Most people do not think about maintaining their water heaters unless they stop working. They do not realize that simple maintenance like draining a water heater regularly can have multiple benefits. Here are three benefits you can get by performing this simple maintenance task annually or biannually.
Save your energy costs
Increase the efficiency of water heater
Increase the life of your water heater
In this water plumbers tutorial, we will learn to drain our water heater by ourselves. Water heaters have an insulated water storage tank so that the water remains hot for longer periods. Over time, the minerals start to build-up in the water heater and most of them accumulate at the bottom of the tank. This sediment build-up decreases the efficiency and the life of your water heater. By draining your water heater, you can get rid of most of this sediment and increase the efficiency and prolong its life.
First, turn off the heating. If it is a gas heater, turn off the gas valve completely; and if it is an electric heater, turn off the breaker. Now close the water valve to disconnect the water supply.
It is very important that you do not start draining the water heater immediately. First, the water will be very hot to handle for next many hours. Second, the heating elements in the water heater can burn out if you drain the water when they are still hot. Wait for few hours and check the water if it is safe to handle.
When ready, attach a hose to the drain valve and place the other end of the hose in a floor drain or a place where the water can drain safely. Open the drain valve so that water can start draining. It often useful to open the hot water tap a little bit to release the air pressure. It will let the water drain quickly.
