What you should be looking for
After months and months with your family staying at home, most of your appliances are probably getting much more use than normal. Although most homeowners have a maintenance warranty on their air conditioners and heating systems, they don’t always pay as much attention to the water heaters in the home. Water Heaters just sit in the corners of your home usually and go unattended until a problem arises.
Many water heater maintenance troubles require an experienced professional plumber, but there are some basic things most homeowners can do themselves. First would be to the reading of the water heater manual to understand how often maintenance actually should be done.
When homeowners purchase a new water heater tank, they should be able to sign up for a maintenance plan and/or warranty. Some licensed plumbers also offer a water heater type maintenance plan or a home plumbing system maintenance plan that requires them to come out every one to two years to make sure everything is running according to plan.
A professional plumbers water heater maintenance plan usually will include:
· Inspecting the vent system
· Cleaning inside of the main burner
· Inspection of the main and pilot burners if the water heater is running on gas
· Checking the anode rod, which helps expand the life efficiency of the water heater tank
· Checking or replacing the pressure relief valve, which is a safety device located on the top or side of all water heater tanks
Draining Your Water Heater Tank Annually
Experts recommend draining your water heater every six months, while other heating and plumbing contractors recommend draining it once a year. Depending where you live, you may need to drain your water heater more even more frequently, especially of you have hard water. If you notice that you are running out of hot water more frequently than previous years, it may be time to start thinking about draining your water heater tank.
A water heater tank can run less efficiently or even stop working altogether if water isn’t drained on the regular. Sediment from the water will settle to the bottom of the tank and will build up over time. On electric water heaters, the sediment will actually cover the heating elements causing you to not get any hot water whatsoever.
If a homeowner decides they want to drain the water heater themselves, they will need to use caution! Always follow the step-by-step directions in the owners manual and remember that the water coming from the water heater tank will be HOT.
Homeowners should also inspect their water heater to look for pooling water around the bottom or the connection pipes. This may indicate a leak, and in turn a plumbing professional should be called in to do some investigating.
Tankless Water Heaters Are Becoming Popular
A good solution being adopted by many homeowners is having a tankless water heater installed, which saves on space and energy. Instead of having that big bulky water tank in your home, a tankless water heater is mounted on the wall. Tankless water heaters provide hot water only when it is required. They do not include a storage tank, which uses energy continuously to heat the water even when it’s not being used. That means you’re not wasting energy heating water when you don’t need it. When a hot water faucet is turned on, cold water is carried through pipes and circulated through a series of coils called a heat exchanger. The water is directly heated by an electric element or a gas burner that heats the water only as long as there is demand. The tankless unit turns off once the hot water faucet is turned off
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