Residential Water Heating Service: Maintenance Tips for Your Tank-Type Water Heater

22 April 2016
 Categories: , Blog

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While water heating is a service that should be available in your home at all times, you can often fail to give your hot water heater enough maintenance attention until that one cold morning when you step into the shower room for a steamy shower only to find that the heat is gone.

Proper maintenance of water heaters can go a long way toward keeping you in hot water and protecting you from paying more than a reasonable amount for water heating service. Follow these tips to keep your tank-type water heater in good working condition and prolong its life. 

Drain your unit 

As cold water is supplied to your water heater tank, sediment finds its way to the bottom part. The sediment can accumulate quite fast depending on the amount of impurities present in the water. If accumulated sediment is allowed to remain at the bottom of your water heater tank for long, it will not only force your unit to run harder than is necessary but also cause the tank to be gradually eroded away by rust until you need to replace it entirely. But why should you run the risk of incurring the high cost of tank replacement when this problem can easily be averted cheaply?

Flush the sediment out from your water heater tank by connecting one end of a hose pipe to the drain valve found at the bottom side of the heater and put the other end where you want the dirty water to drain. After you have done that, open the drain valve to allow the water to flow out of your tank. When the water coming out of the hose looks clear of sediment, the flushing is complete.

Ensure unobstructed access to your unit

Your water heater is one of those plumbing units that can cause a lot of problems if left unattended for a long time. Make sure the area where your water heating unit is located is clear of obstructions, so that you can have easy access to the unit to troubleshoot for impending or existing problems when you have the time.

For instance, unobstructed passageway will help you perform regular inspection to ensure that the working pressure of your unit does not exceed the pressure markings indicated outside of the water storage tank and also ensure that leak spots are detected early and repaired before they can result in costly damage to your house and the unit itself.