How To Easily Extend Your Water Heater"s Life
Water heaters are essential appliances for every home.
Generally speaking water heaters on the whole are reliable and often last in excess of over 10 years.
In fact most of us can even forget it is even there unless trouble occurs! When that happens it is never a pleasant feeling as it can be expensive to fix.
This article will highlight simple easy water heater maintenance methods anyone can do to extend the life of your water heater.
Lowering the Temperature Difficulty - Very Easy Time - 1 minute Firstly locate your heater and the thermostat.
It is generally a knob attached to the gas valve or behind the tank if you have an electric water heater.
Simply lower the temperature.
Ideally you want the temperature to be around 110 -120 degrees Fahrenheit.
This will help extend the life of your heater as it will prevent overheating and possible over pressurization in the tank.
Another benefit is that you will significantly reduce your energy costs! Quick Flushing Difficulty - Quite Easy Time - 5 to 10 minutes Over time, especially in hard water areas, sediment and dirt will build up in your heater.
If the build up is too great you will get loud noises and the water taking a long time to heat up.
Ideally you need to a full flush but this takes time and requires a shut down of your water heater.
Instead you should quick flush the heater.
First grab a bucket, some gloves and locate the drain valve.
The drain valve is located at the bottom of the water heater.
Locate the valve or handle and turn it counter-clockwise slowly.
Fill up the bucket and then close the valve.
Have a look at the contents of the bucket.
If it is clean then you are done, if it is full of sediment repeat the operation.
You should regular perform this once every 2 months.
This will help resist rust and corrosion and keep the efficiency of the heater high (thus again saving cash).
Checking the temperature pressure relief valve Difficulty - Easy Time - 2 minutes This temperature pressure valve (TP valve) is a very important competent of your heater.
If this is faulty any excess pressure cannot escape.
Pressure build up is very dangerous and could potentially cause a rupture of the tank or even potentially an explosion.
I recommend you test your TP valve once every 6 months.
First locate your TP valve, it is usually labelled.
Generally it is located near the top of your heater.
There will be a lever attached to it.
Have a bucket ready underneath for any hot water that may be released.
Position yourself carefully (just in case of small amounts of water discharge) Just lift the lever slowly and part of the way up.
Then simply let it snap back in to its original position.
If you hear gurgling noises or experience discharge of water then your TP valve is working perfectly.
If nothing at all seems to happen then you should immediately replace the TP valve.
This is cheap to replace, if you do not feel confident doing this you should call a plumber.
By performing these quick easy water heater maintenance methods you will extend the life of your water heater.
Generally speaking water heaters on the whole are reliable and often last in excess of over 10 years.
In fact most of us can even forget it is even there unless trouble occurs! When that happens it is never a pleasant feeling as it can be expensive to fix.
This article will highlight simple easy water heater maintenance methods anyone can do to extend the life of your water heater.
Lowering the Temperature Difficulty - Very Easy Time - 1 minute Firstly locate your heater and the thermostat.
It is generally a knob attached to the gas valve or behind the tank if you have an electric water heater.
Simply lower the temperature.
Ideally you want the temperature to be around 110 -120 degrees Fahrenheit.
This will help extend the life of your heater as it will prevent overheating and possible over pressurization in the tank.
Another benefit is that you will significantly reduce your energy costs! Quick Flushing Difficulty - Quite Easy Time - 5 to 10 minutes Over time, especially in hard water areas, sediment and dirt will build up in your heater.
If the build up is too great you will get loud noises and the water taking a long time to heat up.
Ideally you need to a full flush but this takes time and requires a shut down of your water heater.
Instead you should quick flush the heater.
First grab a bucket, some gloves and locate the drain valve.
The drain valve is located at the bottom of the water heater.
Locate the valve or handle and turn it counter-clockwise slowly.
Fill up the bucket and then close the valve.
Have a look at the contents of the bucket.
If it is clean then you are done, if it is full of sediment repeat the operation.
You should regular perform this once every 2 months.
This will help resist rust and corrosion and keep the efficiency of the heater high (thus again saving cash).
Checking the temperature pressure relief valve Difficulty - Easy Time - 2 minutes This temperature pressure valve (TP valve) is a very important competent of your heater.
If this is faulty any excess pressure cannot escape.
Pressure build up is very dangerous and could potentially cause a rupture of the tank or even potentially an explosion.
I recommend you test your TP valve once every 6 months.
First locate your TP valve, it is usually labelled.
Generally it is located near the top of your heater.
There will be a lever attached to it.
Have a bucket ready underneath for any hot water that may be released.
Position yourself carefully (just in case of small amounts of water discharge) Just lift the lever slowly and part of the way up.
Then simply let it snap back in to its original position.
If you hear gurgling noises or experience discharge of water then your TP valve is working perfectly.
If nothing at all seems to happen then you should immediately replace the TP valve.
This is cheap to replace, if you do not feel confident doing this you should call a plumber.
By performing these quick easy water heater maintenance methods you will extend the life of your water heater.
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