How to Properly Care For Your Water Heater
As we mentioned in a recent blog post, although water heaters are so essential, many people don’t pay attention to them until it’s too late. However, we want to change that, and instead of only being concerned when things start to go awry, we want you to care for your water heater just as you would for any other major appliance.
Below, learn a few things you can do to keep your water heater in good shape during its entire lifetime, and potentially even beyond that:
Be smart with your settings.
You should be smart with your water heater’s settings every day, but one period of time in particular that we want to note is when you’re on vacation. After all, if no one is home needing hot water, don’t you think it would be nice to give your water heater a bit of a break? Depending on the water heater you have installed you may even have a “vacation” setting, but if not, contact us for our expert tips on how you should set your water heater when you’re out of town.
Protect your water heater with insulation.
Especially older units. Insulating your water heater with a fiberglass jacket can help improve the efficiency of the system, and as you may have heard us say before, being as efficient as possible at home is important. In addition to insulating the water heater itself, another best practice is to insulate the hot and cold water pipes themselves.
Drain the tank regularly.
While this isn’t to say you have to drain your tank once a week, you should drain it a few times a year – perhaps when you perform your seasonal maintenance. This is important because it can eliminate any sediment and debris that has built up, and over time, too much sediment can become a problem (and particularly a noisy problem).
Let’s face it, you wouldn’t want to turn on the sink or start up the shower only to find that no hot water is coming out, right? We know we wouldn’t, and caring for your water heater is an easy way to ensure that you have access to water at the temperature you want it during your water heater’s lifetime.
If you have additional questions about water heaters, or if you suspect that your water heater needs some repairs or even total replacement, give us a call at 714.630.8766.
