Water Heater Maintenance: February 2012

Tips to Maintaining Water Heater

Water heater maintenance is one of the most important yet overlooked things home owners need to take care of. When you first move into your new house it is very important that you inspect the water heater and make sure that is working properly. You can also hire someone to do this for you.

If you choose to hire a professional to do this for you, it would be very wise to follow them and watch exactly what they are doing. While they are doing their water heater maintenance ask them as many questions as you can. Take a notebook with you and write everything that they do and tell you down. Next time you will be able to do the water heater maintenance on your own.

Tips Maintaining Water Heater Tank

Tankless water heater maintenance is fairly simple compared to traditional types of water heaters. The tankless water heaters have been on the market for quite a few years now. They are becoming much more popular as people are trying to find greener energy devices and tankless water heaters are much more efficient and only use resources to heat the water when the water is needed.

There are some downsides to a tankless water heater, such as the slow flow rate. Tankless water heater can only produce a flow between 2 – 5 gallons per minute. While large tank type water heaters produce more flow. If you do regular tankless water heater maintenance and keep your water heater running well, you can keep the flow on the high side.

Tips Maintaining Gas Hot Water Heater

Tips to Maintain Solar Water Heater

Solar water heaters are becoming more and more popular among home owners. Harnessing the power of the sun to give you hot water is a great way to reduce your utility bills and also a great way to reduce the footprint that you leave on the earth. While solar water heaters are not the most popular water heaters on the market right now, they are gaining popularity very quickly.

Performing maintenance to your solar water heater is actually very similar to performing maintenance on any other type of water heater. The biggest difference is that you will also perform maintenance to the power supply of your solar water heater, where you would not perform maintenance to the gas lines to your gas water heater.

Starting with the solar equipment is actually a great place to start your solar water heater maintenance. First you need to make sure that your solar panels are not being blocked by shade. You should check this in the morning, noon and afternoon before the sun goes down. If the solar panels are being blocked by shade anytime during the day it is suggested that you move them to where they can be in the sun all day.

Also, you need to make sure that the solar panels are clean and free from dust and dirt. The solar panels may also get leaves or other debris from the wind blowing on them. Making sure that they are clean and clear from debris will guarantee that they are performing the best that they can.

Next, you should inspect the plumbing and wiring connections. If you find any loose wires, unless you know what you are doing, you should contact a local electrician to come and fix it. If you know what you are doing, then you can perform the needed maintenance to the wiring. Make sure that none of the water fixtures are leaking and if they are you can try and tighten them.

You should always follow the owner’s manual when doing solar water heater maintenance and if you do not feel comfortable doing the maintenance yourself then you should hire a professional to do the solar water heater maintenance for you. If you do hire a professional to do the service for you it is suggested that you should follow them and see exactly what they are doing so you can perform the maintenance yourself. Ask them any questions that you may have.

If you do feel comfortable enough to do the maintenance yourself, then you should make sure and follow the safety precautions within your owner’s manual. To perform the tank maintenance you will first shut off the power supply to the tank. You will then hook up a drain hose and drain the tank. Make sure that the open end of the hose is in an area that will not be harmed by hot water.

After you have drained the tank it is important that you run water through the tank to clear out any debris or sediment that is left inside the tank. When the water runs clear out of the drain hose you will know that the tank is clean. You can then take the drain hose off of the tank and turn the feed line back on. After the tank is filled back up with water, you can then turn the power supply back on to the solar water heater.

Solar water heater maintenance is a necessity to keep your solar water heater working correctly. If you do solar water heater maintenance and keep your water heater running well it will last you a very long time and save you a lot of money in utility bills. It is said in the near future many more people will be changing their water heating sources to solar power.

Tips to Maintaining Electricity Water Heater

If you are a lucky owner of an electric water heater then here are very detailed instructions on how to perform maintenance to your electric water heater. Electric water heater maintenance can be a very dangerous thing if you do not follow the safety procedures that you will find in your water heater manual. If you do not have your manual, there are some general tips listed below. You can also see if you can find a copy of your manual online.

The first thing you will want to do when performing electric water heater maintenance is turn off the power at the breaker box. On the inside of the door of your breaker box you should find a diagram showing you which breaker controls your electric water heater. If it is not marked you should get in touch with an electrician to help you with this. It is a smart idea to make sure that all of your breakers are labeled.

After you have turned off the breaker to the electric water heater, you will then want to shut off the feed line valve going into your electric hot water heater. After you have closed the feed line water valve you will want to hook up your hose to the drain valve. The drain valve should be located near the thermostat; there should also be a picture of where it is at in your manual under electric water heater maintenance.

Before you open the drain valve that the hose is hooked up to, you need to turn on one of your faucets inside the house. You will want to turn on the hot water faucet. This will stop the vacuum effect while you are draining your electric hot water heater. You will also want to make sure that the open end of the hose connected to the hot water heater is outside and is able to drain somewhere that will not be damaged by hot water. The driveway or next to a sidewalk will work well.

Now you can open the valve that the hose is connected to so that the hot water can drain out. It is a good idea to open the valve slowly so that you can make sure that the hose connected to the valve is not going to leak. If it does leak, close the valve and retighten the hose. If the hose is not leaking, you are ready to drain the tank. Open the valve all of the way and watch the open end of the hose until it stops draining.

After the tank is empty, leave the hose hooked up and turn the feed line to the water tank bank on. This will help remove any debris that is left in the water heater tank. This is a step that is looked over with most people do their own electric water heater maintenance. Wait until the water coming out of the open end of the hose is clear and then shut the valve off to the feed line.

At this point you can also close the drain valve that the hose is hooked up to. Also, you may now remove the hose that is connected to the drain valve. It is a good idea to walk the hose out so that you drain all of the excess water out of the hose. Also, do not forget to close the hot water faucet that you had open to prevent the vacuum effect.

It is very important that your tank is full before you turn the power back on to it. With electric water heaters, the elements can blow if you turn it on without the tank being full. This is a safe precaution to follow with electric water heater maintenance. Not all electric water heater elements will blow, but it is better to be safe then sorry.

The last step to electric water heater maintenance is to test the pressure release valve. It is a good idea to read in the manual and follow the instructions in the manual for doing this. If you do not have the manual to follow for your electric water heater maintenance, see if you can find it online.

The tank should be turned back on at the breaker after the electric water heater has filled with water. You will have to wait until the heat of the water has been brought back up and the water heater is running as it was before the maintenance, actually better now that you have done your electric water heater maintenance.

Once the water heater temperature is back to normal, you need to test the pressure relief valve. Make sure that you follow the manufacture’s instructions. There should be a tagged located near the pressure relief valve on your water heater. If there is not, check in your manual that came from the manufacture.

That is the end of the tutorial and electric water heater maintenance. If you follow the directions and most importantly do not skip over the safety procedures, your hot water heater will be running like it is brand new. After you have completed your electric water heater maintenance make sure that you pick up all of the tools that you may have used and clean the area of any water that you may have spilled.