Feel The Burn – Water Heater Tips

Ways to Properly Maintain your Water Heater

It is easy to take your home water heater for granted. It is a machine that is heavily relied upon day in and day out without a second thought and it often gets overlooked.  Imagine you are home, going to take out the trash and find yourself ankle deep in water in your garage (or wherever your water heater is kept).  It looks like it rained indoors, but actually, your water heater sprang a leak. Or, imagine you are getting ready for work and the shower puts our nothing but cold water.  It’s time to call for emergency water heater repair.

In this situation, time is of the essence. Savvy homeowners explore plumbers in advance and therefore, have a reliable source when plumbing goes wrong at inconvenient times.

This will save time and hassle searching at the last minute and can be well-prepared ahead of time.

Water Heater Preventative Maintenance

Prevention is always better than the cure. For example, you get your annual physical and get your car serviced, but water heaters are usually out of sight in some little cubby. Hot water heaters require annual maintenance. Draining the hot water heater annually to remove a buildup of sediment, is an example of an important preventative maintenance task. Schedule an appointment with a professional plumbing repair service, or better yet sign up for an annual maintenance plan (click here to learn about ours).

Lowering Utility Bills

Would it shock you to learn that home hot water heaters account for about 20 percent of your monthly utility bills? But, you can lower your energy costs by making a few easy changes.

• Manufacturers typically use a default setting of 140 degrees F. Water this hot can scald your skin. However, the U.S. Department of Energy recommends setting water heater temperature at 120 degrees F, to reduce the risk of scalding and decrease your utility bills.
• Dirty water heaters contribute to higher energy costs and shortened life-spans.
• Blanket insulation around your hot water tank and save almost 10% on monthly energy bills. Insulation sustains a temperature of your water heater and results in a 40 percent reduction in energy.

Know When It’s Quitting Time

A water heater will typically make noises while heating is going out. Water puddling on the floor around the water heater indicates the tank has developed a leak.

If your hot water runs rusty in bathtubs and sinks, odds are your water heater is rusty. Rust is to-be-expected in a water heater past its prime. Generally, you will need to replace the appliance every 10 years.

Don’t wait on the timing of your unit, as you’ll risk serious property damage. And be (standing) in water!

Final Thoughts

If you are in our Oak Plumbing, Inc service area, call us today about becoming an annual maintenance plan member: (877) 959-7030.  And please, “Like” us on Facebook (click here) and follow us on Twitter (click here).

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