What Can You Do To Keep Your Water Heater Working Well With Guests This Holiday Season?
The holidays are quickly approaching. If you're expecting house guests in the next couple of months, you'll want to be sure that your water heater continues to run all winter long. You can help this happen by making your water heater's job easier. The following tasks will help you prepare your water heater and prevent it from breaking down.
Drain the Sediment
If you have hard water in your home (as almost 90% of the homes in the United States do), your water heater will collect mineral deposits at the bottom of the tank, where the heating elements are. This makes it more difficult for your water heater to heat water. Over time, this layer of sediment can make your water heater more inefficient and can cause it to break down prematurely. To get rid of this sediment, drain your water heater.
- Turn off the unit.
- Turn off the supply of cold water to the water heater.
- Open up a hot water faucet in your home to prevent a vacuum from forming.
- Attach a hose to the spigot on the bottom of your water heater.
- Run the hose
to a bucket. - Open the spigot.
- Drain the water out of the water heater (stopping to dump the bucket periodically) until the water exiting the water heater is clear and free of sandy gunk.
- Turn off the spigot at the bottom of the hot water heater.
- Remove the hose.
- Turn on the cold water supply to the hot water heater.
- Watch the faucet that you opened in step 3. When water starts flowing out of the faucet again, this means that the hot water heater is filled.
- Close the faucet.
- Turn on the hot water heater again.
Remember that all water coming out of your hot water tank will be very hot during this time. Wear gloves and keep kids away during this process.
Insulate the Water Heater
Put an insulating water heater blanket around the appliance to prevent loss of heat through the walls of the unit. This will make it easier for your hot water heater to keep water warm during the cold winter.
Keep the Temperature Moderate
The warmer you try to keep your hot water, the harder your hot water heater has to work. Set your hot water heater to 120 degrees. This is considered a safe temperature for small children and will also reduce the burden on your hot water heater.
Are you looking for more ways to keep your hot water functioning this winter? Contact a repair professional who can give your appliance a tune-up and can also give you advice for keeping water heaters working throughout the holiday season.
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