Danny Lipford: Susan asks, “Why do they say you need to drain your water heater every year?”
The reason it’s important to drain some water out of your water heater at least once a year, is it moves a lot of the sediment that settles down at the bottom of the tank to the outside. Now you don’t have to drain all of the water, but at least a few gallons once a year.
Now, the sediment, if you leave it in there, it really will reduce the life expectancy of your water heater because it just has to work a lot harder. That’s also going to cost you more money in energy costs.
And it’s so easy to drain some of the water. All you do is hook your garden hose right to this drain valve, turn the drain valve on, and if you’re at the other end of the hose, you’ll see what I mean when a white, milky sediment comes out the other end. You will have to open the pressure relief valve to allow the water to drain.
Now, these tasks will cost you no money at all but they’ll save you some.
This post originally appeared on Today’s Homeowner. For more information on this topic, check out:
- How to Drain a Water Heater (video)
- Water Heater Maintenance (video)
- Repair a Leaking Water Heater Pressure Relief Valve (article)
- How to Choose a Hot Water Heater (article)