7 Ways to Extend the Life of Your Water Heater

While we should learn more about how water heaters work to maintain them and expand their lifespans, we usually let them go unnoticed. Unlike AC units, for example, which we repair every once in a while, water heaters are just as important, if not more, and in need of regular maintenance and checkups to avoid sudden breakdowns that will leave us in confusion and trouble.

But how can we change that? With these 7 ways right here, you can extend your water heater’s lifespan.

1. Give It Some Room 

This tip only applies when you first decide on installing a water heater. When you are deciding on a place that you are going to install the water heater in, you need to make sure that you are leaving some free space around the system.

This way, you, or the professional you hire, will have some space to work with when you are doing regular maintenance checks. Other than that, leaving some space for the system will reduce the risk of fires as it will be able to “breathe.” 

2. Insulation Matters 

Make sure once you have installed the water heater, that you insulate the system and its pipes. The ideal insulation type is foam self-sticking insulation for its ease of installation. Make sure that you get pipe insulations that match them in diameters and lengths.

You will have many options with different available thicknesses; however, the standard is 3/8 inches thick. This way, you will protect the system from condensation during the summer. 

3. Maintenance Checks 

Regular checkups to examine the way your water heater is operating are essential to discover any issues or faults that you need to fix. Make sure to look for signs of leaking or damage. Discovering leaks early on will protect you and your house from the damage of flooding in the area where you placed the heater. 

4. Leave It to Pros 

If you discover any leaks around the pipes and you just need to tighten them up to stop the leak, then you can do this easy task yourself. Otherwise, it might be harder to take care of.

If you have any damaged pipes or leak issues that you can’t take care of yourself, the professionals at https://allserviceplumbers.com/los-alamitos/ advise that you leave this task for experienced workers instead of attempting to do it yourself and end up ruining the pipes. Sometimes the issue is deeper than you will be able to tell. 

5. Check the Pressure-Relief Valve 

This valve works as a built-in safety system for the water heater to release the pressure once it gets too high for the system. These valves protect your house from any sudden explosions due to high pressure inside the system tank. That’s why, it’s essential you test the pressure-relief valve every once in a while, to make sure that it’s operating properly.

You will find a small lever located on the top of the tank or on the side. All you need to do is simply lift it and check if there is any sign of water coming out of it. If there is no water that can be noticed, then the valve needs to be replaced. 

6. Flush the Tank 

This maintenance routine step should be performed every 7 to 12 months. All you need is a bucket to drain a few liters of water into it. Examine the water for any dirt or debris. If you find the discharged water to be dirty, then you need to clean the heater to ensure its efficiency. This way you will be able to expand the heater’s lifespan while saving yourself from big energy bills. 

7. Install a Water “Softener” And Add an Expansion Tank 

If you are living somewhere where you have “hard water”, water with high mineral content, such as Los Alamitos, then, you will need to install a water softener to avoid buildups that could easily ruin your heater. 

If you have a water heater in a closed system, chances are, it suffers from constant fluctuations in pressure and temperature. This goes back to the fact that the closed system doesn’t allow the water to go anywhere when it expands. These fluctuations put a great deal of stress on water heaters which can shorten its lifespan. Adding an expansion tank will help in solving this problem. 

We take our water heaters for granted even though they are essential for the quality of lives we lead. Maintaining water heaters are simple if we put regular time and effort into taking care of them. Some of the aforementioned tips are easy to do and need to only be done once, and others need to be done regularly to keep water heaters running efficiently and smoothly.