Maintain this or be in hot water
Good things to know about your hot water tank
Whoever invented the hot water tank was a genius. Imagine the hours our great, great grandmothers spent trying to heat kettles of water on the wood stove just to have a bath or wash clothes or dishes. And imagine the bliss of just opening a tap to have an almost endless stream of luxurious hot water.
Perhaps we take hot water for granted, because we don’t appreciate it truly until something goes wrong with the magical appliance that produces it. Not only is the hot water gone, but often there is a complete mess to deal with if the tank has blown.
Just like a car, your hot water tank needs regular maintenance so that it performs well and longer.
Every tank has an expiry date
With every tank that rolls off the manufacturer’s assembly line, a label is applied with a code and serial number so that the home owner or maintenance person can tell when they were made. The coding will also let you know if the tank is still covered under the manufacturer’s warranty. If the coding on your tank looks like Greek to you, simply take to the Internet and Google the manufacturer’s name and put “water tank expiry code” as search terms. The information for your specific tank should pop up.
How long do hot water tanks last?
The norm is 10 to 13 years, if they are properly maintained. If you have moved into a new home and your tank is of indeterminate age, this is definitely something you should do.
Every tank should be regularly drained
The frequency with which hot water tanks should be drained is something people are either not aware of or would like to ignore. It’s not a fun job.
Water coming through our pipes has a lot of minerals in it. It comes into the home and sits in the tank and can be there for extended periods of time. Those mineral deposits start to settle at the bottom of your tank creating sediment. We don’t see that sediment come out of our taps because hot water is taken from the top of the tank. How do you know when the sediment at the bottom is an issue, when you don’t really see it? When you use a lot of hot water and it runs out, how long is the recovery time? If it takes longer than it used to come back, that’s a sign. You might notice rust in the water. Ooops. That’s a big clue.
Your tank should be drained every 3 months.
What?
Yes, that frequent. This will keep your tank energy efficient and will drain the sediment, thereby extending the life of your tank. Not sure how to go about it? Get a plumber to do it the first time, just to show you how. Not knowing how to drain it is usually the reason why so many people are reticent to do it in the first place.
Speaking of energy efficiency
Did you know that at least 25% of your monthly utility bill is spent keeping your hot water tank full? We have all kinds of neat gadgets to make sure our homes aren’t fully heated when we’re not home and we spend all kinds of money on double and triple-glazed windows and insulation. But do we give it much thought when we wash a load of towels or whites that require hot water or have that second shower in a day? Makes you kind of want to wash more stuff in cold water, doesn’t it? And take better care of your tank that east up all that gas and electricity keeping your hot water running.
Go tankless
Thinking about that extra expense in adding a tankless hot water heater? They last about 5 to 10 years longer than a conventional tank and they don’t keep water so there’s no draining require. So balance the cost and maintenance-free factor with the longevity and you might like that. What you may not like is that hot water on demand is not what you’ll get with a tankless system. They take up less space in your utility room but they’ll take up more of your time while you’re waiting for your water to get hot.