Tips on how to Drain Your Water Heater

As all owners know, maintaining with the upkeep of your house is extremely necessary. Not solely does taking good care of issues earlier than they grow to be large points prevent cash in the long term, however it may give you a way of satisfaction to know you might be doing all of your finest to take care of a house that may be lived in for years to come back. One such space that’s necessary to maintain up with is correct water heater upkeep.

If a water heater isn’t drained every year, then over time sediments will construct up which may trigger the water heater to cease working. This leads to chilly showers or garments that don’t get correctly cleaned. If left undrained lengthy sufficient it may well even injury your water heater and you’ll have to purchase an entire new one. Nevertheless, you possibly can keep away from that occuring by following some easy steps to empty your water heater. Learn on to search out how!

How Do I Drain My Water Heater?

Although it’s possible you’ll be tempted to name in a plumber, draining or flushing your water heater is a reasonably straightforward course of that you are able to do your self taking the next steps:

• First, flip off the warmth supply for the water heater. For an electrical heater, you possibly can flip off the warmth supply by discovering the breaker the place the heater is plugged into the wall and flipping it to the off place or utterly unplugging it from the wall. For a gasoline heater, flip the dial that controls the water temperature to the left till it’s pointed at “Pilot” or “Trip.”
• Flip off the cold-water provide. Find the availability valve and switch the lever all the way in which to the left. This could minimize the water off.
• Join a backyard hose to the drain spigot. This spigot is positioned on the backside of the heater. Place the backyard hose towards the spigot and switch the highest of the hose to the fitting till it’s securely connected.
• Activate a faucet inside the home on the new aspect. This may permit air to enter into the system which is able to allow the water to empty out of the hose.
• Open the drain valve on the water heater. On many heaters, this valve is positioned on the spigot the place you connected the hose. Take a screwdriver and switch the valve so it’s straight up and down as a substitute of horizontal. The valve must be open, and water ought to begin to drain. If it has been some time because you drained your heater then it might take some time to get transferring on account of sediment build-up.
• Nevertheless, if you don’t hear any air transferring within the tank and the water continues to be not draining, then you’ll have to activate the stress reduction valve by taking the silver piece protruding and turning all of it the way in which up. This could solely be used as a final resort, and since turning on a faucet inside the home didn’t present sufficient air to get issues transferring. As soon as turned up, the water ought to begin draining.
• Enable the tank to empty utterly. This could take about 15-20 minutes. Make sure that the water is draining away from an space the place children and pets are, as it is vitally scorching and may trigger burns.
• Flush out the tank. To make sure that you might be clearing out any sediment that will not have been moved with the preliminary flush, activate the cold-water supply for 15-20 seconds, relaxation, and repeat these steps 3-4 instances. You must see sediment popping out of the home. Repeat the flushing till the water runs clear.
• Flip the cold-water supply again on, refill the tank with chilly water, and drain once more. That is simply an additional method to make sure that the tank is certainly cleaned out completely.
• Get the new water tank prepared for regular use. Shut the drain valve and unscrew the hose from the spigot. Open the cold-water tank and permit the tank to refill. Whilst you’re refilling, make sure you depart both the tap or stress reduction valve on. Flip off the reduction valve earlier than the water reaches the drain of the valve. Flip the warmth supply again on, after which activate the new water in any sink in the home till it runs clean.

You may have now efficiently drained your water heater.

Conclusion

House maintenance can really feel intimidating and overwhelming generally. Nevertheless, sure duties are a lot simpler and less complicated than it’s possible you’ll understand. Easy sufficient that you are able to do them your self and shouldn’t have to name in a plumber or one other skilled to repair a problem. A type of duties is draining/flushing your water heater.

Be certain your water heater is turned off, then flip off the cold-water provide. Hook up a hose to the spigot on the backside of the water heater. Have a faucet operating (on the new aspect) in the home, open the drain valve and let the water drain till the tank is empty. Flush out the tank with water stress from the chilly water till the water runs clear, then return the whole lot to the place it was, and fill the tank again up.