Critical Things To Know About Your Water Heater

Water heater or hot water heater - whatever you like to call it - are appliances that require definite maintenance on a day to day basis to match the work that they do. Like any other home appliance, most homeowners tend to overlook the maintenance part, until and unless there's an issue with the water heater.

Generally, water heaters run on combustible fuel or electricity, and most of then remain switched on at all times. Therefore, anything can go wrong when there is so much high demand from home water heaters. Therefore, to help you track down the defects, we have formulated some must-know facts that you, as a homeowner, should learn about water heaters.

Vital Things To Learn About Water Heaters

The Time To Replace Them

Professional home inspector in Puyallup states that there’s no denying that water heaters will always provide you with various tell-tale signs regarding when they need to be replaced. Sometimes, age can prove to be a factor. It has been reported that if your water is more than seven years old, then you should definitely think of replacing it.

On the other hand, if your water is recently bought but is leaking or your water is not getting heated properly, then those are the signs of failure. Some of the other indicators include noisy operation, slow heating, the buildup of calcium and so on.

The Usual Lifespan

Generally, a water heater will last around ten to fifteen years at a maximum. If you perform regular maintenance, then the lifespan will increase as a result. However, if regular maintenance is not done, then the average lifespan will decrease.

The High Efficiency

Unless you're not aware, water heaters generally account for about 15 per cent of your monthly energy bills. Therefore, it's extremely critical that you buy a water heater that is highly efficient so that you can easily curb down energy usage. Less energy usage means more energy savings, which in turn will lead to money-saving too.

One of the other ways through which you can keep your water heater is by maintaining it regularly. Cleaning your water heater every week or month will help it to be at the top of its performance.

The Options

Since water heaters tend to run on various types of consumables, any water heater defect may vary from one model to another. For example, a defect occurring in a water heater that runs on electricity can totally be different from a water heater that runs on natural gas or propane. Therefore, it's important to keep this in mind.

Moreover, there are water heaters that come with a tank and others which doesn’t come with a tank (tankless water heaters). Moments like these are when it’s ideal to call in a professional home inspector who will inspect your water heater and let you know about the defect.

Additional Safety Tips For Your Water Heater

When you carry out your regular water heater maintenance schedule, be sure to always flush out any accumulated sediments from the inside of the heater tank. Accumulation of sediments reduce the working efficiency of a water heater and therefore more energy will be consumed for the same degree of performance.

Always test the water heater’s pressure relief valve from time to time. Regularly testing it will help you know about any defects or drawbacks, which can affect the water heater’s overall performance.

Keep any flammable item away from the vicinity of your water heater. Otherwise, the whole area can turn out to be a fire hazard.

Keep the surrounding space around your water heater clean and well-ventilated. Ventilation can help in avoiding any fire hazards.