Water heater life spans vary due to factors like the model and how much hot water your household uses. While all water heaters will eventually need a replacement, there are things you can do to make yours last as long as possible.
Insulate Your Water Heater
You can insulate your water heater by wrapping sufficient insulation around the tank and pipes. This goes a long way toward reducing its energy usage. An energy-efficient water heater is much more likely to have a long life span.
Regularly Flush the Tank
As cold water enters your water heater, it contains a variety of minerals and sediment. These settle at the bottom of your tank and will build up over time. This negatively affects the water heater’s efficiency and can result in premature failure. Having us flush your tank regularly will help you avoid this problem.
Use a Water Softener
If you have hard water that contains an abundance of minerals, a water softener will help your water heater last longer. A water softener will remove various minerals, such as calcium, from your water before it reaches the water heater.
Install an Expansion Tank
An expansion tank handles surplus water during thermal expansion. It’s a device that prevents excessive pressure from building up in your water heater’s tank. Since the water heater won’t have to suffer from additional wear and tear from high pressure, it will last longer.
Set the Right Water Temperature
Setting the temperature on your water heater is easy. You only need to do this once, but if you have it set too high, you could be shortening the water heater’s life span. Setting it to a lower temperature minimizes the mineral buildup, reduces the stress that the heating element and tank experience, and lowers the system’s workload. This reduces wear and tear and results in a longer life span.
Schedule Routine Maintenance
Routine maintenance is one of the best ways to extend your water heater’s life span. It allows us to identify leaks and corrosion early on, prevent sediment buildup, and make sure all of your water heater’s components are working properly. This reduces unexpected breakdowns and the need for repairs, which allows your water heater to last longer. During a routine maintenance visit, we’ll do things like flush the tank, look for leaks, and inspect the anode rod.
Professional Water Heater Assistance
A water heater can be costly. You want to protect your investment by doing all you can to extend its life span. Start by following these tips. Call Carlson Plumbing in Fountain Valley, CA today for all of your water heater service needs.
