Category: Plumbing

Benefits Of A Water Heater Inspection For Safety

Water heaters are an important part of our lives. We usually take them for granted until the first time we find icy water awaiting us in the shower. It’s a chilly reminder that we need to take care of our water heater. Water heaters come in many types, shapes and sizes. Natural gas (or LP) or electric tank type are the most common. Like everything else in the house, a little bit of maintenance and periodical inspections can work to get the most life out of a hot water heater.

Inspecting your water heater regularly is a very important, but often over-looked home maintenance step. Water heaters typically last for 8-13 years, and if your water heater is over 10 years old, inspecting it at least annually is very important. An inspection can identify a small problem before it becomes a larger one. Leaks, rust and other issues only get worse with time, which means that the sooner you can deal with them, the better.

There are several steps you can take yourself to keep the water heater running smoothly:

• Inspect the Pressure Valve: Make sure your pressure valve is working correctly by turning off the power and water to your hot water unit and then tripping the valve. Air, water or vapor should come out – if they don’t, you need to replace the valve. A malfunctioning valve could cause an explosion if the tank becomes over-pressurized.
• Flush out Your Tank: It’s a good idea to empty the tank once a year or so to remove any sediment that has accumulated inside, and it’s convenient to take care of this chore at the same time you check the pressure valve. With the tank disconnected from water and power, hook a hose up to the drain valve and place the other end somewhere where it’s safe to discharge hot water. Next, with the pressure valve already open, flip open the drain valve and let all the water flow out. Finally, hook up the water to the hot water heater again and turn on your hot water faucets. Wait until water starts coming out before you power up the heater again.
• Check on Your Anode Rod: The anode rod helps prevent corrosion in your hot water tank and is an essential tool for prolonging the life of the equipment. You can check on it while the tank is drained by unscrewing the hex head at the top of the tank and pulling out the rod. If it has become very thin, or if it’s coated in sediment, it’s time for a replacement. In general, anode rods should last about five years, but it’s a good idea to check on them annually.

 

Gurgling or Groaning Noises

Don’t worry about any gurgling or groaning noises coming from the heater. That sound is just air entering the system as water drains out. If the drain valve won’t close tightly when you’re done, drain the tank completely, unscrew the old valve and screw in a new one. To restart the water heater, open the shutoff valve and let the hot water run at any faucet to purge air from the system. Then turn on the power or relight the pilot.

Set your water heater’s dial to 120 degrees F. If the dial doesn’t have numbers, check the water temperature with a cooking thermometer. Higher temperatures increase sediment buildup and the risk of scalding injuries.

 

Reasons to Have Your Water Heater Inspected

Water heating accounts for approximately 14 percent of your home’s annual energy costs. That makes it the third largest “energy consumer” in your home.  Only your heating and cooling systems consume more.

That’s reason enough to schedule a water heater performance and safety inspection from Service Pros.  But just for good measure, here are four more:

• Over time, sediment deposits build up inside your water heater storage tank; these can hinder its performance and cause your tank to crack and leak.
• Gas water heaters are capable of leaking carbon monoxide gas. That can lead to serious health issues for you and other family members.
• Other things can go wrong with your water heater, too, including temperature fluctuations, internal corrosion that causes rust-colored hot water, leaking around the bottom of your storage tank, and more.
• The average lifespan of a water heater is only about 12 years, and yet with annual preventive maintenance, yours can perform better and last longer.

 

Tankless Water Heater Maintenance Tips

Tankless water heaters heat water on demand, instead of storing it in a tank, but they still need regular maintenance. Many such units will indicate when maintenance is required, but you should plan to perform maintenance yearly, or more often if you have hard water.

Flush the Water Heater

To flush a tankless water heater, turn off the gas or power and cold water to the unit. Shut off the hot water valve that sends hot water from the unit to the house. Attach a garden hose to the outlet of a sump pump, and to your unit’s cold-water isolation valve.

Attach a second length of hose to your unit’s hot-water isolation valve. Place both the end of this hose, and the pump, in a five-gallon bucket. Then fill the bucket with five gallons of fresh, food-grade white vinegar.

Open both the cold and hot isolation valves on your unit, turn on the pump, and let the vinegar circulate through the unit for about 45 minutes. Throw out the used vinegar, fill the bucket with plain water, and flush the unit again for about five minutes.

Clean the Air Intake Filter

While you are flushing your tankless water heater with vinegar, you should clean the air intake filter. The air intake filter keeps debris from getting into your tankless water heater. Cleaning it keeps air flowing smoothly into the unit.

You can access the air intake filter by removing your unit’s face plate – check the user manual for specific instructions. Once you’ve got the filter out, rinse it thoroughly with clean water, then dry it with paper towels before reinstalling it. Disconnect your hoses, screw on all service caps tightly, then open the cold and hot water valves and restore power and, if necessary, gas to the unit. Check for and address any leaks.

Upkeeping Your Water Heater Maintenance

Water heater maintenance may not be fun, but it can help you save the money you’ll need to do the things you will enjoy, because it can drastically improve the life of your water heater. Take care of your water heater today, or tomorrow you could find yourself shelling out hundreds to replace it before its time. When you invest in American Home Shield, you will enjoy robust coverage for your water heater because many parts and components are included in the warranty.

 

What Are The Four Key Action Items Of Preventive Maintenance?

Preventive maintenance takes a proactive approach towards maintenance and involves four key action items: inspection, detection, correction and prevention. Let’s take a closer look at how each concept is fundamental to a successful preventive maintenance program.

• Inspection: Inspections are a necessary part of preventive maintenance and aid organizations in two ways. First, facility inspections ensure that equipment is safe to use. Regular inspections help prevent workplace injuries and provide a business with increased liability protection. Second, regular inspections protect property. Inspections ensure that equipment is functioning as the manufacturer intended.
• Detection: Operating on a run-to-failure approach can end up costing a facility department significant money, which is why many facility managers choose to utilize a preventive approach to maintenance. Preventive maintenance helps facility managers detect problems early, when issues are still relatively easy and inexpensive to fix.
• Correction: Preventive maintenance encourages facility managers to take a proactive approach towards equipment care and correct issues before they occur. If an issue (or potential issue) is detected, facility managers take steps to promptly address the problem before it worsens or shuts down operations.
• Prevention: Facility managers can combine inspection records and maintenance notes to learn from past mistakes and correct repeated issues with equipment. Prevention of asset failure reduces stress and increases productivity for facilities teams. When equipment works as inspected, staff can focus on proactive (rather than reactive) maintenance tasks.

Water Heaters

The cost of heating water consumes almost 20 percent of your household budget, second only to what you spend on heating and cooling your home. Despite this expense, water heaters are typically ignored until they break, leaving you with no hot water and, possibly, a flooded basement.

If your water heater is nearing the end of its useful life and you’re thinking of replacing it before disaster strikes, you’ll be happy to know that you have better choices, thanks to recent federal regulations that require water heaters to be more energy-efficient. New storage tank water heaters are required to operate more efficiently, and tankless (on-demand) water heaters are even more efficient than that.

Typically, homeowners replace their old water heater with one of the same type that runs on the same fuel—natural gas or electricity. Switching from a tank water heater to a tankless unit can be expensive because it requires you to retrofit your plumbing and possibly your electrical system. But if you’re building a new home or adding to an existing one, installing a tankless water heater may make economic sense.

Consumer Reports recently tested several electric and gas whole-house tankless water heaters from brands such as Bosch, Navien, Noritz, Rheem, Rinnai, Tempra, and Trutankless. We compared the results with those of conventional tanked heaters from Rheem, one gas and one electric, as well as with a Rheem electric heat pump water heater, which is a variation on a tanked water heater.

 

Why Buy An Energy Efficient Water Heater?

About Water Heater Efficiency

A water heater’s efficiency is measured by its energy factor (EF). EF is based on recovery efficiency, standby losses, and cycling losses. The higher the EF, the more efficient the water heater. Electric resistance water heaters have an EF ranging from 0.7 and 0.95; gas water heaters from 0.5 to 0.6, with a few high-efficiency models ranging around 0.8; oil water heaters from 0.7 and 0.85; and heat pump water heaters from 1.5 to 2.0.

Tips for Buying a New Water Heater

• Choose a water heater with an appropriate first-hour rating (FHR) by estimating your family’s peak-hour demand for hot water.
• Determine the appropriate fuel type for your water heater. If you are considering electricity, check with your local utility company for off-peak electricity rates for water heating. If available, this may be an attractive option to choose electric water heaters. Natural gas, oil and propane water heaters are less expensive to operate than electric models.
• If you are in a moderate climate (i.e., with relatively low heating loads), consider a Heat Pump Water Heater (HPWH), which is more efficient than a conventional electric water heater. Though a HPWH may have a high initial cost, it can save up to 50% of your water heating bill.
• For safety as well as energy-efficiency reasons, when buying gas- and oil-fired water heaters, look for units with sealed combustion or power venting to avoid back-drafting of combustion gases into the home.
• Everything else being equal, select a water heater with the highest energy factor (EF). However, you should note that the EF of one type of heater is not comparable to another type. For example, an electric water heater with an EF of 0.9 may cost more to operate than a gas water heater with an EF of 0.7.
• Whenever possible, do not install the water heater in an unheated basement. Also try to minimize the length of piping runs to your bathroom and kitchen.

 

How To: Choose a Water Heater

While we often take a hot shower or bath for granted, it’s important to note that up to 20% of a household’s annual energy expenditures come from heating hot water. That makes it the second largest utility expense in the home, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, averaging around $400 to $600 per year.  If you are looking to install a new hot water heater—or replace an existing one—the type, size and efficiency of the unit you choose will have a big impact on its performance and long-term savings.

There are a number of different types of water heaters to consider from heat pumps to solar-powered units, but the most common are tank and tankless. Traditional, tank-style water heaters are large metal cylinders that keep hot water stored and on reserve for when it may be needed. Since they typically range in capacity from 40 to 60 gallons and are generally about 60″ tall by 24″ wide, they are often installed in a basement or laundry room.

Tankless units, also known as “on demand” water heaters, turn on only when hot water is required. With no holding tank, the system is not only more compact—typically 20″ wide by 28″ long by 10″ deep—but more efficient since it is not storing a reserve of hot water (or compensating for its subsequent heat loss). Tank-style water heaters are usually less expensive than tankless units, but tankless models generally last longer: a traditional water heater usually lasts 10 to 13 years, while tankless water heaters can last up to 20 years.

Regardless of whether the unit is tank or tankless, water heaters generally fall into two categories: direct-fired or indirect-fired. Direct-fired means that the water in the tank is heated directly by the heat of a flame; these units are generally used in homes with warm air furnaces. In direct-fired heaters, fuel is burned in a combustion chamber under the water storage tank, then hot flue gases heat water in the tank.

 

Best Water Heaters Review and Buying Tips

How to find the best water heaters when there is a variety of gas and electric storage tank and tankless water heaters and numerous models? We have compared Rheem, AO Smith, Bradford White, Rinnai, Noritz, Takagi, and other top-ranked manufacturers and brands, and here is the list of the best and most popular models.

To get the best water heating unit for your home, it is essential to know that between 20 and 25% of home energy consumption goes toward water heating, making it the second-largest energy consumer in the North American home. And what is even more important is to know how to get the device that can save.

And this is the reason for these articles… to help you find the best electric and gas models, including top-rated tankless and a storage tank type.

After reviewing many water heaters, it became evident that it is not easy to find one particular brand or a model, which truly stands out from a wide range of available heaters on the market today.

The quality and versatility of models they offer are great, and their heating products have similar material quality, available features, longevity, efficiency, and warranty.

All of them are making quality products, but before you buy the best gas water heater or the top-rated electric model, be sure to know what you are looking for.

 

Water Heater Tips | Save Money & Energy

CONSIDER PURCHASING A NEW WATER HEATER

It’s a good idea to replace your water heater if it is more than 10 years old. An old water heater is not only inefficient but could also cause irreparable damage if it leaks or bursts.

REPLACE OLD APPLIANCES

If your dishwasher or washing machine is more than 10 years old, you might consider replacing it with a new, more energy-efficient model. There are many new designs on the market (including ENERGY STAR® models) that use less water and are much more efficient than what was on the market even a decade ago.

INSULATE PIPES

In addition to insulating the tank itself, consider adding insulation to the first 6 feet of both the hot and cold water pipes connected to the unit. This will prevent fire hazards and help conserve heat so that your system doesn’t have to work so hard to reheat it.

INSTALL A TIMER

A traditional water heater tank is always running, which is a waste of electricity. Installing a timer to turn off your heater at night is a great way to help conserve energy – and could add years to the life of the unit. Call your local plumber for more information on water heater timers.

DRAIN THE TANK

It’s a good practice to drain your water heater every year or so. Draining the tank helps to remove sediment that can impede heat transfer and ultimately lower the efficiency of the unit. While this is a relatively easy procedure, always make sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions. If in doubt, call a professional to help with water heater maintenance.