How To Drain And Flush An Electric Hot Water Heater

If you don t.

How to drain and flush an electric hot water heater.

This can take up to two hours for some larger water heater tanks. Open a hot water faucet. Extend the life of your water heater with these basic but. Dave moody a plumbing pro with service experts suggests you may need to drain your water heater more frequently if your water source is a well or if your municipal.

Turn off the cold water supply and allow the heater to cool this may take a couple of hours. Find the drain valve on the side of your water heater and attach a hose. Depending on your water source and the mineral content both gas and electric water heaters should be flushed of sediment every one to two years to ensure optimal performance. Open the hot water tap in the bathroom to bleed air.

On an electric water heater sediment buildup can cause the lower heating element to fail. Open the hot water tap on the bathtub or wash basin and wait for a full stream of water. When do i want to flush my hot water heater. On a gas water heater the sediment creates hot spots that can damage the tank and cause premature failure.

Let the tank cool after turning off the heating elements. Allow the water to run through the water heater and out of the drain valve. And in both sediment buildup can clog the drain valve. Drain and flush it at least once a year fall is a good time and you can extend the length of your water heater s useful life to avoid the cost of replacement.

Do this for approximately five 5 or ten 10 minutes. Before you tackle any service to the water heater turn off all of the electricity to the unit including the breaker. If you turn the power on without filling the heating element can be damaged. Most homeowners should flush their water heaters every six months or so but if you have extremely hard water you may want to do it more often.

The water in your heater and many of the pipes connected to your water heater will be very hot. How to flush a water heater. Close the water heater drain. Attach a drain or garden hose to the drain valve on the side of the tank.

Connect a hose to the drain valve on the heater and run to a drain. Quickly learn how to drain and flush a hot water heater to remove sediments and prevent corrosion. Locate the water heater s drain valve typically found near the bottom of the tank. Don t drain scalding hot water.

Open the drain valve and allow the tank to completely drain. Do not turn on the power yet. Let the water cool.