Hot water is so important to your life at home and it plays a part in so many different tasks that you do. You use hot water to get your clothes extra clean when you wash and to help loosen food on dishes when you wash them too. Not to mention, life would be pretty miserable if you started off each day with a cold water shower. That is why it is so important to take care of your hot water heater so it keeps working and its there when you need to use hot water. Here are a few routine water heater maintenance tasks that you can easily do yourself.

Water Heater Inspection

Routine hot water heater maintenance always starts with doing a visual inspection of the water heater itself. A quick look at the water heater and surrounding area can tell you a lot about the potential for problems with your water heater. You must do things such as check for leaks on the incoming and outgoing pipes and also look for wetness on the floor or residue below the water heater that may indicate it could be leaking. You also want to do such things as check for corrosion on the heater itself or any of the plumbing connections.

It is also a good idea to open the control box door from time to time and check for any burnt electrical smell or signs that wires or electrical parts are melting or coated with suit.

You want to listen for noises too such as knocking, kettling or boiling because they can be sure signs that bigger problems are looming in the future of your water heater.

All these things will tell you that your water heater is about to have problems. Water heater maintenance inspections can catch a lot of little problems before they turn into big expensive ones.

Drain the Tank

There simply is no more important part of water heater maintenance than draining the tank on your water heater on a regular basis. This should be done once every 6 to 12 months.

The reason for this is simple; over time sediment will build up in the bottom of your water heater tank. When this happens it causes the water flowing through your tank to do so at a lower speed. The water in the tank then gets super-heated to a temperature much higher than normal (often accompanied by boiling or kettling noises). This heating causes the storage tank at the bottom of the water heater to expand and contract as the appliance comes on and off. Eventually this weakens the storage tank and will cause it to crack or burst open; when it does it will flood everything that is around it and ruin the water heater itself too.

Your homes water heater is not something you want to neglect; it is so important to your comfort you have to take the time to do periodic water heater maintenance. If you dont want to do the steps necessary to maintain it, then call your local plumber and they will be happy to come out and do it for you.