Tips for Maintaining Your Hot Water Heater to Avoid Replacement Costs
Water heaters or geysers need constant care as these devices have to deal with constant heating and cooling. If you live in Costa Mesa and often want water heater repair Costa Mesa or often look for top water heater repair Costa Mesa, our tips might be perfect for you because prevention is always better than cure. Even though manufacturers tend to install the optimal materials in your geyser, over prolonged use, even these materials tend to get worse due to constant pressure. So here are some tips so that you can maintain your water heater for long!
1. Put it at a Height
According to norms set by experts, your geyser should be installed at a height of 6ft (or 1.8 meters) from the floor of your bathroom. This ensures that water pressure is enough at the height and the flow that you get in your tap is strong rather than a trickle.
2. Clear out Space around the Water Heater
This is a thing to keep in mind when you are first installing the water heater in your washroom. You should always clear out the space around your water heater so that there is enough distance between it and the wall. This helps the technicians at the time of service or repair to efficiently check all the parts of the water heater. Most people prefer to keep the geyser at some distance above the toilet so that access becomes easier but this may not be suitable for your home. You should avoid keeping it above showers, tubs, or toilets and instead keep it at locations where it can be accessed with a simple chair or stool.
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3. Switch it Off when it is Not in Use
This is perhaps the most common but the most important tip. A water heater should not stay switched on for extended periods of time. A common notion that we have believed in for a long time is that a water heater should stay on for a long time, like half an hour, before it has to be used. But, this is not the case today as much of the geysers we use today can heat up the water in about five minutes. So, if we switch on the geyser five minutes before our use and switch it off after use, its life will surely be prolonged.
4. Conserve Electricity
When you maintain your water heater, you automatically save electricity also. You need to set your water heater to a lower temperature. This will help as the geyser can reach that lower temperature faster than a high temperature. This ultimately puts less strain on your water heater and electricity used is much less too. This is beneficial for you as well because having warm or lukewarm water is always better than having extremely hot water. Mildly warm water reduces your chances of accidents and burns especially when children are involved while also prolonging your water heater’s life by not forcing it to do more work. When the water heater runs efficiently for a long, you are ensured that you will get hot water even during winter.
5. Maintain the Pressure Release Valve
You need to check at least once a year for the pressure release valves and thermostats and if they are working. The way to check it is by trying to release pressure one or two times. You will know there is an issue if the relief valve leaks. To fix this problem, you will have to drain some amount of water from the water heater and then detach the discharge tube. After this is done, you will need to replace the pressure release valve.
6. Check the Anode Rod
Anode Rod is a rod that is installed inside the large water heaters. Their main motive is to not let the geyser corrode. The way it works is that the anode rod will attract any impurities and rust that are present inside the water. Hence, the tank is prevented from getting corroded. But since the anode rod collects all the impurities, it gets rusted pretty frequently. Hence, it is advised that people keep checking their anode rods after every three years.
You can check if the outer magnesium layer has corroded or not and if six inches (or more than six inches) of the inner steel layer is visible. If six inches of the inner layer is visible to you, that would mean that the anode rod would need a replacement. Another sign to check for is if the anode rod has a coating of white sediments of calcium. This can happen when hard water is present inside the water heater. The anode rod would also need a replacement if its thickness has become less than half an inch.
7. Keep an Eye on the Inlet and Outlet Pipes
Normally, we get plastic inlet and outlet pipes along with a water heater but it is always advised to switch them to metal pipes. This is because metal is more resistant to heat than plastic. It is also essential to check the joints of the pipes. If the joints have white depositions due to hard water, you should get them replaced.
8. Check the Plug
The plug that directly connects your geyser to the power socket may have some burn marks if you are using low-capacity wiring for your power socket. Add to that the power swings, and you get a switch that sparks ever so often. The electricity of high wattage can heat your plug and its pins up and burn them, which can lead to short circuits that are extremely dangerous.
For preventing electrical short circuits, always look out for burn marks on your plug and use the latest plugs and sockets which are properly wired in. You can try switching to an MCB switch as those have a better construction overall.
So, if you want to minimize the costs of water heater repair you can follow these tips so that your geyser has a long life. if you live in Costa Mesa and often want water heater repair Costa Mesa or often look for top water heater repair Costa Mesa, the above mentioned tips will surely lessen your need to repair your water heater ever so often.