Ensuring You Have Minimal Need For Water Heater Repair | Schertz, TX
Whether you live in cold or hot climates, a water heater is an appliance that you definitely should have. Hot water is used for warm baths, showers, washing dishes, laundry, and even cleaning some parts of your home. Due to its importance in ensuring comfort and convenience at your home, a water heater should be properly maintained.
Unfortunately, regardless of the amount of maintenance, the water heater will at one time run into an issue that will require the attention of a water heater repair technician in Schertz, TX. However, this doesn’t mean that water heater maintenance isn’t useful. It ensures that your water heating unit serves your home for the entirety of its rated service life or even longer. Below are some ways a plumber maintains the water heater to ensure that it reaches the rated lifespan.
Checking The Manufacturer’s Recommendations
Check the manufacturer’s recommendations when you have a water heater installed at your home. The manufacturers usually provide specific recommendations for using the water heater to ensure that the homeowners can operate the water heater properly. Before you perform any maintenance service on the water heater, you should check whether there are specific recommendations from the unit’s manufacturer. If you have any questions about the contents of the recommendations, consult your water heater repair service provider.
Note the Installation Date
You must note your water heater’s installation date. If you use a tankless water heater, the expected service life is about 20 years, while a conventional or tank-based water heater is 10-13 years based on its quality and maintenance. This means that you can track the maintenance and repair frequency and know when a water heater replacement is necessary instead of the continued water heater repairs. If the unit starts breaking out and malfunctioning before the end of its service life, it wasn’t of great quality or failed on your water heater maintenance responsibilities.
Testing the T&P (Temperature & Pressure) Relief Valves
During operation, your water heater produces a lot of pressure and steam. This is because of the high temperatures within. To ensure that the tank doesn’t explode because of the pressure and temperature buildup inside, it features a T&P relief valve. The temperature and pressure relief valve ensure safety in a matter of sorts.
The valves measure the temperatures and pressure within the water heater tank to ensure that they can release some pressure if there is a lot of buildup in the tank. The pressure release controls the temperatures, making the tank safer. If this doesn’t happen or the T&P relief valve is faulty, the water heater tank might experience irreparable damage.
Hence, you should have a water heater repair technician come over for routine inspection and maintenance to ensure that every appliance component, including the valves, is optimally functional. If faulty, the professional will replace the T&P valve with a new one after turning off and draining the water heater. The professional will also repair or fix any underlying issues in your water heating unit, leaving you with a constant water supply and ensuring that the unit serves your Schertz, TX home for several more years.
Flush The Tank Regularly
DO you get hard water from your water utility provider? Then your water heater might experience sediment accumulation at the bottom. Hard water contains minerals like magnesium and calcium and other dissolved debris. When the water enters the water heater, the sediments settle at the bottom or on the unit’s walls. This might happen when the water settles inside the tank or in the normal heating process.
Failing to pay attention to sediment accumulation in your water heater tank means that you might have to pay for a water heater repair service. This is because the sedimentation in the water heater normally reduces the heating efficiency of the electrical components inside the water heater. The sediment accumulation on the heating elements reduces their ability to heat the water. Therefore, the service life of your water heater is also reduced by some months. The unit will turn less and less efficient and optimal as time passes.
To mitigate the severity of the sediment deposits or avoid such an occurrence, ensure that you flush the water heater once or twice each year. However, this should be done by a professional water heater technician to avoid damaging the tank or voiding the warranty. Further, these are specialists in matters of water heaters, meaning that they will finish the flushing efficiently and within no time.
Insulation Blanket
The other water heater maintenance practice that your water heater repair professional can perform is to insulate it. Wrapping an insulation blanket around your water heater tank is an excellent idea to ensure that your water heater remains operational for a long time. The professional can also use the insulation blankets to insulate the exposed heated water pipes to prevent energy loss.
Ultimately, this reduces the energy bills you have to pay at the end of the month. This will extend the service life of your water heater because it will reduce its use in reheating the water. Hence, you will not have to enlist a plumber for repeated water heater repair in your home.
Annual Tune-Ups
Just like you take your vehicle for maintenance and servicing after a certain time, you need to have a water heater professional come over to give your water heater some tune-ups. This ensures that your water heating unit remains in top conditions. However, even after the tune-ups, there is a fair chance that the unit will not operate at the peak efficiency as it did when you bought it. Regardless, the maintenance by a water heater repair professional ensures that the unit hits the expected service life. The tune-ups include cleaning the burner assembly, checking for leaks, repairing the unit’s exhaust flue, and replacing the anode rod.
Call Us For Water Heater Maintenance
A water heater is critical in your home. Additionally, it is an expensive appliance, meaning that you should take all measures to ensure that it sees the end of its service life. One way to ensure that is by having a water heater repair professional perform routine inspections and maintenance. For water heater maintenance services in Schertz, TX, do not hesitate to call us at bluefrog Plumbing + Drain of San Antonio.