Water heater repair & maintenance tips from sonora ca plumbers
Water heater repair & maintenance tips from Optimized Plumbing & Piping can help extend the life of your water heater. If you need help with your water heater please do not hesitate to give us a call at 209-352-4294.
The last few posts have dealt with what to do when you have sediment buildup in your water heater and the affects of having sediment build up in a water heater. The next question you may have is how to reduce the amount of sediment in the first place. This way you can avoid disconnecting your water heater, and tipping it side ways (this turns out to be kind of a pain in the butt). This is the question that this post will answer. Remember these tips are not needed for tankless water heaters, or instant water heaters. If you have any questions or need help with any of these steps, or after seeing the value of water heater repair & maintenance want a professional to take care of your plumbing system call us at Optimized Plumbing & Piping.
Sediment control ahead of time can reduce the amount of time you spend cleaning sediment out of your hot water heater, and extend its useful life. This goes for electric water heaters, and gas water heaters. Softening water is normally done when a well is present, but softened water can also reduce the sediment accumulation in your water heater. The trade off for this is the anode rod will need to be replaced at least twice as often as normal water conditions. Drinking and cooking with softened water is also not recommended for those who should restrict salt in their diet. This is because salt is added to the water to remove other minerals.
The temperature that the water heater is set at can also affect how much sediment ends up in your tank. Sediment builds up the fastest at temperatures over 140 degrees F, so your water heater should be set at 130 degrees F or lower. The bacteria that causes Legionnaires disease can grow in a water heater at temps between the temps of 86 degrees F and 115 degrees F. So the water temp should be above 120 degrees F to prevent this. This leaves you with an ideal water heater setting of between 120-130 degrees F.
Most water heaters come from the factory set at 120 degrees F. Sometimes people set them much higher to extend the amount of hot water available. This could cause scalding, and more sediment buildup. Sometimes water heaters are set low to conserve energy. This lowers the amount of hot water you can draw from the tank, and could cause bacteria growth in the water heater. The actual temp of the water coming out of a faucet can be checked and used to adjust the water heater but normally the factory settings or best. If you have problems setting the water heater to the right temperature call water heater repair & maintenance experts at Optimized Plumbing & Piping.
Reducing sediment in an electric water heater can be done with the selection of the right heating element. The low watt density type water heater element has a larger surface area to heat the water, so it doesn’t need to get so hot which reduces the amount of sediment created.
High water pressure which is in many areas of Tuolumne County and Calaveras County can also cause excessive sediment buildup in your water heater. A pressure reducing valve should be added to reduce pressure before entering your home. This will also save your plumbing system from excessive wear.
Call Plumbers in Sonora CA at Optimized Piping today to talk to a Sonora CA water heater specialist at 209-743-9821.
We provide Sonora plumbing service for the areas of Tuolumne, Soulsbyville, Twain Harte, Mi Wuk, Columbia, Sonora, Jamestown, Groveland, Copperopolis, Angels Camp, Murphys, Arnold, San Andreas, Jackson, Oakdale, Riverbank, Modesto, and Merced.
The plumbing services we provide include water heater repair & maintenance in Sonora , tankless water heater install, plumbing fixture replacement, leak repair, repiping, hydronic boiler install, hydronic heating, radiant heating, winery piping, food processing piping, plant piping, pump installation and any other plumbing or piping work.