Water heater maintenance is a very important part of keeping your water heater operating properly for as long as possible. Most people don’t schedule water heater maintenance every year, however, because they don’t understand why it’s so important. If you know more about what happens during a water heater maintenance appointment, we feel it will be easier to understand why it is so beneficial. So, let’s take a look at a couple of the steps involved with water heater maintenance.
Sediment Flushing
Sediment is composed of small amounts of minerals that are deposited on the bottom of the water heater tank as water flows through it. Over time, these mineral deposits can actually grow so thick that they prevent the heat from the burner assembly from reaching the water inside the tank. In order to prevent it from getting that bad, we flush out the sediment during each maintenance appointment. If the sediment buildup is already quite significant, we can manually scrub it off the bottom of the tank.
Checking the Anode Rod
The anode rod is a metal rod that prevents the water heater tank from rusting. As long as the anode rod is in contact with the water in the tank, it will degrade over time. As long as the rod is degrading, the water heater is safe from rust. However, the anode rod will eventually degrade to the point where it can no longer protect the tank. At that point, it needs to be replaced in order to keep protecting the water heater against rust. We check the anode rod every time we have a water heater maintenance appointment.
If you haven’t scheduled a water heater maintenance appointment in over a year, call Tuckers Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing. We serve the entire Gaithersburg, MD area.