When to replace a water heater?

When to replace a water heater?

Home & Garden

By regularly carrying out maintenance and repair works, life of your commercial heating element can be increased considerably.  Sometimes it needs to do small changes like replacing the heating element or pressure-relief valve. Similarly if you water heater is more than 8-10 years old, or if you wish to reduce you energy consumption costs, it is time to carry out heating replacement. In this article, I am going to furnish some tips for troubleshooting your electric water heater.

According to most manufacturers the life expectancy of a water heater is around 8-12 years. There may be some variations in the above period according to the location where it is situated and the quality with which the installation has been carried out and the schedule of maintenance services and the equality of water used in the heater.

If your water heater is more than 10 years old, there are chances of leak around the bottom of the tank. You have to make sure that no electrical problems like tripping of breaker, blowing of  fuse etc are not the cause for the problem.

Trouble shooting water heater

One of the most important problems that are commonly noted with water heaters is that water is not becoming hot as you want. This can be caused as a result of defective thermostat or heating element.
The following checking has to be done if your water is not becoming as hot as you normally expect.

Electric water heater

  • Check whether the power switch is properly connected
  • To remove sediments flush the heater
  • Make sure that the hot water pipes are insulated properly
  • Replace the thermostat or the heating element
  • Increase the temperature setting on the control panel

Gas water heater

  • Check whether the gas is properly connected and the pilot light is burning
  • To remove sediments flush the heater
  • Make sure that hot water pipes are properly insulated
  • Clean the burner and if necessary replace the themocoupler which is a safety device that shuts off when the pilot light goes out
  • Increase the temperature level of the thermostat control
  • Is replacement necessary?

If replacement becomes inevitable, then it is better to replace the existing unit with another unit of the same type. This is the time to think about up gradation considering the change in the family size and similar matters. You can also opt for a tank-less system. By checking the name plate of the current system, you will be able to find out important information like its tank capacity, insulation guidelines, working pressure, serial number, model etc. With this information and with the help of heating contractors Tysons Corner VA you can replace your existing heater unit with a new and better one.

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