If homeowners want a steady supply of hot water for their households, it’s a must to check their current water heating systems. The Ottawa Citizen’s home improvement expert Steve Maxwell offers a few tips for maintaining water heating equipment.
Except for brand-new tanks, there’s almost certainly ugly sediment buildup at the bottom. This impairs heating action, it shortens the life of your heater, and it’s gross.
Realizing that your morning shower water flows in and around this stuff should be enough to get anyone busy.
The source of the grunge is minerals in the water. Heating action causes them to precipitate out, and this is why an annual flush should be the first and most important maintenance step to getting the corruption out of your plumbing world.
Fall is just weeks away, and hot water would soon be an essential commodity in Canadian households. At present, the importance of hot water may not be that high yet in Edmonton because the city is currently enjoying warm, dry weather. Once fall arrives, though, with cooler temperatures in Edmonton water heater maintenance efforts become critical.
At times, maintaining the equipment is no longer useful and a replacement is in order. How would you know whether or not you should have your heater maintained or replaced? Here are tell-tale signs to watch out for:
Unit is old
The age of the appliance plays a significant role in determining whether homeowners need to replace heater units or not. The equipment’s power source is a factor in its life expectancy. According to data from Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN), electric water heaters last about 13 to 15 years, while gas-powered water heaters last 12 years.
At times, the type of heating system itself gives a clue to the unit’s life span. Tankless or on-demand water heating systems, for example, can last up to 20 years. Still, if these units are improperly used or ill-maintained, chances are they may not last as long as they were designed to.
Unit leaks
In the case of traditional water heating systems in Edmonton, with hot water tanks in Edmonton that store heated water for later use, any sign of moisture or puddles on the floor means the unit is failing. Before the leak becomes a safety hazard, homeowners should immediately call experienced plumbing contractors, such as Capital Plumbing & Heating Ltd., to deal with this problem.
If homeowners want a steady flow of hot water at home, they must maintain their water heating systems regularly. If, however, they’ve worked hard to maintain the units and the signs of failure are still evident, it’s time to install a new one, with the help of professional plumbing contractors.
