4 Tips to Maintain Your Water Heater

Water is essential to life. And during this time of year, your household needs hot water to perform your daily tasks — from personal care to food preparation, and so on. Your water heater effectively heats and conserves water, especially if you have a tankless unit. You do not need to run the tap for several minutes before hot water is delivered. Instead, it heats water on demand, allowing you to have hot water more quickly. This technology uses less energy, lowering your utility cost each month.

Just like any other piece of equipment, you should make sure your water heater is in great shape because without it you have to heat water manually, which can be a cause for discomfort.

Four Seasons Air Specialists is your friendly heating company in North Oaks MN. We have been helping homeowners maintain their water heaters for over four decades.

Overview

Most water heaters are situated in the basement or garage, a part of the house that isn’t consistently kept heated. The cold air around the tank of the water allows the heat inside the tank to escape at a faster rate. This causes the water heater to run longer to replace the lost heat.

Because winter brings extremely cold temperatures, you are required to run your water heater much longer than other times of the year. To keep it running as efficiently as possible, consider these simple maintenance steps.

Check the Water Level

The regular inspection of the heater’s water level is crucial to its performance. Here are a couple of reasons. First, if the water heater operates without water, the system is at risk of suffering permanent damage. Second, it can cause accidents and put your life in danger.

Certain water heaters will have a safety feature that monitors the water level and automatically adds more water when it’s getting low. This allows the unit to instinctively fill the system with the right amount of water and will instantly turn the system off if the water is at a specific level. But if your unit does not have this function, you will have to monitor the water level manually.

Check the Water Temperature

The best setting for your water heater is anywhere between 115 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit. If possible, lower the temperature a few more degrees, which will further increase your savings. If the system is having a hard time delivering hot water, turn the thermostat up, but not higher than 135 degrees, which can cause scalding.

Insulate Your Pipes

To prevent frozen pipes and lower your water heating costs, consider insulating your water pipes. When your pipes are uninsulated, they are forced to work twice as hard to provide hot water consistently. Insulation makes it easier for the water heater to do its job and eliminates the need to run the water longer, waiting for it to heat up. This way, you are conserving both water and energy.

Inspect the Radiators

There are times where your radiators may be unable to work properly, especially when the heater remained idle for months. If the bottom of your boiler’s radiator is colder than the top, it means that air is restricted in the system. The air needs to be let out by bleeding the radiators. If not, the system will fail to effectively heat your water. This inefficiency will add more pressure to your water heater and increase your energy usage.

Here are the steps. First, switch off the heating. Then, insert the key into the bleed valve. Turn the key counterclockwise for a quarter of a rotation and you should hear a fizzle as the air is released. When water starts to trickle, lock the valve and the process is done. You might need to fill up the water heater pressure afterward.

Ask the Water Heater Experts

For best results, be sure to call Four Seasons Air Specialists for professional water heating maintenance. We will ensure your unit works according to the manufacturer’s specifications, allowing it to perform with maximum efficiency and operational safety. We are your trusted White Bear heating and air conditioning company.