Winter Water Heater Tips that Will Help Your Heaters Function Better
March 28, 2018It’s going to be a cold night, but that’s what happens when the winter weather strikes hard. Warmed by our heating systems, we’re okay. What’s not okay, not when the mercury level is continually dropping, is the water heater. What if a pipe bursts and floods the basement during the night? There’s no time to lose, we need to protect your hot water heater from the winter blues.
Insulate the Water Heater
You’ve got your winter jacket, so doesn’t your heater tank deserve its own overcoat during this blast of cold weather? In place of an all-weather parka, use foil-insulated blankets. Cut to size, these insulating overcoats wrap tightly around the water heater tank and all of its associated pipes. Contemporary appliances don’t require as much insulation as their older peers. Nonetheless, even the finest and newest units can suffer when a cold snap sinks into a structure’s walls and floors.
Turn Down the Thermostat
This next tip will protect the occupants. Imagine waking up when the room temperature is freezing. You jump into the shower and turn the hot water tap all the way open. Mixing it with cold water, your near scalding-hot bathing experience warms you up and readies you for the day. What if a child or tired adult tries the same thing? Except, this time around, the cold water tap stays off. There’s a real risk of a serious burn here, so turn down the thermostat. Turn the knob, lower it until it hits the 120°F mark (49°C).
Carry Out a Maintenance Routine
A once-a-year tank flush is on the maintenance ticket, but the procedure is being moved to a few weeks before the expected winter freeze. Likewise, the engineer has advised an anode check, a prompt that will likely ward off tank corrosion. But why now? Why are these major maintenance procedures taking place now? Well, when you come right down to it, the water entering the heater tank is about to get a lot colder. It’ll take more energy to warm the fluid, and that energy will be easier to summon if the appliance is in peak operating form.
Finally, prep the area for the winter ahead. Have the room insulated so that the jacket insulation has a little help. If the unit is gas-fueled, get that fluid refilled before the snow starts falling. Better yet, call out a heating engineer, a promptly dispatched engineer who will winterize the water heater. On top of the above tips, the engineer will check valve operations, the unit thermocouple, and all other essential components.
Optimized by NetwizardSEO.com.au