Water Heaters and Prolonging Their Life

Water heaters can be expensive, but a quality model should be able to last about 10 years before needing to be replaced. Some of the better ones may even last longer than that. If you give the appliance some proper maintenance, you will be able to extend the life of yours, rather than needing to pay for expensive repair and replacement before you've gotten a good life of use out of it. You may even be able to go beyond the lifespan that the tank was meant for, although extending far past a reasonable point may cause problems. In order to make sure your investment wasn't for naught, there are some things you can do to prolong its life.

Expansion Tank

Some homeowners have realized they can get nearly twice as much time out of their water heaters by installing an expansion tank. To understand why this works, think about what happens when the appliance does its job. When a liquid is heated from a low temperature to a high one, some degree of expansion will occur. If you're on a closed system, the liquid has no place to go when this expansion occurs. The tank itself must expand and contract with the heating process. You don't have to know much about solid materials to realize that this is going to cause a lot of stress on both the tank and your plumbing system.

Cleaning

Don't underestimate the need for cleaning, when it comes to water heaters. Sediment buildup is a problem every homeowner is going to deal with over time. You can wait until its gotten ridiculous to address the problem, or you can make sure your tank is cleaned on a regular basis. This is even something you can account for when you buy your system. Some of the newer models have a self cleaning mechanism, which means that you won't have to worry about doing it on your own or calling out a professional every year to do the job.

Softening

If you live in an area of the country known for its hard water, you're probably hearing discouraging news when it comes to what you can expect to get out of your water heaters. People living in areas with high mineral contents are used to changing them out much more frequently. You don't have to live with this situation, however. Have a softener installed in your house, and you'll not only notice a dramatic difference when it comes to washing dishes and taking showers, you'll find you get a lot more efficiency and time out of your water heaters.