When the holiday season comes around, keeping your water heater running smoothly and efficiently is imperative. For one, the weather gets chilly, so you’ll certainly want reliable hot water for bathing and household chores. Plus, you may be having family members stay with you for the holidays. With extra people staying in your house, your water heater needs to work harder, and if it’s not in good condition, it could waste energy or start having problems. To prepare your household unit for the holiday season, consider trying out these simple maintenance tips.
1. Flush the Tank
Over time, it’s normal for sediment to accumulate in your water heater’s tank. Although this sediment won’t necessarily cause damage to the appliance, it can greatly worsen the system’s efficiency. So, when you have people over during the holidays, you can end up spending a ton of money on your energy bills. Every year or so, it’s important to flush your water heater’s tank to drain the sediment. To do this, you simply need to shut off the water and power to the appliance, then attach a hose to the tank and let the water drain. After that, you can refill the tank, then restore power to the unit.
2. Insulate the Tank
Keeping your water heater insulated will improve its performance, energy efficiency, and life expectancy. Doing so now will help ensure that the system is running in tip-top shape during the holiday season. When the tank is insulated, it will be much harder for heat to escape. As a result, the water heater won’t need to work as hard to heat the water. That will save energy and make your home’s flow of hot water more reliable and consistent.
3. Lower the Temperature
You may not realize it, but there’s a good chance your water heater is set to a higher temperature by default than what’s ideal. In truth, your system shouldn’t need to be set at a temperature any higher than around 120 degrees. Anything significantly higher than that is unnecessary and can lead to lots of wasted energy. During the busy holiday season, that can cause you to spend a bunch of extra money on your bills. Plus, if the temperature is set too high, it can even be a safety hazard.
Local Plumbers You Can Trust
If you need water heater services or any other professional plumbing work in the Ocala, FL area, give us a call at Root Scooter Plumbing today.
