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How to Flush Your Water Heater

WATER HEATER MAINTENANCE

As water runs through your water heater, it leaves behind minerals that can build up in the tank, reducing your water heater’s efficiency. It creates a layer of sediment that makes heating the water in your tank difficult. This sediment can also clog your water lines if it isn’t cleared. You can avoid these problems and increase the life of your water heater by periodically flushing the tank. It’s a great idea to go ahead and check it at least once per year and flush the tank as needed. You know you need a flush if you release water from the spigot at the bottom of the tank and it comes out a milky color, full of sediment.
Cross-section of a water heater showing sediment buildup inside. Exposed wiring and insulation indicate wear and maintenance issues. Brown and pink tones.

These instructions are designed to help the do-it-yourself homeowner take care of their own water heater. However, if you read the following instructions and feel like this might be a bigger job than you want to take on, call a plumber you trust to help.

Complete the following 4 steps FIRST before performing ANY maintenance on your water heater to avoid the risk of water damage, scalding burns, electrocution, or explosion:

  1. Disconnect power at the breaker for an electric water heater.  
  2. Shut off the gas valve for a gas water heater and make sure the pilot light is extinguished.
  3. Close the cold water inlet valve or main water supply. 
  4. Turn on the hot water at a faucet somewhere in the house. No water will come out of the faucet; this simply helps to relieve the pressure inside the water heater tank. 

To flush the tank, connect a garden hose to your spigot and make sure it leads to a drain. Be aware that the water coming out of the tank will likely be VERY hot and should not come into contact with people, pets, or plants. Open the spigot and let the water run.* If possible, turn the water off and stir up the sediment on the tank's bottom by briefly opening the cold-water supply valve. Drain and repeat until clean water comes out of the hose. You may want to empty the water into a large pan or bucket so you can accurately tell when there is clear water coming out of the hose. 

*Pro Tip: Most plumbers do NOT recommend completely draining your tank. Not only does it waste a lot of water, but reintroducing cold water back into a hot, empty tank could shatter the glass liner or otherwise compromise the structural integrity of the tank.

For step-by-step instructions on how to flush your water heater, click here.

 

AFTER performing any water heater maintenance, you MUST remember these steps:

  1. Close the tank spigot, and disconnect the hose from the spigot. Next, close the pressure relief valve. Turn on a hot-water faucet in the house to regulate pressure. Finally, turn on the cold-water inlet and refill the tank.

  2. As water begins to flow from the hot-water faucet, you can turn it off.
     
  3. Tips for igniting the pilot light or turning the electricity back on: 
    • Gas Water Heaters - Making sure the gas valve is in the “on” position, set the control knob to “pilot.” Press the knob and then push the igniter button. You should see either a blinking light indicating the pilot light is lit or a small flame through the viewing window. The first time you light the pilot light, you may notice a lot of condensation. This is normal, and as the water temperature stabilizes, the condensation should go away. (Be sure to thoroughly read your user’s manual for detailed instructions on the manufacturer’s recommendations for lighting the pilot light on your particular water heater model.)
    • Electric Water Heaters - If you have an electric water heater, DO NOT TURN ON THE ELECTRICITY BEFORE THE WATER TANK IS FULL. If the heating elements in your water heater tank are not fully immersed in water, they could burn out if turned on. A burned out heating element will result in no hot water and will have to be replaced. So, before you restore power to the water heater, begin filling the tank and then turn on a hot-water faucet somewhere in the house and let the water run for about 3 minutes. This helps relieve the air pressure in the tank until it is completely full of water. When the tank is full, flip the breaker to turn the power back on. If you don't have hot water after two hours, check to make sure the unit is getting the correct voltage. Power information can be accessed by consulting the label on your water heater. No electricity or the wrong voltage can cause many problems with electric water heaters. If you feel like this might be the case with your water heater, call a licensed electrician to help you with your power or wiring problems.
    • Electric Water Heaters, continued - If you find that you have a burned-out heating element in your electric water heater, you’ll need to disconnect power to the water heater at the breaker panel and again drain the water heater. Once drained, go inside and disconnect the wires from the element and, using a wrench, loosen the element. Once it’s loosened, unscrew the element and pull it out. Replace with the new element and tighten it down with a wrench. Reconnect the wires and fill the tank, following the instructions above.

  4. Be sure the temperature on the water heater is set to 120F.

If at any time you feel overwhelmed, have questions or concerns, call a plumber you trust for help. If you don’t have a trusted, licensed plumber and are in the Utah market, call Any Hour Services and we’d be happy to send a plumber to your home to assess your system, perform any maintenance for you, and answer any questions you might have.

If water heater maintenance sounds overwhelming or like one more thing you don’t have time to do yourself, call Any Hour Services and we’ll have one of our licensed plumbers perform your annual water heater maintenance for you!

What if keeping track of your water heater’s annual maintenance seems overwhelming? That’s okay! Some of our customers will actually choose to enroll in our Comfort Assurance Plan (CAP) so they don’t have to remember these annual maintenance inspections at all. As part of your CAP membership, we will call and remind you and then come and do the tune-up and system check. As part of your plan, you can even add other systems to your CAP plan and have a licensed HVAC technician check and inspect your system or a licensed and certified electrician come and do an annual electrical inspection. Call if you have any questions about our CAP maintenance program.

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The prices you are quoted come out of our pricing guide. We have looked at the most common tasks we are asked to perform and figured out the average time to perform the task, the cost of the materials, and the cost associated with running a drain business that is able to stand behind that work.

To calculate the cost of your drain project, your plumber will determine the tasks needed. Each task has a price associated with it, which your plumber will add together to arrive at your total. This method allows us to identify and rule out unnecessary tasks, prioritizing fairness and transparency (while saving you money).

Our pricing method is not influenced by the neighborhood someone lives in but is designed to be fair and transparent. When we designed our pricing guide, we asked ourselves, “What does it take to perform this task?” NOT, “How much can we get a person to pay?” This commitment to honest, clear pricing reflects our respect for our clients.

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It costs $269 to inspect your sewer main line with our sewer camera equipment. If you’d like to see what the inside of your sewer line looks like, our sewer supervisors have high-definition cameras to show you a live video of the inside your sewer main line.

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It costs $269 to inspect your sewer main line with our sewer camera equipment. Below you will find a couple internet specials to help you save. If you’d like to see what the inside of your sewer line looks like, our sewer supervisors have hi definition cameras to show you a live video of the inside your sewer main line.

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If you are looking to replace your sewer main line, one of our sewer supervisors will come to your home and inspect your sewer main line with a high-definition camera and show you what options are available. The visit doesn’t cost you anything, so call us if you have questions about replacing your sewer main line.

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You can pay for the the drain work we perform with cash, check, or any major credit card. We collect, in full, upon completion of the project. If you would like to make monthly payments, we do have many financing options available through 3rd party finance companies, OAC. Your drain technician can talk to you about your options.

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Our pricing is fair and transparent. It’s based on a fixed-price guide that considers the time, materials, and costs of running a reliable home services business. We don’t charge by the hour or inflate prices based on your neighborhood. We ask ourselves, “What does it take to get the job done?,” not “How much can we charge?”

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Water heater replacements vary. Often, older units require updates to meet safety standards. Common items missing from many water heaters are flexible gas lines, expansion tanks, earthquake straps, gas sediment trap, upgrade exhaust venting, etc.

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Our phone staff are not licensed plumbers, so they can’t quote prices that would be accurate to your project’s needs. A trained plumber needs to see the job firsthand to give you a clear, upfront price. Quotes over the phone are a guess, and we prefer transparency over uncertainty.

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Ballpark prices can be misleading. Until we see the job, we can’t quote your final estimate accurately. Other companies may give an estimate range, but that often leads to additional costs and surprises later. Instead, we focus on giving you a fair price once a licensed plumber can assess the job properly.

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We have a small dispatch fee to send our plumber to your home. Our plumbers will arrive in a truck stocked with thousands of parts. They’ll have everything they need to start your plumbing project while they’re at your home, unless the situation is unusual. They’ll perform a thorough evaluation of your plumbing system and explain what they’ll need to do to complete the work you called for. They’re not going to charge you by the hour, they will give you a total price, with options, before any of the work begins.

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There are several large plumbing projects that we are willing to show you what options are available and the visit doesn’t cost you anything; basement finishes, water heater install/replacements, water softener installs/replacement, repiping, tankless water heater install/replacement etc. This is not a complete list so call us if you have questions about your project.

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You will pay a little more to get a plumber to your home after hours but they do not charge more for the work you want them to perform. Our prices come directly from our pricing guide. We do not have a different set of plumbing prices for doing work in the evenings or on weekends. The price for the plumbing work you need done will be the same regardless of the time of day.

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No, as long as you live in our service area, our plumbers can come to your home and help. We service homes from North Ogden, South to Nephi. West from the Tooele/Grantsville area, east to the Park City Heber area. Here is a full list of Utah Cities we service.

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No, our plumbers don’t quote a price until they have seen your plumbing project. Once they quote a price, it doesn’t change, no matter how long it takes. At any time, you want to add more tasks to your plumbing project, your plumber will let you know how much it would cost to perform the extra work.

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Yes, in addition to our coupons, we offer senior discounts and military discounts. You can receive 5% off or any special promotions we may be running, whichever is greater. You can ask your plumber to show you your savings.

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You can pay for your plumbing service with cash, check, or any major credit card. We collect, in full, upon completion of the project. If you would like to make monthly payments, we do have many financing options available through 3rd party finance companies, OAC. Your plumber can talk to you about your options when they give you pricing options for the HVAC work you want completed.

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