Servicing Hot Water Heaters

Like all high use appliances, hot water heaters require regular servicing to ensure that the unit is operating to its most economical setting and dramatically reduces the likelihood of an unscheduled emergency breakdown and repair. If you never experienced a hot water heater failure before, you might be surprised to find out on how reliant a household is of its hot water and how much of an inconvenience it can be until the problem is resolved. We use hot water multiple times daily in our lives and suddenly not being able to have showers, wash your hands, clean dishes, have water available for cooking and cleaning, laundry applications ETC.. is a shock to all involved and at this point you will do anything to have the service running again.

Preventative maintenance not only dramatically reduces the likelihood of breakdowns, servicing also can ensure that hot water heaters are performing to manufacturer specification by running efficiently to its built economical standards. Precise Plumbing’s hot water technicians are specialists in servicing and maintaining all make and model heaters.

Servicing Benefits

Its been proven that proper servicing can extend the life expectancy of hot water heaters by over 40% and can save $100’s on extra gas and electricity costs over the life of the hot water heater. It is good practice to have a register plumber regularly inspect and calibrate the unit to its original settings, this also allow the technician to look over any problematic areas that may be forming and correct these preventing future hot water disasters.

Service Intervals

Precise Plumbing recommends that all types of hot water heaters are serviced after the first 3yrs of operation and every 2yrs thereafter. Most manufacturers warranties come with 5-7 years cover from the date of installation and cover the larger components of the heating unit. Servicing the unit within these time intervals can increase the life expectancy of the unit as the minor components that a generally not covered through warranties are also inspected. A $25 part can suddenly cost $400 when installed in an emergency situation called out at 2am on a Saturday morning.

What’s Involved?

Gas commissioning and testing, thermostat and element testing, safety relief valve operation, burner assemblies, water/gas leaks, and specific replacement parts is just some of the work involved with servicing your Gas or Electric hot water heater. Sacrificial Anodes are also checked and inspected where required.

Sacrificial Anodes – What are they?

Sacrificial Anodes are a magnesium rod installed inside your hot water tank (storage units only). Its purpose is to protect your tanks cylinder from severe corrosion which can result in premature tank failure. The Sacrificial Anodes are designed to sacrifice themselves to corrosion prior to the tank corroding therefore prolonging the life of the heater. This in turn means that Anodes have a life expectancy of around three years (pending water hardness and quality) and may require replacement during service intervals. Once the Anode has scarified itself entirely your hot water tank will begin to corrode. Regular checking and replacement of you hot water heaters Anodes will dramatically extend the life of your hot water heater and prevent costly premature hot water heater replacements.