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Your home’s water heater isn’t something you spend much time thinking about, but when it breaks, the whole family suffers for it. What’s worse, depending on how your water heater breaks, a lack of hot water might not be your only issue. Failed water heaters can make a serious mess and create the need for some expensive repairs, too. Here are some of the biggest reasons why you should have your water heater serviced regularly rather than replacing it when it breaks.
Hot water plays an important role in your home, and if you have children and/or pets, this is doubly true. Hot water is important for a variety of tasks, including bathing or showering, cleaning your home, and even ensuring the dishes get clean when you wash them. While it may not seem like a big deal to have no hot water for a while, it’s actually a lot tougher than you might think. Having your water heater serviced regularly can reduce the risk of a complete failure that leaves you and your family in the cold.
Not having hot water can take a toll on your home’s comfort, hygiene, and sanitation, but depending on the issue, your home - and even your family - might actually be in danger. First, if your water heater begins to leak due to age and the effects of hard water, it can cause thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars in damage. There are also a few cases in which a broken water heater might actually cause physical injury - such as when the pressure release valve fails or there’s a crack that’s gone unnoticed inside the tank itself.
Imagine taking a nice, warm shower one day only for the water to suddenly turn an interesting shade of brown and take on the odor of rotten eggs. Though it isn’t the most common issue homeowners experience with their water heaters, it can and does happen - but it can also be avoided. These two symptoms - discoloration and odor - are usually the result of a thriving colony of bacteria inside the heater’s tank. Your water heater has an anode rod inside it that’s designed to kill off bacteria, and it can sometimes fail. Fortunately, it can be replaced by a professional.
Finally, the most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to continuing to use a water heater until it simply stops working or fails is that small issues (a failed thermocouple or broken anode rod, for example) are relatively inexpensive fixes when compared to replacing the entire unit. If your water heater is less than 10 years old, it’s important to schedule a repair quickly. On the other hand, if your unit is more than 10 years old, it is likely time to consider installing a new one at the first sign of trouble.
The best way to prevent any serious issues resulting from a bad water heater involves hiring a professional to inspect it and calling for repairs as soon as you notice an issue. If the water heater is over a decade old, though, you might find that simply replacing it is the best, most economical, and safest option of them all.
You probably hear a lot of noises in your home every day, whether it’s the washing machine on spin cycle or the sound of your HVAC kicking on to keep you warm. However, if strange sounds are coming from your water heater, that’s a sign of trouble, and you likely need to replace it immediately. Here are five reasons why.
The water that flows into your water heater is typically relatively clean, but it may carry fine particulates - and most commonly sand - into the tank with it. What’s more, as the appliance heats the water inside the tank, sediment tends to separate from the water and land all throughout the tank. If your tank has started making strange noises and it’s been a while since it’s been flushed, this is a sign that the buildup is severe and a replacement may be inevitable.
If you notice a hissing sound coming from your water heater, much like the sound of letting the air out of a balloon very slowly, then this is a sign that the pressure release valve built into the tank is starting to fail. These valves exist to prevent explosions by giving steam somewhere to go in the event that too much of it builds up inside, but if that valve is whining or making other noises regularly, this is a sign of something bigger and you should call for a plumber quickly.
A sizzling noise coming from your water heater is also indicative of a serious issue that likely requires a replacement. If you have a gas-fired water heater and you’re hearing sizzling relatively frequently, this means that condensation is building up and hitting the burners. Your water heater is designed in such a way that the area housing the burners should always be dry, so if condensation is getting inside, this means there’s a leak somewhere that shouldn’t exist. This issue almost always calls for a water heater replacement.
Over many years of use, the same stuff you clean off your faucets and shower walls - the dreaded limescale - has also built up inside your water heater. Once again, cleaning and flushing it regularly is the best way to prevent serious buildup, but once it’s gotten bad, there’s virtually no way to restore the tank back to its pristine condition. If you’re hearing popping noises coming from your tank, that’s almost always a sign of significant limescale buildup. Only a professional can determine whether it can be cleaned or if it needs to be replaced.
Finally, constant changes in pressure can lead to a very loud and pronounced ticking sound. In this case, it may be that the nipples connecting your water heater to the water lines have a built-in feature that is designed to trap heat and make your water heater work more efficiently. Unfortunately, in some cases, this feature causes more problems than it solves and results in constant pressure changes. The only way to resolve this issue is to switch to a water heater that does not have a heat trap built in.
As you can see, water heaters are capable of making all kinds of different noises, but it’s important to never simply ignore them. Sometimes these noises indicate a serious problem that requires a water heater replacement and failing to replace the appliance in a timely manner can result in injury or significant damage.
