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How often do you flush...

NuclearNed

NuclearNed

Raconteur
...your water heater tank? I have a perfect record of 52yrs, no flushes. I didn't even know this was a thing I'm supposed to be doing. My water heater's manual says they recommend every 6 months.
 
There might be people who flush them every 6 months, but I've never met such a person (that I'm aware of).
I have thought about doing it before.
 
It seems like every 5 years on average I have a plumbing project that requires the hot water lines to be drained. I flush the cold water heater at that time. It usually takes 3 to 4 weeks for the drain valve to seal back up fully. I assume draining it every 6 months would prevent those leaks.

I just did that this last winter. The house humidifier wasn't working, so I checked the valve that connected it to the hot water. The valve handle shattered and I wasn't sure if it shattered open or shattered closed. So, I had to drain the hot water to replace it. Replacing that valve somehow fixed the humidifier problem.
 
Nope, never have. I was just thinking about this because the water is always a little cool in the morning, like the thermostat doesn't trip overnight to reheat the water. I was wondering if flushing would fix it. It's a 22 year old heater.
 
Mr.IncrediblyBored said:
Nope, never have. I was just thinking about this because the water is always a little cool in the morning, like the thermostat doesn't trip overnight to reheat the water. I was wondering if flushing would fix it. It's a 22 year old heater.
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Might want to check your dip tube. Pushes the cold water to the bottom and allows the hot to come out the top - you can short circuit that if the dip tube has eroded away.
 
NuclearNed said:
...your water heater tank? I have a perfect record of 52yrs, no flushes. I didn't even know this was a thing I'm supposed to be doing. My water heater's manual says they recommend every 6 months.
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Ha, I win! 57 years and no flushes.

Had a plumber doing some work a couple of years ago, and I noticed he was looking at the water heater and taking a pic with his phone. He told me they guys at the show wouldn't believe him without a pic that a water heater build in 1965 was still in service. He said life expectancy of water heaters today is 8 - 10 years.

He did add an expansion tank to it, and said never to flush it, the valve will likely fail.

It's a Rheem electric water heater.
 
Muse said:
The mineral content of your water plays into this considerably, I believe.
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True, we have soft water here, and never have any scale or mineral buildup in anything.

Guess we have virgin water, it all comes from a watershed in the mountains, with rainfall the only source. Also, probably contributes to why we have so many breweries here, most breweries per capita in the country.
 
I never do it as mentioned, worried the valve may fail. If I had a brand new one I would maybe consider doing it yearly and staying on top of it. If you do it from the get go I think you're ok, it's if you never do it, then suddenly decide to, that's asking for trouble. Good idea to check anode rod too.

My tank is a rental and is about 14 years old so I really need to start thinking about a new one, and I want to own it outright so I can stop having to pay per month. I don't know why rentals are so popular here but it's very hard to get out of those contracts. Came with the house.

Given the age of the tank I might have a bit of leverage to break out of contract though. I'm eyeing either a tankless condensing unit, or a hybrid tank. They both have their pros/cons. Reality is I don't really want to spend the money on that right now so been putting it off. 😛 Cheapest option is to just buy another conventional tank though but they are super inefficient, I feel if I'm going new I may as well do it right and go with something efficient.
 
nakedfrog said:
TIL that some Canadians rent their water heaters... what a weird idea.
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They also buy bags of milk! 😱


I flush mine every year in November. I've never changed or even checked the anode rod since the blower motor is right on top of it, so I can't even get to it without removing the motor. It'll be 10 years old in 2 days, so I'll be 10 for 10 this year!

I've been thinking about replacing it sooner rather than later and going with a heat pump model, but mine is gas and is fairly cheap to run already.
 
My primary residence doesn't have a tank and is supposed to be descaled at least annually. I threw a filter on it and need to backflush it with vinegar eventually....but who has time to do such chores?
 
JM Aggie08 said:
I flush my tankless annually with vinegar. We have quite hard water here, and even with a water softener, I'd rather err on the side of caution.
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My one place with a tankless used to be every 6 months (now longer as its used less). New place, I havnt done it since i installed it 4 years ago. Crazy the change in water quality just 5 miles apart.
 
Red Squirrel said:
I never do it as mentioned, worried the valve may fail. If I had a brand new one I would maybe consider doing it yearly and staying on top of it. If you do it from the get go I think you're ok, it's if you never do it, then suddenly decide to, that's asking for trouble. Good idea to check anode rod too.

My tank is a rental and is about 14 years old so I really need to start thinking about a new one, and I want to own it outright so I can stop having to pay per month. I don't know why rentals are so popular here but it's very hard to get out of those contracts. Came with the house.

Given the age of the tank I might have a bit of leverage to break out of contract though. I'm eyeing either a tankless condensing unit, or a hybrid tank. They both have their pros/cons. Reality is I don't really want to spend the money on that right now so been putting it off. 😛 Cheapest option is to just buy another conventional tank though but they are super inefficient, I feel if I'm going new I may as well do it right and go with something efficient.
Click to expand...
Sweet jesus, how much do you pay to rent a water heater?
Also, you can cap the drain with a cheap fitting if it leaks.
 
About once a year. My plumber told me make sure to leave the water on, simply open the drain for 15-20 minutes so it flushes deposits out.
 
Every few years when a water main inevitably breaks and my whole system fills with dirt. Or when they flush the street pipes and forget to give us a heads up.
 
MtnMan said:
Ha, I win! 57 years and no flushes.

Had a plumber doing some work a couple of years ago, and I noticed he was looking at the water heater and taking a pic with his phone. He told me they guys at the show wouldn't believe him without a pic that a water heater build in 1965 was still in service. He said life expectancy of water heaters today is 8 - 10 years.

He did add an expansion tank to it, and said never to flush it, the valve will likely fail.

It's a Rheem electric water heater.
Click to expand...
That beats mine. I had a heater replaced a few years ago, and the guy was marveling over my heater that was last serviced in 1977. It was older than he was :^D I've never flushed mine, but I have municipal water that's pretty "clean". I hope I get as much time out of the new heater, but I doubt I will.
 
I thought this was about flushing your toilet. Big deal here where we have entered the realm of perpetual drought.
 
waffleironhead said:
Sweet jesus, how much do you pay to rent a water heater?
Also, you can cap the drain with a cheap fitting if it leaks.
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It's like $30/mo or something I'd have to check. It's a really dumb thing and I want to get out of it, but practically every house here is a rental so if you buy a house it comes with it so you just automatically start making the payments once everything is transferred to your name. Going to look deeper into cancelling the contract once I put in my own tank. Buying out the existing tank is an option too but they want more money than what a new one is worth, it's crazy. They really have you by the balls.

They're even pushing furnace rentals now which is crazy, those can cost over $100/mo.
 
Red Squirrel said:
It's like $30/mo or something I'd have to check. It's a really dumb thing and I want to get out of it, but practically every house here is a rental so if you buy a house it comes with it so you just automatically start making the payments once everything is transferred to your name. Going to look deeper into cancelling the contract once I put in my own tank. Buying out the existing tank is an option too but they want more money than what a new one is worth, it's crazy. They really have you by the balls.

They're even pushing furnace rentals now which is crazy, those can cost over $100/mo.
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So buy a new one, give them that one back? Or just stop paying and tell them to come take it back? Then take the new one with you when you move? lol.
 
[DHT]Osiris said:
So buy a new one, give them that one back? Or just stop paying and tell them to come take it back? Then take the new one with you when you move? lol.
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I'm sure it's all tied to the cost of a plumber, permits to install, etc. A water heater itself only costs a few hundred dollars but installation can easily cost $1000+ when they have to bring it up to code, modify all the piping, and whatever other bullshit they want.

I used to sell water heaters and installs many years ago at Sears. The amount of times that I had to deal with a pissed off customer because the contracted plumbers told them how much more needed to be done over and above the standard $130 install charge.
 
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