Category: Water Heater

With lots of clear and mild days, fall is a good time of year to tackle some home projects. As you make your to-do list this year, don’t overlook your water heater. While we depend on water heaters every day, too often we forget that they need regular maintenance. By regularly cleaning and maintaining your water heater, you can help it to last longer and work better.

Additionally, you minimize your risk of plumbing issues or water damage from your water heater. Because of the importance of regular water heater maintenance, today we’ll talk about some basics of water heater flushing and cleaning, how you can tell when your water heater needs to be serviced and signs that your water heater needs to be replaced.

How Often Should Scheduling Water Heater Maintenance Happen?

Sediment and minerals are constantly building up in your water heater. If you don’t regularly flush out your tank, this sediment can build up and impact your hot water supply, corrode your heater’s elements or even cause cracks in your tank. To avoid this, every year you should flush out your hot water heater.

An annual water heater flushing will help to avoid any issues with your water heater and will extend its lifespan. So, if you haven’t done it yet this year and it’s not already on there, add water heater flushing to your fall to-do list.

Clear Signs that Your Water Heater Needs to be Cleaned

While it’s important to annually clean out your water heater, it’s also important to clean it out if you notice signs of build up in the tank. If you hear a loud banging or clanging from your water heater, that’s a sign of excess sediment in the tank.

Additionally, if you have less hot water than usual or if your hot water is cloudy, your hot water heater probably needs to be cleaned. Whenever you notice any of these signs, flush your hot water heater as soon as possible to prevent damage to your unit.

Is it Time for a New Water Heater Installation?

Even if you keep up with your annual cleanings and stay on top of hot water heater maintenance, at some point your hot water heater will need to be replaced. If you can tell that your water heater is about to go out, you can make the replacement process much easier and less stressful by replacing it before it completely goes out or causes any damage to your home.

If your water is coming out lukewarm, if it’s rusty or cloudy, if your hot water heater is leaking or if you hear banging sounds even after cleaning, it could be time to replace your unit. If you notice any of these things, schedule an inspection as soon as possible.

This will help you determine whether it’s time to replace your unit and will allow you to do so before you have a plumbing emergency. We hope these are helpful tips and reminders, and that you’ll prioritize hot water heater maintenance this fall. If you have any concerns about your hot water heater or need to have it serviced, call Daniel Cordova Plumbing, Drain & Sewer today at (626) 962-0885.

 

Living in southern California, if you have a swimming pool, you probably use it pretty often. While it may seem that pool heaters are an unnecessary amenity, pool maintenance companies have found that people who don’t have some sort of heater installed get less use out of their pool.

To keep your swimming pool the perfect temperature day and night, throughout the entire year, consider installing a water heater, and get the most out of your swimming pool. Read on to learn about three different kinds of pool heaters and discover which one is the best choice for you!

Gas Line Installation

Gas powered heaters are still the most common way to heat your swimming pool, even though they are less efficient than heat pumps or solar powered heaters. The design of the gas heater is reasonably straightforward: water flows from the pool through a filter, then into the heater.

Heat is generated in the combustion chamber by the burning gas, which heats the water before it flows back into the pool. Installing a gas powered pool heater, also means installing a gas line if you don’t already have one near the pool.

This could add up to an additional $500, based on the national average for gas line installation costs. When combined with the initial cost of anywhere from $800 to nearly $2,000 for the heater (depending on the size), you may decide that Gas powered pool heating is not for you. In that case, you may look to a heat pump.

Heat Pumps

In southern California, heat pumps may be the best and most efficient way to heat your pool. On average, using a heat pump to heat your pool will save you about $100 to $200 a month! This is because heat pumps don’t actually generate heat, they take in outside air and electrically move it into the pool water to make it warmer, which uses up less energy than having to generate the heat energy.

In colder regions of the country, heat pumps may use up more energy during the colder months of the year, and therefore cost you more money than they’re worth. Because heat pumps use the air outside to heat your pool water, they are really only efficient at heating pools as long as the outside temperature stays above 50 degrees.

If you’re still not entirely sold on gas heating or heat pumps for your pool, you may consider solar energy.

Solar Water Heaters

Solar powered water heaters are also an alternative to electric heating. With a monthly cost of exactly $0 (since they don’t use any electricity to run), solar-powered water heaters can reduce your monthly energy bill, as well as reduce your carbon footprint!

Installing solar panels to heat your pool can often mean a hefty upfront investment, but you’ll find that solar power pays for itself within a couple of years of installation. If you are still concerned about the costs of installing a solar water heater, there are more affordable, DIY, solar-powered water heaters that use copper coils to heat your pool.

If you wanted to take your environmental impact to the next level, you could even build a solar-powered water heater using only plastic water bottles and milk jugs, based on the patented design of Brazilian mechanic, Jose Alano!