Flush water heater
Every year on March the 10th
Flushing your homes hot water heater is an often neglected, but critical, part of home maintenance. Flushing your hot water heater on a yearly basis can greatly extend the life of your unit, as well as ensuring that it delivers the maximum volume of hot water.
Things You'll Need
- An adjustable wrench if your drain valve does not have a handle on the valve
- A hose
Time Involved
1-3 hours depending on how long the tank takes to drain
What You Need to Do
- Turn off the cold water feeding the water heater. There is usually a shut off valve attached to the pipe entering the water heater. The water heater should identify which is hot and which is cold. If you don't see any identifying marks, run some hot water in the house and then you can determine which is hot and cold by touch.
- Turn off the power to the water heater.
- For electric, this should be done via the circuit breaker. This is most likely in the main circuit box, though some water heater installations have a breaker right next to the water heater.
- For gas, turn the gas valve located near the water heater to pilot.
- Connect the hose to the drain valve located at the bottom of the water heater. Run this hose to a location where the water can drain, either a drain in the floor or outdoors.
- Turn on the hot water at a faucet in the house. If you have an upper floor, open the valve there. Whenever possible, open a valve that is at a higher elevation than the water heater.
- Open the drain valve at the bottom of the water heater. Water should begin flowing out of the hose.
- Wait for the water to stop draining. This could take up to one hour (and in some cases even longer). If the water stops draining after only a couple of minutes, you may have a clog at the drain valve. If it is clogged, don't worry, just go to the next steps to help flush things out. Opening and closing the drain valve can also help to clear the clogs in some cases.
- Turn on the cold water valve at the top of the water heater and allow cold water to mix things up in the tank for about 60 seconds. Turn off the cold water and allow the water to finish draining from the hose again. Repeat this step at least 3 times, or more if you continue to see sediment mixed in with the water coming from the hose. If things are clogged, try opening and closing the drain valve while the cold water is running.
- Once the drain water is running clear, turn off the cold water and close the drain valve at the bottom of the water heater.
- Turn the cold water back on and allow the water heater to fill back up. You'll know it is full enough when water is coming out of the faucet you had open in the house.
- Turn off the faucet in the house.
- Turn the power back on to the water heater. For electric, just turn the breaker back to on. For gas, turn the gas valve back to its fully on position. Do not turn the power back on until you completed the step to fill the water heater back up. Doing so will burn up your elements.
- Ensure that there are no leaks around the drain valve or cold water valve that you have been adjusting.
- Mark this task complete.
The water in the water heater is now cold and will need to be heated back up. This may take 1-2 hours for the water to be fully hot again.