Yes, you should flush them, but this will only get out light sediment, and
not things like calcium deposits. Drain the water until it runs clean. If
it's one of those cheap plastic drain valves, be prepared to replace it,
because sometimes you can't shut them off again.

"- Colonel -" wrote in message
news:2006012617442450073-nobody@verizonnet...
I remember my Dad saying that hot water heaters should be flushed
annually to remove minerals and prolong their life.

Does anyone know if this is true?

If so, do you just attach a hose to the HW heater, run it to a sink or
outside the house, and then open the valve?

If so, how much of the water should you drain out? (Not the whole tank,
I hope?)

I guess what's confounding me about this is, why doesn't the HW heater
get "flushed" every time you draw hot water out of it?

Thanks for any advice.

Col.