And have a female hose x female hose adapter ready. If sediment gets stuck
in the drain valve, you can use house water pressure to free up the
sediment.

"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
. ..
- Colonel - wrote:
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.

It goes like this. If you have had the heater for 10 years and not
flushed it, now is not a good time to start. It should be done every 6
months to a year.

You have the procedure down about right. How much to flush depends.
I
would suggest at least 10 gallons. In some cases you would want to
totally
empty the WH. That is you want to empty that amount of water, you don't
generally shut off the inlet water supply.

What really works and is needed depends greatly with the local water
conditions. Where I am it is not really worth the effort. In some areas
I
would do it ever few months.

Note: most water heaters have really cheap drain valves. Be ready to
replace the one you have, especially if you are going to try this after
five
years of not doing it.

In some areas it is wise to check the sacrificial anode rod and
replace
it if it is in bad shape.

Good Luck

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit