Regarding the suggestion about draining \ flushing the tank to remove
sediment - my poorly designed house has the hot water tank far from any
exterior walls and without a drain to the outside - there is a pressure
relief valve that vents to the outside.

Would simply attaching a regular garden hose to the spigot at the bottom of
the tank and running the hose to the outside for the flushing process be OK?
I assume that I'd need to turn the heating element OFF but leave the inlet
water ON when I flush the tank and just let it run for a while - correct?

Any potential problems with running the hot water out through the garden
hose?

Also, my hot water tank is right next to the AC blower unit - there's a
condensate line for the AC that runs to the outside - I was wondering about
having a plumber run a drain line from the pan that's under the hot water
heater to tie into the condensate line for the AC drain - how much capacity
(what diameter pipe) would the condensate line need to accommodate an
emergency drain line for the hot water heater?

Thanks!

"Oren" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:14:17 -0400, LouB wrote:

I happen to be standing near the electric hot water heater while the
dishwasher was running. Hear noise like "rattling". Something to worry
about or just normal? Ideas please?

Lou

Occasionally I hear a "chatter" about the water heater. It resembles a
metal to metal sound. I figured the sound was coming from the flue
pipe/heater. Sometimes maybe wind in the exhaust pipe vent?

Not enough to worry about.