On Aug 20, 1:36*pm, Winston wrote:
LouB wrote:
Winston wrote:

* I say, don't drain the heater,

Good, we can agree on something. *

* and leave the anode alone. Life's too short to worry about milking an
* extra year or two out of a lowly water heater.

How about an extra decade or two? *Is that worth 15 minutes a year?

--Winston

Why not drain the water?

Lou

I don't see a reason to do it.

Draining it periodically is supposed to remove some of the sediment
that collects at the bottom of tank and that inhibits heat
transfer. You can replace the cheap plastic valve with a real one
when installing a new tank.



As Bob mentioned, the plastic drain valve really isn't anything
to write home about. *I couldn't stand the irony of causing
an easily predicted failure as part of my PM!

Note that the anode head and the top of the tank are both
steel and will not be damaged if one is moderately careful.

--Winston