Robert11 wrote:
Hello:

Have the typical cylindrical type of upright gas fired hot water
heater. Probably about 5 yrs old, or so.

Lately, it is taking an inordinate amount of time to heat water up.
It used to be fairly quick; now my wife complains that
it takes "forever".

Heard about draining the crud via the valve at the bottom; the theory
being apparently
that the crud is acting as a thermal barrier for the heat. Likely ?
....

Draining it may help or it may not. Ask your neighbors. They likely
have the same type of water and therefore the same type of build up. See
what they may have done and if it helped. This is something that is a big
problem in some areas and no problem in others.

You chance having the drain valve fail. They are all very cheap. It is
not all that hard to replace them with a good one.

Also keep one more thing in mind. You are likely living in an area
where spring is just started and the water coming into your home is much
colder than it was last fall. It takes longer to heat it up. So you should
expect some reduction in recovery time this time of year when the water is
at it's coldest. It will be a couple of moths before it really warms up
much.



--
Joseph Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math