Your hot water tank, also known as your water heater, will have yearly maintenance recommended by its manufacturer. Some of the plumbing maintenance you must do is to check your temperature and pressure relief valve. This is one item that should be checked to confirm your safety device isn’t seizing. There have been some horrific stories of hot water tanks exploding due to failing temperature and pressure relief valves. You should also be draining your hot water tank yearly, or to the manufacturers specifications, to remove any sediment that has accumulated at the bottom of your tank. The sediment will act as an insulation barrier between the combustion chamber and the water. Draining the sediment will actually increase the efficiency of your tank dramatically.
If you install a water softener, the benefits for your home in Edmonton or surrounding areas are amazing. One of the major noticeable improvements from the water softener is it will actually greatly increase the life of your tank, mainly due to removing mineral deposits. They are separated during the heating of the water and never make it into the tank as they are caught in the regeneration filter of the softener.
We also recommend changing any plastic shut off valves to metal ones. History and science will tell you that when plastic is heated to those temperatures it becomes brittle. When you need to use the valve or it starts to leak, changing it will be a lot more difficult as it won’t just spin out of the threaded fitting like a metal valve would. I would safely estimate that 9 out of 10 plastic fittings installed directly on a hot water tank have to be cut off the tank only because they break when you put a wrench on them. There is nothing worse than having a valve that will not actually shut off in a plumbing emergency.