You should drain your water heater once a year to help keep it running well and make it last longer. How long does it take to drain a water heater? Depending on the size of your tank, the draining process takes no more than 25 minutes. The draining preparation takes a little longer, so the whole process may take a day.
Why Should I Drain My Water Heater?
One of the most-used appliances in our homes is the water heater. They help us when we shower or bath, do our laundry, wash the dishes, and especially when we wash our hands. As with any other appliance, water heaters will start to have problems after some time.
When sediment builds up in your water heater, it can reduce your water heater’s efficiency. Buildup can also clog the drain in the tank, which could lead to bigger problems in the future that could cause your water heater to fail.
We depend on our water heaters so much that there are things we can do to make sure they don’t fail. Draining a water heater is a fairly easy task for any homeowner.
How Long Does Draining a Hot Water Heater Take?
Depending on the size of your water heater, it can take anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes to completely drain it.
Flushing a traditional water heater with a tank or a tankless water heater only takes a few minutes. Still, the time it takes to fill the tank and wait for the water to heat up is a big part of the total time it takes to do the job. It takes two hours to set up, drain, flush, and refill the system. Afterwards, you can return to your normal life and warm showers.
How Often Should I Drain My Water Heater?
No matter what kind of unit you have, you should drain and flush it once a year to prevent scale buildup, ensure it works well, and extend the life of your unit. If you live where there is hard water, you might want to drain and flush your water heater every six months.
Learn more about how to drain and flush a water heater in this post:
Final Thought
The best way to ensure your tank-style water heater works at its best and lasts as long as possible is to drain and flush it. But draining a water heater can sometimes cause more trouble than it solves. If you haven’t drained your water heater in a long time, you should ask a water heater expert what you should do before moving forward.
If you want to drain and flush your water heater, plan on spending a few hours or a whole day draining your water heater.
