You get home after a long day and want to soak in a nice hot bath. Or you wake up in the morning ready to take a steaming hot shower and get the day started. Or how about making a delicious cup of coffee? Or getting all of the dishes washed and out of the way? Or even washing your laundry? What do these have in common? These are all tasks that require hot water. And while our homes have a water heater for all of our hot water needs, do you really know what’s inside your water heater? Scheduling water heater maintenance may seem unnecessary or an inconvenience, but we promise after reading this, you’ll understand, and see, why it is so important.
These are pictures of the inside of a water heater from homes with hard water and scaling in their units. Your water runs through this for all of your hot water needs, from bathing and cooking to cleaning and drinking. Makes you think a little differently about getting maintenance done to ensure this isn’t happening in your home, doesn’t it?
How Do I Know if My Water Heater Has Scaling?
Typically, homeowners notice something is amiss with their water heater when they start hearing the noise created by the deposit build-up. This can present itself as a popping noise, a banging, or a crackling sound.
Strange noises coming from a water heater can lead homeowners to think something really bad is going to happen—particularly if they have a gas-powered system. But this isn’t necessary. The sound you’re hearing is the mineral deposits settling on the bottom of the tank, and then getting shuffled around as the burners come on to heat the water, causing steam bubbles. So don’t panic, but do call for service.
Why You Need Professional Water Heater Services
You may not be in any immediate danger if your water heater is impacted by scaling, however that doesn’t mean you should treat the problem as a casual one. After all, it is the long-term effects that can be problematic and costly, and could end up becoming dangerous if you let it go on for too long.
Scaling causes a pressure imbalance within the water heater tank that might shut off the system or lead to overflow. In can also wear down the bottom of the tank so that the lining no longer protects against corrosion. As a result, you could develop major tank leaks.
We’ve been referring to tank water heaters, but if you have a tankless system, your water heater is not immune to the problem of scaling. Any type of water heater or boiler can develop scaling, which coats the coils and keeps the system from heating up water properly. And tankless water heaters develop scale that can slowly eat away at the heating elements, keeping them from heating the water as they should.
Even if you haven’t heard any odd noises or noticed anything suspect from your water heater, you should still have one of our professional plumbers at TMS perform water heater maintenance every year. And if you are dealing with hard water, our water treatment experts can help with that too!
Never wonder what’s inside your water heater again…
Call TMS for all your water heating, plumbing, and water treatment services! We’re here to make sure you have a safe, efficient water heater as well as clean, healthy water in your home. We’ve been pros at plumbing for 50+ years, so believe us when we say, TMS Does Plumbing Best!
.
.
Source: https://www.relianceplumbing.com/blog/water-heater-service/scaling-mean-for-water-heater/
