Hot water is not only essential for relaxing baths, it is also vital for washing and cleaning. Most of us rely on our trusty water heaters in several areas of our daily lives.
However, over time you will encounter problems in your water heater systems, leading to inconvenient cold showers and underpowered appliances. The average lifespan of a water heater is usually about ten years from the manufacture date. However, your heater may experience issues from time to time long before that.
We’ve put together a short guide below on common causes of water heater issues. Identifying these issues early on can help you address the issue before it becomes more expensive.
Leading Water Heater Issues
Old Age
Alas, a trusty water heater may finally give up without warning. There may be telltale signs, such as a water pump failure, delays in heating, or weird sounds. As mentioned above, a water heater’s average lifespan is anywhere between eight to ten years. Even before it reaches its terminal years, some issues with daily use can also happen.
If possible, try to get the year of its installation or manufacturing and check between its eighth to the tenth year of operation to estimate when it might finally malfunction for good. It will give us a rough estimate on how long further down the road we can expect it to work or when it may need water heater repair services.
Your Water Heater Is Spewing Rusty Hot Water
Rust is another inevitable condition we cannot avoid. The majority of hot water heating systems only use steel and iron parts for their inlets, pipes, and internal tanks. The corrosion from oxygen and continuous water flow will eventually destroy it. Any signs of rust-infused water should prompt immediate replacements or water heater repair and avoid using it immediately, as it could be lethal to your health.
As a general rule, most of the hot water we use for tea, coffee, food such as instant noodles, ramen, and soup should come from heating in cookware. We should limit the use of water heaters in our houses for bathing and cleaning purposes, especially in older units.
It Is Making Weird Noises
Ominous noises are a dead giveaway that something is wrong with the internal water heating systems. It is usually a problematic internal water tank. Most of the issues are from sediment buildup from years of continuous hard water flow, and eventually collects too much calcium, magnesium, bicarbonates, other minerals, and other sediment material.
It will worsen over time and cause extensive damage to internal parts, so please take heed and call for water heater repair services as soon as possible. Hard water can also greatly affect other appliances, too, shortening their lifespans as well.
There Is a Leak in Your Heater Tank
Heater leakage may be from metal tanks expanding and breaking from years of heat exposure. It could mean danger, possibly higher water bills, and the water heater system could finally give way. Make sure to do routine maintenance checks to ensure the tank and its components are in good condition to preempt any surprise issues.
It Is No Longer Heating
A broken thermostat and damaged parts can cause your heating systems to provide insufficient heat or, worse, stop heating the water altogether. If the tank is too small in proportion to the user demand in your house, it may also die out eventually. Water heater repair services may fix it, but later on, you may need to replace the heater for good.
The Cold Truth
All Water heaters will eventually have these issues from constant daily use. You can’t expect them to last for more than ten years, but during that time, a few repairs can extend the life of your unit and remedy most of these problems. Gradually, though, these heater systems will sustain wear and tear and eventually break down.
To ensure the longevity of your water heater, ServiceProz is your go-to provider for general water heater repair services. We’ll ensure your daily supply of indispensable hot water until it’s time to replace it with a new one. Give us a call today at (903) 212-7769.
