On days when the demand for hot water is high in your home, you may find yourself waiting for more hot water. But what do you do when the water heater is consistently underperforming? There are several reasons you may experience a decline in your storage tank water heater’s efficiency. Here are five ways to boost water heater performance:
1. Survey the area. The environment around your water heater can impact performance. If located in the basement, you may find cooler air temperatures to be the culprit. Check for drafts and perform preventive maintenance, such as caulking or weatherstripping around leaky doors or windows.
2. Wrap the pipes. Inspect the pipes that lead from your tank to deliver hot water throughout your home. If there is a significant length that is exposed, consider wrapping it in foam pipe insulation to keep the heat contained.
3. Put on a blanket. One of the best ways to boost storage tank water heater performance and save energy is to use a water heater insulating blanket or jacket. Since a major source of inefficiency in a storage tank water heater is standby heat loss, adding insulation can go a long way toward improving heat retention. If you have an electric water heater, insulating the tank is relatively easy; if you have a gas water heater, you may need professional help, since it’s important to avoid covering or miss-adjusting vents and pipes.
4. Replace the dip tube. If your tank contains a dip tube, it may be cracked or broken. The tube runs through the tank from the cold water intake at the top, down to the bottom, acting as a vessel to deliver cold water to the tank without cooling the existing hot water. A leaky tube will lower the water temperature in the tank and is replaceable on most units.
5. Call for service. If none of the above steps works, the issue may be the thermostat, pilot light or, if the tank is electric, the heating element. Call for service to see if the water heater needs to be repaired or replaced.
For more suggestions on how to boost water heater performance in your Indianapolis home, contact the experts at Mowery Heating, Cooling and Plumbing. We have more than 40 years of experience, and guarantee your satisfaction.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Brownsburg, Indiana and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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