A Step-By-Step Guide on How to Drain a Water Heater

A water heater is one of the most important and yet nearly invisible items in one's home. Most of us don't even pay attention to our water heaters until they start making funny popping noises or there's water all over the floor next to it or they quit working completely. Taking care of your water heater now by draining the water and its sediment can add to a longer life for your water heater. Ideally, a water heater should be drained once every year. This may need to be either a longer or shorter period of time though, depending on just how much sediment is in your water.

What is sediment? Simply put, sediment is anything solid that has not dissolved in your water. This can be sand, grit, rust or mineral deposits. Most wells or city water companies are going to have at least some sediment which will eventually end up in your water heater. Once inside your water heater, the sediment sinks to the bottom of the water heater tank. Here the sediment can build up over a period years and eventually clog up the tank or take up so much room that there is hardly any room for the water to enter and be heated. This is why a water heater should be flushed regularly, to prevent the build-up of sediment.

You don't need to be a professional plumber to drain your hot water heater. It is a DIY task that anyone can do. There is however, one very important thing you need to know before you decide to drain your water heater; do you know how to re-light the pilot light? If you have never had to light the pilot light on your water heater, then have someone teach you how and then practice until you can do it. Otherwise, call a professional plumber to drain your water heater for you.

As long as you can re-light the pilot light on your hot water heater, you are ready to start the process of draining it. This article will detail all the steps needed for you to drain your hot water heater by yourself.

How to Drain a Water Heater #1: Think Safety

The water coming out a water heater will be HOT. You must take care not to get the hot water on you so protective gear such as goggles, heavy gloves, coveralls and boots may be a good idea. You will also need to make sure that there are no children or animals nearby when you are draining your water heater. If done incorrectly, this can be a dangerous job, so think safety first. If you are uncertain of anything to do with draining your water heater, call a professional plumber to do the job.

How to Drain a Water Heater #2: Locate Your Water Heater

It certainly sounds simple enough; locate your water heater. The problem is that there is no standard place where a water heater is required to be installed. I live in an older rental house and our water heater is located in the kitchen. I once saw a water heater that was installed in the master bedroom closet of a condo. When I was growing up, our water heater was located in the garage, near the washer and dryer. Some people have a tiny shed built onto the outside of their house where the water heater is located or else it is in the wall of the house but only accessible from an outside door. Other houses have their water heaters installed in the basement. Wherever your water heater is located, you will need to find it before you can drain it.

How to Drain a Water Heater #3: Turn off Your Water Valve

Once you have located your water heater, you will need to turn off the cold water supply to it. Somewhere near the top of each water heater is where the shut-off valve is located. Make sure it is turned completely off. If it is too tight to turn or has become stuck due to age, you may need a wrench to help you turn it off.

In a rare instance, you may not find a shut-off valve connected to the hose at the top of your water heater. This may be because your water heater was installed many years ago or was installed by a non-professional who did not properly install it. You will need to hire a professional plumber to handle this situation and have him install a shut-off valve for the water supply to your water heater.

How to Drain a Water Heater #4: Turn off the Gas or Electricity

Before draining your water heater, you will need to turn off the gas. Turn the thermostat to the PILOT setting. The thermostat is on the front of the water heater, near the lower area of the front. The word PILOT is generally large and easy to find.

If you have an electric water heater, you will need to turn off the electric power to it because if it should turn on to heat the water while you are draining it and there is no water inside the tank, then the heating element can burn out and then you will need a whole new water heater. Turn off the electricity at the breaker box which is often located on the outside of the house. In the house where I live however, the breaker box is located inside the house in the laundry room. You will need to know exactly which breaker will turn off the electricity to the area of the house where the water heater is located.

How to Drain a Water Heater #5: Attach a Hose to the Drain Valve

To drain the water out of your water heater, you will need to attach a hose, usually a garden hose, to the drain valve. You will find the drain valve near the front of the water heater, close to the thermostat, which is near the front lower section of the water heater. On the new water heaters, this will usually be a white, round piece protruding from the water heater, with a threaded circle to attach the hose to. It could also look like a metal faucet spigot. It will depend on the age and brand of your water heater.

After you attach the hose to the drain valve, there are two more steps you must do BEFORE you turn on the drain valve to begin the draining process. First, take the end of your hose outside so the water heater will drain into your driveway or your street gutter. Since the water coming out of the water heater will be very hot, it may kill your grass or plants in any planters. You may need to use a high quality garden hose for this purpose because some of the cheaper hoses will not be able to handle the hot water and will spring a leak (or multiple leaks). You can also have the hose where it will drain into a drain pipe though it is possible the sediment could cause problems for it as well.

Second, you will need to go into your bathroom and turn on the bathtub hot water faucet. This is to ensure that there will be no vacuum effect as you turn on the water heater drain valve and begin draining the water out of it. If you don't have a bathtub and only have a shower, turn on the hot water in the shower stall or at the sink's hot water faucet.

How to Drain a Water Heater #6: Turn ON the Drain Valve and Flush the Sediment

Now that you have finished steps one through four, you are ready to turn on the drain valve and begin draining the water and sediment out of the water heater tank. Once you turn on the drain valve, wait for the water to drain out completely. Once the water heater has been emptied of water, close the drain valve and turn the cold water shut-off valve back on. Let the water heater tank fill partially, then turn the cold water shut-off valve off again. Next, turn the drain valve back on again so the water can drain out of the water heater through the garden hose. Once you see that the water draining out of the water heater is clear with no rust or other sediment, you are finished with the water heater sediment cleansing. It is possible that this process could take two, three or four times of turning the cold water valve on-again/off-again before all the sediment is gone.

If the water doesn't appear to be draining out of the water heater tank, it may be clogged with sediment. You can do the cold water valve on-again/off-again before all the hot water is out of the tank to help flush the sediment out. Depending on how much sediment you have in your water heater, you may have to keep doing this until the sediment loosens enough to be flushed out the drain valve through the garden hose.

How to Drain a Water Heater #7: Turn OFF the Drain Valve

Once the water that is draining from your water heater is clear, you are finished and can turn off the drain valve. Make sure it is tightly closed and there is no leaking. Remove the garden hose from the drain valve. Next, turn on the cold water shut-off valve, re-light the water heater pilot light and turn off the hot water faucet in your bathroom.

If everything went according to the steps outlined in this article, you won't need to repeat the process of draining your water heater for another year. You should have a good idea if you will need to do this either more often or less often depending on how much sediment you noticed coming out of your water heater and how many times it took for you to get it out of the tank. If there were any problems when you drained your water heater, then you may need to call a professional plumber.

You can view a video of DIY handyman, Danny Lipford, speaking about how to drain a water heater here.

Sources:

DIY Network: How to Drain a Water Heater

The Natural Handyman's Hot Water Heater Draining Page