Whoever said “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” must’ve been thinking 
about saving money, because when it comes to water heaters, a few small things can make your water heater have a long, productive life, saving you lots of money.
The best thing you can do is purchase a quality water heater, like a Bradford White water heater. This is the only water heater still made in the USA, and it is the brand we primarily install.
Be sure your water heater has the correct anode rod for your water conditioning system, if you have one. Salt-based water conditioners or water softeners require a special anode rod that doesn’t come standard in any water heaters.
And if you don’t have a ball valve on your incoming water line to your water heater, install one. This will make it easier to service the water heater.
Given that you have done all these things, here are four maintenance functions you can perform to insure you get the maximum life out of your water heater:
- Replace your sacrificial anode rod every four years. This is your protection against corrosive elements attacking the lining of your water heater
- Service your water heater on a regular basis, as directed in your owner’s manual.
- Install long-life or lifetime warranty heating elements in your water heater.
- Install a ball valve or metal water heater drain in your water heater.
Servicing a water heater is a task that most of us won’t do, yet we will lament our loss when it’s time to replace a leaking water heater. Doing these four things on a regular basis will extend the life of our heater dramatically, saving several hundreds of dollars. Then we can be all smug knowing that “a penny saved is a penny earned”, multiplied several thousand times. If you need help getting started, give Sav-On Plumbing a call 602-488-4647. We will come out and service it the first time for a reasonable fee, and show you how to perform this task yourself, saving even more money.
