Why Did You Start This Service?
My goal is to make homeowners aware of just how important sacrificial anode rods and routine maintenance are when it comes to their water heaters. Everyone should be able to derive the most out of their water heaters and for those who could use some help in achieving this goal, I wanted to provide a specific service targeted at fulfilling this need.
The seed was planted long ago when I moved into my new home back in October of 1993 and just like most people, I never gave a second thought to my water heater. Just over 8 years later, in December of 2001, my tank developed a leak and had to be replaced during the holiday season. I was shocked and a little miffed about needing to replace my water heater at such a young age (the tank's, not mine!) Of course, I had a new water heater put in place the next day on 27 December 2001.
After having the new unit installed, I decided to read the manual from cover to cover to confirm the warranty coverage and if there was anything I could do to help keep up my new tank. I found that the manufacturer recommended routine preventive maintenance including partial tank draining and flushing to remove any rust and sediment, checking the T&P relief valve operation each year and an annual inspection of the sacrificial anode. It even specified replacement criteria stating that once it was half worn or had more than 6 inches of core wire exposed, the sacrificial anode rod was to be replaced. “SACRIFICIAL WHAT!” I thought to myself.
At that point I investigated and shortly thereafter, I began a routine preventive maintenance program, just as I do with my furnace, my air conditioner and my car! I started flushing my tank routinely and changing my sacrificial anode rod every five to six years as I noticed it was significantly worn and the core wire was starting to show. I am happy to say that the very same tank is still in my house today over 22 years later and it’s still working great!
As an example of what proper preventive maintenance can achieve with respect to water heaters, here's a picture of my old, but current water heater with a blow up of the serial number. The first four digits (1101) indicate the unit was manufactured in November of 2001. With over 22 years of service, this tank has served nearly double what my original tank did and I know that is due to routine preventive maintenance including proper flushing and changing out the sacrificial anode regularly.
Many years ago, I started talking to people about hot water heater maintenance and specifically about flushing and sacrificial anodes. Surprisingly, I found that almost no one performed any type of routine maintenance on their tank and only a handful had even heard of, or were aware their tank has a sacrificial anode - even fewer knew that it needs to be replaced. Moreover, people were surprised and shocked when they would see the type of grime that is extracted from the bottom of their tanks. A good friend of mine quipped that its strange most people don’t seem to know about proper maintenance and are completely oblivious to the fact that their tanks should be regularly flushed and that they employ a vitally important feature called a sacrificial anode. He suggested that I should go into business providing awareness to everyone on the issue of preventive maintenance and availing myself to those who could use such a service – that's when the idea for replacethatrod was born!
So if you routinely service your water heater, flush it and inspect and/or replace your sacrificial anode rod regularly, I salute you on your sound decision. If you have never conducted any preventive maintenance on your water heater tank and your unit is about 3 years old, I urge you to initiate a proper preventive maintenance routine and have your tank flushed and the anode checked. If your tank is between 6 and 9 years old, I strongly recommend you initiate the appropriate preventive maintenance, flush the tank and replace the sacrificial anode with a new one immediately. Generally speaking, we suggest the following as a rule of thumb:
"When your warranty is up, change your anode rod out!"
It’s (almost) never too late to do the right thing, but if your water heater has never been serviced and it is an older unit, proper preventive maintenance and sacrificial anode rod replacement may still be beneficial. It will definitely help to ensure its safety and should improve its operating efficiency - unfortunately, it won't turn back the hands of time or undo any damage that may already be done. The inspection will confirm if the sacrificial anode rod is still viable. If it is, a change-out will definitely be of significant benefit that, coupled with flushing, should help prolong the water heater's life. If it isn’t, its hard to speculate on the exact impact it will have as there is no way of knowing how long the tank was unprotected and what the extent of the corrosion is. However, if the tank has not yet started leaking, flushing and anode rod change-out should still help to reduce or slow down any corrosive activity that will lead to premature failure.
So as far as sound routine preventive maintenance, you don’t have to take my word for it, but definitely check the manual that came with your tank and consider the recommendations outlined by your water heater manufacturer. Most, if not all, will recommend proper routine preventive maintenance is performed and identify just how very important the sacrificial anode and routine flushing are.