The life cycle of water heaters is dependent on the usual things.

1)	Understanding of environmental conditions (hardness of water,
etc)
2)	Appropriate maintenance - many water heaters incorporate a
passive cathodic protection system to reduce the risk of corrosion of
the tank.  This system is basically an anode which preferentially
corrodes.  Once it has corroded away, the susceptibility of the tank to
corrode dramatically increases.  If you RTFM when you get a new water
heater, you'll see that recommended maintenance involves replacing the
anode every few years ... 

Many of us know these things, earn money telling our clients about these
things, earn more money fixing up the mess when these things aren't done
...

By the way, RTFM is borrowed from the dictionary of IT help desk speak
... it stands for "Read The F***ing Manual".

Cheers

David West
Executive Director
internationalconservationservices
T:     +61 (2) 9417 3311
M:    +61 (411) 692 696
E:     [log in to unmask]
W:    www.icssydney.com
sustaining your heritage
 
-----Original Message-----
From: The listserv where the buildings do the talking
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Larry
Simpson
Sent: Friday, 9 April 2010 8:21 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [BP] Scaley water heaters and tea pots

If you live where there is calcium carbonate in  the water(as in
limestone) you can tell by the white coating in the bottom of your
teapot. Likewise this scale accumulates in the water heater and can
cause problems. Most water heaters have a faucet at the bottom to
connect a hose and drain the water with the heat turned off. This should
be done about every five years. I've had mine for about 15 years and
just remembered to do this. Here's hoping for another 15!

Larry 2

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