Your water heater is a pretty specialised and important piece of equipment for your home. In fact, it’s so special that it takes a qualified and properly certified plumber to install one. Following that, it also takes the same kind of plumber to maintain and repair one. Things get even more complex when we translate these matters to a commercial property rather than a residential one.

If you’re managing a commercial building in the Melbourne area or another major conurbation, then you’ll call on professional commercial hot water installation in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne or wherever exactly you are. The really cost-effective thing to do, however, is to know how best to maintain that water heater after it has been installed.

1. Regular Inspections

If your common practice is to let your regular staff just maintain the system until something really serious goes wrong, then you’re in the completely wrong mindset. Water heaters in both residential and commercial settings benefit from regular inspections from licensed professionals who will determine if there are any signs of trouble or small defects to deal with now. You’ve heard the expression “a stitch in time saves nine,” well that’s what a regular inspection will be giving you.

Issues with your water heaters and related plumbing are a lot like those one gets in a vehicle engine. They start small, and sometimes even unnoticeable to the untrained eye. If you spot them at that stage, they’re easy and cheap to fix, and you avoid much more difficult, complex and costly repairs later on.

2. Annual Flushing

Each year, you should flush the water heater to remove any buildup of lime or sediment, which commonly does build up inside these systems. Lime or sediment is anything to worry about in itself in terms of water quality or general water heater function, but over time it can calcify, which then makes it a lot harder to remove when you need to.

Having a professional come along to do a flush, or training your staff to do it, can save you a lot of bother down the line. It’s a relatively simple procedure that can prevent a lot of more complex problems from taking hold.

3. Proper Tank and Pipe Insulation

If you live in a location with annual temperature extremes, then insulation helps to maintain the water flow on the pipes, but also protects the pipes from oxidation, rust and corrosion. The pipes are also shielded from impacts that may occur when they are properly protected. Furthermore, insulation on the tank and pipes will help to maintain the water at the optimum temperature that you want or need for the water consumers in your residential building.

Insulation of the tank and water will also help reduce the energy consumption that it takes to maintain the water temperature where you need it. Less heat escapes and so less energy is needed to keep it. That can mean real savings for your overall building maintenance cost over the course of a year or more.

4. Maintain a Reasonable Temperature

You may think that setting the water temperature higher allows people in the building to have more selection of water temperature, but there are risks that come with such practice. For instance, setting the water above 60 degrees C can result in people getting burns. It also once again increases energy demands. Maintaining the temperature at 48-50 degrees C is reasonable, as well as safe and efficient.

5. Check and Replace the Anode Rod and Air Intake Filters

The anode rod’s function is to attract corrosive materials in the water to it rather than the tank. The intake filter keeps outside debris from entering the heater. Both of these things need to be changed regularly. The anode rod needs changing about once every 5 years. The filter needs changing every 9-12 months for larger commercial units.