The heating of water is essential for our daily lives. Having a centralized whole house water heating system is crucial for most American families to function expediently and efficiently, more importantly comfortably. The age-old, time tested method of heating water has been tank-style water heaters. This type of water heater comes in many shapes and sizes. Two common types would be commercial and residential.

COMMERCIAL GAS WATER HEATERS

  • Utilize gas and electricity to heat the water.
  • Mostly used for restaurants and multi-family dwellings.
  • Common sizes are 75 gallon & 100 gallon.
  • Designed to have a higher recovery rate meaning they can produce hot water more quickly than a residential model.
  • Usually a 3-year warranty

Commercial water heaters require a higher level of maintenance due to their continuous use. Southern California has extremely hard water. Which requires special maintenance and service to help prevent scale from forming causing premature failure. This is usually evidenced by a rumbling noise when the water heater is in heating mode. Restaurants, apartments, and other commercial establishments that depend on commercial water heating, maintenance, and quick water heater repair is crucial to their business. Complete Plumbing offers a full-service commercial water heater maintenance program to keep your business running smoothly.

Complete Plumbing offer sales and service of all major brands of commercial water heaters:

 

 

RESIDENTIAL GAS WATER HEATERS

  • Utilize natural, LP gas and electricity to heat the water.
  • Mostly used for residential homes.
  • Common sizes are 40, 50 & 75 gallon.
  • Available in various recovery rates. Determined by BTU rating.
  • Available in various insulation factors determined by insulation thickness or R insulation value.
  • Standard 6-year parts and tank leakage warranty.

Complete Plumbing offer sales and service of all major brands of residential water heaters:

 

 

Southern California water is extremely hard making life expectancy of a residential tank-style water heater about 10 to 12 years. Most people are familiar with the rumbling noise (sounds like tennis shoes in a dryer) when water is heating. The rumbling noise is due to a thick layer of Lime and Calcium deposits accumulating at the bottom of the water heater when water is heated it becomes agitated moving the hard water deposits causing the rumbling noise. While this noise does not mean a safety issue it can mean that repairs are in the near future.

Complete Plumbing recommends the following:

  • Flush and clean water heater tank yearly
  • Install scale protection or even better a whole house water softener system
  • Change anode rod annually. Anode rods are a sacrificial part inside the water heater that attracts the corrosive elements in water to itself rather than the metals inside the tank which will increase tank life.
  • Test temperature and pressure relief valve.

Residential gas water heaters in Southern California have changed drastically over the last years. In the “old days,” you would open a door at the bottom of the tank, depress a button on the gas valve, insert a match to light the pilot. Because of concerns with flue gas emissions, Southern California Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) mandates special requirements to limit the number of pollutants into the air. These requirements forced manufacturers to redesign tank style gas water heaters to be able to comply. One drastic change was to the burner assembly which is now completely sealed from access. This change makes lighting the pilot quite different. Now all water heaters utilize a piezoelectric spark igniter which works by pushing a button and viewing pilot light through a site glass. Another challenge is with combustion air which is drawn in at the bottom and sides requiring openings to be clean. Because these new style water heaters are more susceptible to breakdowns, Complete Plumbing recommends special maintenance attention be performed annually:

  • Clean burner assembly and orifice
  • Clean combustion air inlets
  • Clean and inspect the flue and vent piping
  • Clean pilot assembly and orifice

BEFORE purchasing a new tank-style water heater, we recommend asking if the replacement parts can be obtained locally or will have to be ordered. This can be the difference between waiting days or repairing on the spot.

Complete Plumbing only uses water heater manufacturers that stock parts locally to get you up and running quickly!

RESIDENTIAL ELECTRIC TANK STYLER WATER HEATERS

Similar to gas tank-style water heaters, electric water heaters utilize electricity to heat the water. Electric water heaters use a heating element inside the water heater tank. Electricity is applied to the element which is resistant to current, causing the element to heat up. The heating up of the element then heats the surrounding water, this will continue until the water is heated to the set temperature on the thermostat. Once the thermostat has reached the desired temperature it will shut off the electrical current to the element until cold water is introduced and the process starts all over again.

Electric water heaters, though relatively simple in design, present their maintenance issues. Southern California water is very hard meaning it contains a lot of Lime and Calcium which, when heated, can solidify and stick to the heating elements. This coating of lime and calcium on the heating element acts as an insulator which does not allow the heat to be transferred from the element to the water. With the high cost of electricity these days, electric water heaters can become rapidly inefficient if not descaled and maintenance regularly.

Complete Plumbing recommends the following maintenance be performed annually:

  • Flush and descale tank and elements
  • Test temperature and pressure relief valve
  • Test thermostat controls for proper operation

Complete Plumbing sells and services all major brand electric water heaters.

Call us today for more information!