One of the fallacies that exist in a homeowner’s world is that their home’s plumbing system doesn’t need checked out on a yearly basis. In nearly all homes, this assumption can be presumed false. It is very advantageous to have your home’s plumbing system checked on a yearly basis!
In addition to ensuring that all of your fixtures are clean, and tight, it is extremely important for you to make sure that all of the components of your plumbing system are checked, in an effort to catch something before it causes heartache.
One such component is your home’s water heater. The average life span of a tank type water heater is between 10-15 years. Many homeowners out there still have the “original” one installed in their home in 1970! It may appear to be working ok, but the problem with having such an old water heater in your home, is the risk associated with it.
The old saying is that your water heater will give out at some point in time. The question is whether you want it to do it on its terms, or YOUR terms.
There are many components to the tank type water heaters that can come into play when it comes to your home’s plumbing system. One such part is the sacrificial anode rod. This part is the metal rod that is installed in all new tanks. It is designed, as the name implies, to be sacrificed to prolong the life of the heater. The main duties of the anode rod is to attract all of the “stuff” in your water that can deteriorate the rest of the inside of the tank, and instead, have those things focus on the anode rod. This, of course, means that the anode rod’s lifespan is limited. Many people don’t realize that this part exists, which means that they don’t know that it needs replaced every few years. Once the anode rod is completely dissolved, the “stuff” that destroyed it, will go to work on the inside of the tank.
Another advantage of having a whole house plumbing check done is to allow a professional plumber to make some recommendations on what your home may need to get caught back up. For example, one of Thermal Services’ plumbers may present you with three proposals: 1) What should be done to ensure your safety, and prevent damage, 2) What could be done to add some life to some of the existing plumbing components in your home, and 3) A “wishlist” of sorts, that would be what you hope to have in your home.
This is an important part of the plumbing check, in that it provides the customers an opportunity to see what their options are, and what they can expect in the future.
At the end of the day, an annual whole house plumbing check should be looked at like a physical. More often than not, we come out of our annual physical with nothing to report. But, it gives us peace of mind knowing that we are ok for another year.
