We can answer this question easily by first asking you another question: Has your water heater received maintenance this year?
If the answer is no, then our answer is: Yes, your water heater needs fall maintenance. A water heater must have inspections, cleanings, and adjustments once a year. You can have it done at any time since you always need a working water heater. If you haven’t had it done yet, however, fall is one of the ideal times. Water heaters work harder during cooler temperatures, and even if water heaters in Santa Barbara, CA don’t undergo serious winter weather strain (Southern California, after all), you can still expect to put more demand on your water heater than during other times of the year. You want it to work at its best!
Hard water is water that has a high level of minerals suspended in it, principally magnesium and calcium. This isn’t harmful for drinking; after all, these minerals are found in food. However, those minerals are not good for the plumbing in a home, and they also affect the ability to keep both the house and people in it properly clean. (Soap doesn’t dissolve well in hard water, leaving to filmy deposits, itchy skin, flat hair, and more.)
Because we enjoy mild winters in Santa Barbara and Ventura County, we don’t place too much emphasis on our household heating systems. But there is a heating system in your home that works all around the year. It’s your water heater, and fall is as good a time as any to consider the future of your current water heating system. No water heater lasts forever, and at some point you’ll need to arrange to have it replaced.
Most of us can relate with the feeling of the hot water shutting off on us during a shower. If you’re using a tank water heater, then you know that you’ve simply used up all the water and will have to wait for some more.
Your water heater is acting strangely… does this mean it’s time for replacement? Well, it could, but this time, we only want to talk about problems that aren’t nearly as drastic as they seem. So relax! That doesn’t mean these problems are completely harmless, of course, but we won’t leave you in the dark on how to proceed. Here are some minor plumbing problems that you should be on the lookout for.