Spearhead Plumbing and Heating services water heaters in the Whistler, Pemberton, and Squamish areas. Our service technicians who are all certified plumbers and gas fitters have been working in the Sea to Sky Corridor for many years and have monitored the failure rates of these water heaters which has led to this opinion.
When Should You Replace Your Water Heater?
A Whistler plumber or a Pemberton plumber will find that a residential water heater will fail in about six to seven year. A Squamish plumber will see a water heater last seven to eight years. Spearhead Plumbing and Heating services water heaters in Whistler, Pemberton, Squamish and since 1989 our service technicians who are all plumbers and gas fitters in the Sea to Sky Corridor have monitored this problem.
Is Your Hot Water Heater Over 7 Years Old?
If it is you may want to consider a replacement as most water heaters tend to leak after this period of time and could possibly cause water damage to your home. We offer same day replacement of both gas and electric energy efficient hot water heaters. We also provide tankless hot water systems.
Tankless Water Heaters
Tankless water heaters, also known as on demand-type or instantaneous water heaters, provide hot water only as it is needed. They don’t produce the standby energy losses associated with storage water heaters, which can save you big money. Whether a tankless water heater might be right for your home, and what criteria to use when selecting one call Spearhead Plumbing and Heating Ltd. we will be happy to come by and give you an analysis of your home, and what it will take to install a tankless water heater.
Expansion Tanks Prevent Leaks
Most people don’t think about their hot water heaters until something goes wrong, why would you! The danger is once something “goes wrong” you could be looking at something as simple as no hot water in the shower or as life threatening as a carbon monoxide leak. Luckily there is a simple fix you can make that will eliminate most serious problems.
Expansion tanks are used to prevent water leaks from your hot water heater. When your hot water heater turns on, the water within the piping system begins to expand. Without the expansion tank, the expanding water can create too much pressure on the heater and potentially fail. If you have an expansion tank the expanding water enters the expansion tank.
The expansion tank contains compressed air and a rubber “bladder” that holds the water until needed. Eventually, the hot water is drawn from the system thru a faucet and the expansion tank releases the extra water into the piping system to be used by you.
What we will do for you? If your hot water heater needs maintenance for any reason, the contractor sent out will note that there is no expansion tank and will recommend installing one if any work is done to the hot water heater.
It may seem like a hassle to worry about, but the expansion tank has some great money saving benefits you may not even realize. Not only are you preventing future leaks with this investment, you’ll also see a reduction in your water bill each month! The extra water that you don’t use is no longer pushed back into the water main supply, instead it is held in the tank for your later use!
Making Your Home Safer:
Investing in a expansion tank could be one of the easiest, cheapest, “bang for your buck” home improvement fixes you can make. While your home is tenant occupied it is important to consider their safety as well as yours when you return. For a very low price you could potentially be saving your family from a disaster including flooding, exploding, bursting, and scalding.
Scald injuries can be prevented by following these guidelines:
Be Aware – All responsible individuals in the household must understand the risk of scalding and the facts presented in this paper associated with how scald accidents occur. This is a major first step in reducing scalding and thermal shock incidents.
Be Proactive – Always test the water to ensure a safe temperature before allowing yourself, children and those adults that need assistance to step into a shower or full bathtub. A safe temperature depends on age, skin condition and health of the bather. Caution: It should be noted that even if you test the water and it is found to be a safe temperature, you can still be instantly scalded if there is a non-compensating type shower valve installed in the shower and there is a pressure disturbance in the water supply caused by someone else in the building using cold water during the shower.
Be Responsible – If there are dependents in your household that require supervision during showering or bathing, the risk for a scald accident increases. Have a qualified service person or plumbing engineer, knowledgeable about the latest technologies in temperature actuated mixing valves, automatic compensating type mixing valves and water temperature limiting devices, make an assessment of your domestic hot water heating and delivery system to see if one or more of these devices are applicable to your needs to minimize the risk of scalding at the point of use in your household.
Temperature Actuated Mixing Valve – A device installed at or near the outlet of the water heater appliance that automatically tempers the hot water to a preset temperature that is safe for human contact before it reaches the point of use, regardless of the water heater thermostat setting.
Automatic Compensating Mixing Valve – A device installed at the shower or tub that automatically blends the hot water supply with sufficient cold water to deliver water temperature to the shower head or tub spigot that is safe for human contact, regardless of the positions of the manual valve settings.
Temperature Limiting Device – A device installed at lavatories, sinks, bathtubs, etc. that prevents the water temperature from exceeding a present temperature.