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Resources -- Information and links to related sites.
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Welcome Page -- If this is your first time, here's how to find your way around.
News About Water Heaters -- Mostly recalls, but there might be some good news eventually.
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Water Heaters 101

If you want to know how your water water heater is made and what factors affect its longevity, start here. Topics:

The Inside Story -- How a tank is made, why it breaks.
What Kills Water Heaters -- Usually it's rust that kills water heaters, but neglect claims its share, as can hidden pressure problems.
Anodes -- The hidden ingredient -- that you can control -- that determines how long a water heater lasts.
Passivation -- Anodes "go to sleep" occasionally, but nobody is certain why
Powered Anodes Solve Smelly Hot Water -- A different kind of anode does a superior job of protecting water heaters in softened water while solving smelly water situations.
Sediment -- It dissolves out of hard water, settling into the bottom of the heater, where it makes scary noises, harms the tank bottom and burns out electric elements and recirculation pumps.
Water Pressure Issues -- Too-high line pressure or thermal expansion spikes are hidden killers of water heaters that most people aren't aware of. How to test for the problem and resolve it.
Safety -- Your water heater may not be as meek and mild as you think.
Emergency Preparedness -- How to ensure that you can get to the water stored in your heater if disaster strikes.
Tankless Water Heaters -- Instantaneous water heaters sound like a big improvement over tank-type heaters. But are they?
Plumbing Connectors -- What connects your water heater to your plumbing? Sure, you go down a couple of entries and find pipe nipples. But that's not all. Like those, there are several options and some are better than others.
Temperature/Pressure Relief Valves -- T&P valves are like excuses. Everybody has one. But almost nobody tests theirs and they should.
Pipe Nipples -- Pipe nipples connect your water heater to plumbing. So what? Well, there are lots of types out there, but only one is the one you should use.
Choosing a Water Heater -- -- We can guide you, and parts of this section are meant to do just that, but there are good reasons why there is no simple answer.
Insulation and Energy Efficiency -- Comparing water heaters has gotten more complicated, but it can still be done, and should be done.
Water Heating According to Larry -- Water-heater maintenance pioneer Larry Weingarten uses answers in The Tank to enunciate his philosophy about water heating and plumbing.
Save Water, Save Energy -- Three mechanical systems and two design systems aimed at cutting your wait for hot water, keeping too much cold water from being wasted while waiting for hot water to arrive at a fixture, and saving energy.
Life-Cycle Cost Analysis -- A simple tool for comparing the overall cost of different water heaters you might be considering buying.

Water Heater Maintenance

Water Heater Maintenance -- If you do the right thing at the right time, your water heater can last for decades.
Preventive Maintenance Tasks -- What you need to do, through the years, to keep your tank functioning efficiently and safely.
Know-How -- Hands-on guide to inspecting your heater to see if retrofitting for longevity is feasible, and step by step description of how to do it.
Tools -- We tell you to use certain tools to do certain maintenance on water heaters. Here is a description of what those are and what they do.

Troubleshooting

We offer several sections of written information including excerpts from our forum, The Tank, which ran from 2004 to 2023. Topics there are:

Tanklets -- Questions e-mailed to us in the early years of the site and our answers, as well as interesting problems from The Tank.

Smelly Hot Water -- What to do if your water smells like rotten eggs.
The Peroxide Fix -- Perhaps the only fix for smelly water in vacation cabins and second homes.
Not Enough Hot Water -- It can have several wildly different causes, and is one of the most common complaints.

Quick -- Quick fixes, tips and caveats.

Lingo -- Glossary of water heater terms. Topics:

Water Heaters in Apartments

Water heaters in commercial applications, such as apartment complexes and restaurants.

Products

Products and Return Policy -- Rescuer kits can be used to retrofit an older tank or prefit a new one. They include an anode rod, sediment flush kit, Water Heater Workbook, instructions keyed to the book, a service sticker, and pipe seal tape. Their component parts can be used as needed. Aluminum/zinc anodes solve or reduce smelly water problems, and powered anodes do that in softened systems. The flush kit blasts sediment out of the tank. The book, by Larry and Suzanne Weingarten, is a cornucopia of information.

Rescuer Kits

Water Heater Rescuer Kit with Solid Combo Magnesium Anode Rod with 4-Inch Nipple, SKU1
Water Heater Rescuer Kit with Solid Hex-Head Magnesium Anode Rod/.90-Inch-Diameter, SKU2
Water Heater Rescuer Kit with Flexible Combo Magnesium Anode Rod With 4-Inch Pipe Nipple, SKU3
Water Heater Rescuer Kit with Flexible Hex-Head Magnesium Anode Rod, SKU4

Sacrificial magnesium anodes

Solid Combo Magnesium Anode Rod with 6-Inch Nipple, SKU5
Flexible Combo Magnesium Anode Rod with 6-Inch Nipple, SKU6
Solid Combo Magnesium Anode Rod with 4-Inch Nipple, SKU7
Solid Hex-Head Magnesium Anode/.90-inch-diameter, SKU8
Flexible Combo Magnesium Anode Rod with 4-Inch Nipple, SKU9
Flexible Hex-Head Magnesium Anode Rod, SKU10

Sacrificial aluminum/zinc (A420 alloy) anodes

Solid Hex-Head Aluminum/Zinc Anode Rod, SKU11
Flexible Hex-Head Aluminum/Zinc Anode Rod, SKU12
Solid Combo Aluminum/Zinc Anode Rod, SKU13
Flexible Combo Aluminum/Zinc Anode Rod, SKU14

Powered anodes

Corro-Protec powered Anodes for Water Heaters of 10 to 120 gallons with Hex-Head Anodes, SKU22, 23, 24
Corro-Protec powered Anode for Water Heaters of 40-80 Gallons with Combo Anodes, SKU25
Peroxide Fix Assembly, SKU28

Frequently Asked Questions About Corro-Protec Powered Anodes

Flush kits and components

Flush Kit for Sediment Control with 4-Inch Pipe Nipple, SKU16

Flush Kit for Sediment Control With 6-Inch Pipe Nipple, SKU111

Curved Dip Tube With 4-inch Pipe Nipple, SKU17

Curved Dip Tube With 6-inch Pipe Nipple, SKU103

Ball-Valve Drain Assembly, SKU32

Standard Dip Tube With 4-Inch Pipe Nipple, SKU20

Standard Dip Tube With 6-Inch Pipe Nipple, SKU110
Lined steel pipe nipples, SKU40-55

Consulting, SKU50

Water Heater Workbook, U.S., SKU18

Return Policy

Shipping Details

CerAnode Powered Anode Warranty

Corro-Protec Powered Anode Warranty

Fun Stuff

Antique Water Heater Museum-- There's more than one way to heat water. Here are some superior designs from the past:

The Closet of Horrors -- Halloween can be any night of the year. All you have to do is ignore your water heater. These are some of the scarier of our inspection findings:

The Harry Houdini Showcase -- Showcase of water heater installations that only an escape artist could hope to service.

The House on Hummingbird Hill: Beginnings -- In 1992, two people decided to build an incredible house that would heat, cool and take care of itself..

The House on Hummingbird Hill: Breaking the Rules -- The Weingartens had unique ideas that they wanted to implement in a house and they broke a few "rules" to do it -- or maybe invented some new ones..

Inside Technologies -- All the stuff like heating and cooling, plumbing and such.