Water heater longevity and preventive maintenance

Until Larry and Suzanne Weingarten began experimenting, more than 20 years ago, not many people in the United States knew that water heaters could be economically serviced and made to last.

Somebody called the Weingartens to an apartment complex because the water heaters were making strange noises. All anybody knew to do then was replace them.

They learned what caused the noise -- sediment -- and how to stop it. They learned about the part that really controls the life of a water heater -- the anode rod. They invented a unique vacuum cleaner, the Muck-Vac, that cleans the tank while it's full of water. Then they wrote a book, the Water Heater Workbook. Finally, they and an associate began teaching other people how to do this work.

Our goal is to save a good chunk of the 6.5 million water heaters that fail each year and wind up in the landfill. We hope yours is among them. We also want to influence you to make wise buying choices.

To us, preventive maintenance includes buying the right tank in the first place and maintaining it, or retrofitting the one you already have.

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The following topics tell you about the construction of a water heater and why it's necessary to make some changes to permit maintenance, as well as describing what that entails and how to do it.

The inside story -- Time to learn a little about the innards of a water heater. Then you'll understand how construction affects maintenance and longevity.

Anodes -- A matter of life and death to your tank. Even though practically every water heater has one, scarcely anybody knows that they're there -- and that they can be replaced.

Sediment -- It lowers energy efficiency, helps harm the tank bottom, causes odd noises and burns out recirculation pumps and heating elements.

Safety -- Codes vary across the United States, but here are some of the basics.

Tankless water heaters -- Instantaneous water heaters sound like a big improvement over tank-type heaters. But are they? Also described here are some cool new technologies for saving energy and water.

Choosing a water heater -- When you go shopping, what should you be looking for? This section is about determining what you need and how to compare different models. And we strongly recommend that you read this and The Best Water Heater right now. When your water heater breaks, all you're going to be thinking about is avoiding another cold shower. When you're in a hurry, it's easy to make bad choices.

The Best Water Heater -- While this might sound just like the preceding topic, it's a little different. This is more about how we think a tank should be configured after you've made your buying decision.

Preventive maintenance -- Using one of our heaters, we talk you through what is involved in maintaining a water heater.

Know-how -- This is the hands-on guide to inspecting your tank to determine its condition and the details of how to perform preventive maintenance.

Insulation and energy efficiency -- Comparing water heaters has gotten more complicated, but it can still be done, and should be done.

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.