Bad day for it with temps in the low 20s, but my husband is draining our gas hot water heater because we have had very low water pressure for hot water only since last week. It's been a little over 2 years since last done. Yes, we have hard water.

Taking him much longer than it seems it ought to take. A friend told him to fill it back up part way and then drain again--I think that's the point he's at, saying that there is still a lot of sediment.

Any advice?

 

Don't drain the heater. Leave it filled and the water turned on. That will add extra pressure to make the draining/cleaning go faster.

No, cleaning your water heater will not improve your water pressure. In fact it is a common cause of downstream clogs when chunks of sediment knocked loose get caught in plumbing fittings and valves.

 

I wanted to edit/delete this post before you replied, Dane, because it seems my husband did succeed. But taking a shower will tell me if the pressure is better. If not, I will post again and ask what we might do. A previous thread on the topic only suggested making sure a child hadn't knocked the valve(s) into the off position. No kids here to do that, so all was as it should have been.

That first statement sounds contradictory: don't drain it because leaving it filled will make it quicker to drain it?

 

What he is stating you dont drain the tank you just open the valve at the bottom and allow it to flush sediment out of the tank!

 

Unfortunately, I don't think draining (or flushing) the tank will help much with your water pressure. It's good to do as it will extend the life of the water heater, but it likely won't help with your pressure problem.

Are you on a well pump? Sediment filters? I'd imagine you already checked the sediment filter as that's the most frequent issue with well systems.

Are you experiencing pressure issues everywhere, or just at the shower?

 

Drain by gravity (water supply off, and an upstairs hot faucet open) will go a little faster, yes the pressure is greater, while there is a lot of water still in the tank compared with just a little water remaining in the tank.

Drain under pressure aka flush (water supply on, upstairs faucets closed) will put even more pressure down at the open drain valve.

But draining versus flushing will redistribute sediment on the tank bottom differently and you need to use both procedures alternately every so many months to best get the sediment out.

If it takes too long because the amount of sediment makes the draining slow, then schedule the next session for tomorrow or the next day instead of the usual 3 or 6 or 12 months from now. The job is not done until the water runs free and clear from the drain valve.

Turn off the water heater heat before doing a drain (not really needed when doing a flush). Do not turn on the heat until after you have refilled the tank by seeing water gushing full blast from a hot faucet upstairs for a whole minute without air spurts.

 

I wanted to follow up with what happened: the water pressure seemed good for a few days and then got worse. Our handyman friend came out and sawed into one of the pipes coming out of the top of the water heater. He found debris there that was blocking the flow of water. He assumes that this may have happened about 4 years ago when we had a major water leak under our driveway and they had to re-do the pipes. Right away we had good water pressure. He saved us a lot of money as we were ready to buy a new water heater.