How to Drain Your Hot Water Tank

water heater
  • 2-6 hours
  • Beginner
  • 0-50
What You'll Need
Garden hose
Flat head screwdriver
What You'll Need
Garden hose
Flat head screwdriver

A hot water tank or water heater tank needs to be drained once or twice in a year because it can accumulate deposits of minerals and sand. This will cause the hot water tank to lose its efficiency and you’ll have access to less hot water. Draining your water tank is easy, below are the simple steps in doing so.

Step 1 - Turn the Water Heater Off

For gas hot water tanks, switch the gas main off, for electric hot water tanks, switch the breaker off. Turn off the water supply to the tank. Allow the tank to cool down for approximately two hours.

Step 2 - Connect the Garden Hose

Connect the garden hose to the drain valve found on the water tank’s base and position the opposite end of the hose outside to drain the water.

Step 3 - Let the Water Tank Drain Completely

water heater

Open any faucet’s hot water tap and the drain valve to make sure the tank drains completely. After draining the tank, carefully reopen the valve that supplies the cold water; wait for at least five minutes and then shut the valve that drains the tank. Remove the garden hose.

Step 4 - Close the Faucet with the Open Hot Water Tap

Check the faucet where you opened the hot water tap; close it when the water starts to flow. After this you can turn your hot water tank back on.

You can repeat the steps if you see a lot of deposits in your hot water tank.