If you would like to make sure that you are protecting your water heater to the best of your ability, you will want to keep reading.

One of the best things that you can do is to make sure that you are taking the time to winterize it long before the cold weather strikes. After all, you just never know when the winter weather will make a sudden appearance much earlier than usual.

Wrap The Pipes

The first thing you want to do is to make sure that you are wrapping all of the water pipes that lead to the hot water tank from the line from the street. By preventing freezing of the line, you are making sure that your hot water tank will never be stuck trying to warm an empty tank, which can result in many expensive problems.

There are several ways to do this. If you have spare fiberglass insulation, you can wrap that around the pipes. Just make sure that you are using duct tape, or another strong tape, to hold it in place up and down the line. Otherwise, the insulation will fall off.

If you have water lines that tend to sweat a lot, you might want to skip the fiberglass insulation as that can mold. Instead, you can opt for foam tubes that are sold at just about any home improvement store. Just slide those on and tape them in place. Old foam pool noodles will work just the same if you have any of those laying around the yard.

Drain And Refill

This is a great thing to do right before winter. Drain the water completely out of the tank. This will help remove any buildup of minerals or dirt. Then, you can refill it with fresh water from your water line.

Just make sure that you are careful not to splatter yourself with the hot water that will come out of the tank. For better protection, you can turn off the tank and allow the water to cool off for a day or so before draining it.

With those tips in mind, you should have no problem winterizing your water heater. Also, follow our blog to know more on how to make your system efficient.