Water – Any tricks to draining a tank-style water heater

You should make two phone calls. The first to your local building department, which should be able to answer all your code related questions. They may even have a handout or other documentation, that outlines the requirements of replacing a water heater.

The second call should be to a local Rheem dealer, or directly to Rheem. They will be able to answer any questions you have about the equipment.

Some things to watch out for:

• Make sure you drain the old tank completely, as water can be quite heavy.

• When draining the tank, make sure you open the hot valves at fixtures. This will allow all the water to drain back to the tank.

• When opening valves at fixtures, watch out for mixing valves. These can accidentally backflow cold water through the hot water pipes, which would lead to an undrainable tank.

• If you have to install an expansion tank, make sure you charge it properly.

• Make sure you know where to dispose of the old tank, as some municipal garbage collectors will not take water tanks.

Yes, the tank is under pressure from the incoming cold water supply. After all, the incoming cold water is what is pushing hot water out of the tank and into your faucet.

However, there are usually two safety valves:

1. Temperature/pressure relief valve that will let the hot water or steam out, if internal pressure or temperature goes over a certain limit.

2. A vacuum breaker valve that will let air in if internal pressure is less than external (air) pressure: prevents the tank from collapsing if there is no cold water coming in and you're pumping hot water out.