Take Care of Your Water Heater This Winter!

When you think of home comfort systems that labor to keep you comfortable during the winter months, your furnace or boiler probably jumps right to the top of your mental list.

Well, don’t forget your water heater, either.

Your water heater has to work overtime during winter to make sure that hot water is available whenever you turn on your dishwasher, fill your washing machine, or jump in the shower. Why the extra work? Because your water heater has to overcome challenges caused by:

• A colder basement – If you don’t own a tankless water heater, then your water heater stores hot water for later use – more than likely in a tank that sits in a cold basement where that water is constantly losing heat to its surroundings (we call this standing heat loss). To ensure that the water is piping hot when you turn on that “H” tap, your water heater must reheat the water – sometimes several times over the course of the day and night. This burns more fuel and causes your equipment to work more harder and more frequently.
• Colder water – Another challenge your water heater faces in the winter is that it has to heat colder water coming from your well or municipal supply. That means providing more heat than it does at other times of the year.
• Your chilly family – Most people take longer, hotter showers in the winter than they do at other times of year, and your water heater needs to work harder to make them happen.

Of course, you can overcome some of these issues (especially standing heat loss) by swapping your storage-type water heater for a tankless propane water heater, which heats water instantly on demand rather than storing it in a tank for later use. But even if you can’t upgrade your water heater, you can still make sure it’s running at its best and most reliable by getting regular professional maintenance from the pros at FSi.

Give your oil- or propane-fired water heater a little TLC this winter with expert water heater service plans from FSi.

If your water heater is on its last legs, consider a water heater upgrade – contact us today to get a FREE, no-obligation estimate on a new high-efficiency water heater, Rinnai tankless water heater, electric heat pump water heater, or indirect water heater for your Western Massachusetts home.