Turn off the incoming water supply in the attic do this at the water stop at the top of the water heater.
Drain hot water heater in attic.
Turn the water valve to start the flow of water through the heater so it drains through the drain valve.
Open the water valve for 5 minutes to flush out the water heater.
I m going to throw this out first then we can get into the process.
Possible causes of attic water heater leaks 1.
How to drain and flush a water heater.
Allow the water in the tank to drain out.
It may be more costly to replace.
Open the drain valve on the tank.
Maintenance should be done yearly and is more difficult because going into the attic is cumbersome.
Close valve refill tank restart water heater close the drain valve remove the hose and turn on the cold water supply.
Detailed walk through on how to drain and flush a gas or electric water heater.
Once the tank has drained open the cold water supply valve for a few minutes to flush out any sediment.
Go back to the hot water tap opened earlier.
Adjusting the temperature is harder.
Sediment can collect at the bottom of your water heater so it s important that you run fresh water through it to flush it all out.
Close the drain valve and pressure relief valve.
Giant tanks of water happen to take up a lot of square footage and primarily for that reason many builders have opted to place water heaters in the attic of new homes.
If you re gonna drain a water heater to keep the sediment down you have to do it in our climate if you don t have a water softener every three to six months.
Yes it is a drain pan and it is under the water heater but the tpr valve drain piping was routed through a roughly cut out hole in the side of the pan so the pan will immediately leak when water drips into it and it has no drain to exterior even if it was watertight.
It s problematic to have a water heater in your attic because leaks can damage your attic and foster an environment for mold.
I show how i flush my water heater fro.
A water heater in the attic saves square footage tank type water heaters are big hulking cylinders filled with anywhere from forty to seventy gallons of hot water.
People want to try to drain these things.
If you re gonna drain a water heater.
Release the pressure relief valve on top of the tank.
This would be a good example of how not to install an attic drain pan.