Water Heater Maintenance Checklist
Ensure the safe and good working condition of water heaters through regular water heater maintenance
Ensure the safe and good working condition of water heaters through regular water heater maintenance
Published 7 Jan 2022
Water heater maintenance is the regular preventive maintenance of water heaters used for commercial and residential buildings. Conducted by contractors, facility managers, and homeowners using checklists, water heater maintenance keeps energy consumption efficient, prolongs the optimal working condition of water heaters, and promotes safety by proactively catching issues before accidents can occur.
Use this water heater maintenance checklist to help ensure that the maintenance is done safely and correctly. Professional service providers, contractors, facility managers, and homeowners can help prolong the good working condition of water heaters by following these maintenance steps. Capture photos of issues found and note corrective actions taken.
Edit this template in iAuditor if needed to fit the needs of your maintenance checks. Feel free to download this water heater maintenance checklist as PDF if you prefer but we do recommend the digital version for you to experience the advantages of using this checklist on the iAuditor app.
Accidents involving heating equipment caused thousands of home fires and millions in damages. Conducting regular water heater maintenance can help prevent these and other types of accidents involving water heaters from happening.
In this article, we will discuss the following:
For gas-fired water heaters, fatal accidents can occur if water heaters are not regularly checked for issues such as potential gas leaks. As for heaters with tanks, they have safety features that allow excess temperature and pressure to escape when there’s too much buildup. But if these safety features are not properly checked by professionals who make sure they are still in good working condition, tank explosions can happen.
Water heaters can usually last for a decade without any maintenance. Conducting regular maintenance, however, can help extend the good working condition of water heaters and help discover issues that could’ve gone unnoticed due to neglect. Water heaters with tanks can have sediment buildup over time especially in areas where hard water is more common and this sediment buildup will negatively affect the efficiency of energy spent on heating water.
For industrial or commercial water heaters, annual maintenance is ideal while every six months is recommended for home use. Consider doing the maintenance during autumn just before water gets colder and needs more warmth from heaters to reach the desired temperature. Also, if hard water is used in your area, water heater maintenance should be done more often in order to properly flush and drain the tank in order to remove mineral buildup and formed sediments.
During the maintenance, it is crucial to check any manufacturer’s warnings and follow the maintenance checklist intended for your water heater. By heeding the warnings and following the recommended steps on the checklist, you can help ensure that the maintenance is done safely and correctly.
Used by professional service providers or contractors, facility managers, and homeowners, a water heater maintenance checklist serves as a guide on what to do and what to check during water heater maintenance.
This water heater maintenance checklist is broken down into 5 steps:
A useful tip when looking for possible leaks: apply soapy water on pipes and pipe joints and bubbles will appear should there be a leak.
Please note that it is important to check the manufacturer’s instructions on the use and maintenance of the heater and that it is advisable to get a professional who is familiar with conducting water heater maintenance if you are not comfortable doing it on your own.
iAuditor by SafetyCulture is a powerful inspection app that can help professional technicians, facility managers, and homeowners effectively use water heater maintenance checklists during regular water heater maintenance. With water heater maintenance checklists on iAuditor app, you can do the following:
This boiler inspection checklist is used for inspecting oil or gas-fired boilers before issuance of certification. Converted using iAuditor, select Safe-At Risk-N/A when inspecting the internal, external, and operation of a boiler.
Use this preventative maintenance inspection checklist for heat pumps to proactively capture issues.
Use this Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) checklist during periodic inspections around autumn and spring to help ensure that HVAC is in peak performance.
This complete furnace maintenance checklist can be used by professional furnace inspectors and property managers for general inspections and identify a furnace’s repair and maintenance needs. It provides pointers for cleaning, changing of disposable filters, and items to inspect to ensure that the furnace is in good condition.