What does a hot water heater’s anode do?
Minerals present in your drinking water can react with metal to degrade and rust it over time. This reaction is accelerated when heat is involved. Stagnant water in your hot water heater has plenty of time for the minerals to react with the lining of your tank, through electrolysis. To prevent this, all glass-lined storage hot water systems contain a sacrificial anode, which is a rod inside the tank, made of magnesium which is a reactive metal. The minerals in the water react with the magnesium anode and break it down rather than rusting out the inside of the tank.
Stainless steel hot water storage tanks do not require a sacrificial anode.
How do I know if my hot water heater anode is bad?
The anode is designed to break down over time to extend the lifetime of your hot water tank, and should be replaced at intervals throughout the tank’s life. In areas where the water has a lot of minerals, such as Adelaide, you could expect to replace your anode every few years, but in Canberra and Queanbeyan, your anode should easily last up to 10 years.
6 Star Hot Water & Plumbing can replace your old hot water heater anode
If your hot water system is older than 10 years or your hot water is discoloured, it may be time to consider having your anode replaced to extend the lifetime of your hot water system. This can also be done as part of our regular hot water servicing which we recommend doing every 5 years.
Call a licensed plumber in Canberra and Queanbeyan today on 0448844 911.
Hot water system anodes we replace
- AAE – solar tank anodes
- Apricus – solar tank anodes
- Aquamax – gas, solar and electric – No anode required for stainless steel systems
- Beasley – solar and electric – No anode required.
- Chromagen – solar and heat pump tank anodes
- Conergy – solar and heat pump tank anodes
- Dux – electric, gas, Sunpro solar and heat pumps tank anodes
- Edwards – solar – No anode required for stainless steel systems
- Everhot – electric and gas tank anodes
- EvoHeat – heat pumps tank anodes
- Hills – solar – No anode required stainless steel systems
- iStore – heat pumps tank anodes
- Kelvinator – solar tank anodes
- Quantum – heat pumps tank anodes
- Reclaim – heat pumps – No anode required for stainless steel systems
- Rheem – electric, gas, solar and heat pumps – No anode required for stainless steel systems
- Rinnai- electric, gas, solar and heat pumps – No anode required for stainless steel systems
- Solahart – solar – No anode required for stainless steel systems
- SolarArk – solar tank anodes
- Stiebel Eltron – electric and solar tank anodes
- Thermann- electric, gas, solar and heat pumps
- Vulcan- electric and gas tank anodes
Are you considering replacing your water heater’s anode? Is your anode over 10 years old or leaking?