Why Your Water Heater is Making Noise, What It Might Mean and How to Fix It

Why Your Water Heater is Making Noise, What It Might Mean and How to Fix It

What to do when Your Water Heater is Making Noise?

Does your water heater make a knocking or popping sound? If so, there are deposits (minerals such as calcium and lime) in the water heater.

Even the best water heater needs to be flushed to prevent buildup. Over time, the minerals in your water collect under the water heater and harden into what plumbing professionals call “area.”

Can sediment buildup harm my water heater?

A small percentage of sediment buildup probably won’t harm it. A large amount, however, certainly can.

A deep layer of sediment in the water heater’s storage tank can cause these problems:

  • Heat transfer to the water is slowed, causing the water heater to overheat. The overheating can damage the lining and weaken the steel storage tank, causing leaks.
  • If you have an electric water heater, debris can cover the electric heating element, causing it to overload.
  • It displaces water in the tank, which means you don’t have as much hot water available.
    This decreases the output of the water heater, which increases the cost of heating your water.

If you notice your water heater knocking and you’ve never flushed it, a large layer of dirt may have built up at the bottom of the storage tank.

sediment in water heater

How did sediment get in my water heater tank?

Simple. Water in the Twin Cities is “hard,” suggesting it’s complete of minerals (mostly magnesium as well as calcium carbonate). These minerals are much heavier than water, so they settle in the storage tank over time.

You can keep minerals out of your water by softening it.

If you don’t the flush the container, the water heater’s effectiveness will certainly drop as well as– over time– the storage tank can deteriorate and spring a leakage (definition you’ll need to change the water heater).

In this write-up, we’ll talk about:

  • Why sediment causes waterheater noise
  • How to flush the water heater tank of sediment.
  • How to prevent sediment/scale accumulation in the future.

water heater popping noises

Why sediment triggers the popping noise.

Generally, the standing out noise is water is boiling below the debris.

You see, debris drops to the bottom of the storage tank where the burner is (for gas hot water heater). That gas burner begins home heating water trapped underneath the sediment, creating it to percolate like coffee as well as producing the noise because of this.

It’s much like if you had a water-filled protected pot on a warm cooktop. The range would heat the water, creating it to bubble and also push the cover-up.

water heater knocking

While the sound itself is harmless, big amount of sediment can:

– Eventually, cause a leakage- Sediment reduces heat transfer from the burner to the water. This can trigger the water heater to get too hot, harm the internal lining as well as damage the steel container, causing a leak.

– Damage the electric heating element- Do you have an electric water heater? If so, the sediment can cover the electrical heating element, creating it to burn out.

OK, so you see the extent of this trouble, right?

You may read below how to flush and drain the water heater tank in 12 steps. Please follow these directions carefully or you might harm the water heater.

You can flush the water heater tank yourself (it’s quite simple). If you don’t intend to do this on your own you can call professional plumbing to do it.

1) Shut off the hot water heater.

For electric water heaters: turn off the water heater at the breaker.

For gas water heaters: Turn the gas valve knob to pilot.

2) Turn the cold water supply lever to a 90 degree angle

Turning the cold water supply lever on a water heater

3) Connect a garden hose to the drainpipe shutoff

Attaching a yard pipe to drain valve on water heater

4) Place the other end of the hose in a location (like a basement drainpipe) where water can drain pipes to and won’t be hurt by warm water.

5) Open a hot water spigot in your house to present air into the system. Otherwise, the water will not appear of the hose pipe.

6) Open the drainpipe shutoff. Filthy water ought to start coming out of the pipe.

7) Once the storage tank has completely drained pipes, open and shut the cold water supply shutoff a few times to clear out even more sediment in the storage tank. Once you only see clear water, you’ve left the debris.

8) Close the drain valve; disconnect the hose from the valve.

9) Open the cold water valve by turning the bar back in line with the cold water inlet pipeline.

10) Close the hot water faucet you opened previously once a stable stream of water circulations and all of the air is purged out of the system.

11) Turn the water heater’s gas or power back on so it can start heating up the water when all the air is totally purged out of the system.

12) Celebrate with a good hot shower. You’re done!

How Often Should I Flush My Water Heater?

Flushing your water heater once a year eliminates sediment build-up, helping it.

– Live longer.

– Heat extra successfully.

– Prevent costly flooding.

You should understand that purging a water heater is like brushing your teeth. Your teeth obtain covered in plaque, which rots your teeth if you don’t comb it off.

Similarly, sediment (loosened minerals that sink to the bottom of liquids) sinks to the bottom of your container, covering the heating element as well as insulating it from the water. This overheats the water heater’s storage tank, causing it to wear away. Just like just how plaque deteriorates your teeth.

water heater noisy

How to avoid sediment build up in the future?

To avoid hot water heater noise you can install a no-salt water conditioner at your home’s water main.

This kind of conditioner treats the water as if it leaves the minerals (which benefit your body) in the water while avoiding them from causing scale accumulation in the water heater as well as your pipelines.

Flushing a water heater is relatively simple. Do not forget to do it regulary!

And generally, if you’re awkward; squandering energy; are breathing undesirable air; suffer from allergies, hayfever, or asthma; feel you’re wasting cash on repair work; have clogged drains, noisy water heater, trickles, leakages, phantom-flushing toilets, loud hot water heater, low-flow showers, bad-tasting water; or want just desire stay clear of malfunctions, burst pipes this winter, prevent versus carbon monoxide poisoning or validate everything in your home is functioning as it should, contact reputable and qualified specialists.

water heater making noise

What Happens If I Ignore a Water Heater Knocking Sound?

Your water heater is full of sediment from years of heating hot water. And you’re likely wondering if there are any other problems caused by the water heater knocking sound.

There absolutely are. So even if you can live with the annoying noise, you should still take care of it. Here are 4 problems that can come with sediment build-up in your water heater:

  1. You’ll run out of hot water sooner

    — The bigger the sediment buildup becomes, the less room for water there is. That means you’ll have less hot water, and those morning showers will keep getting colder and colder. In fact, if your family tends to run out of hot water, sediment is one of the main reasons why.

  2. The water heater efficiency will decrease

    — As the sediment begins to coat the heating element in the water heater, the electrical element will have to work harder to produce the same temperature water. Since it works harder and uses more electricity, it costs you more on your monthly bill.

  3. Your hot water heater will stop working

    — If the electric heating element gets too coated in sediment, it’ll stop heating altogether. At that point, you’ll need some emergency plumbing services to get your hot water back. In addition, you’ll probably be facing down a water heater replacement, which isn’t cheap.

  4. The hot water heater may leak all over the floor

    — If the sediment goes unabated for too long, it can eventually destroy the water heater tank itself, spilling 30 to 50 gallons of water all over your floor. This is the worst case scenario for certain, but it is common enough that it’s worth doing something about it.


3 thoughts on “Why Your Water Heater is Making Noise, What It Might Mean and How to Fix It”

  • Greetings! I’ve been reading your web site for some time now
    and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from New Caney Texas!

    Just wanted to mention keep up the great work!

    Look into my web blog Royal CBD

  • Thanks for explaining that you shouldn’t ignore a noisy water heater since it could signify a bigger issue. My uncle mentioned that his unit started making noises while he was talking a bath recently. Maybe we should look around for a heating unit repair expert’s help for this.

  • Thank you for pointing out that a popping sound inside the water heater is the build-up of sediments. I was interested to know that a large number of sediments can be harmful. When I was doing the laundry, I noticed when I turned on the water, the popping sound immediately went off. I am not sure if this means that the sediments are large or small. We will call a plumber in the morning.

Leave a Reply to Zachary Tomlinson Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.