It’s important that you keep your water pressure within a certain level to protect your water-dependent appliances, not least of which is your water heater. You may like the feel of warm water crashing down like Niagara Falls when you take a shower, but your water heater might not. On the other hand, water pressure that’s too low also brings its own problems.
What Water Pressure Is
Water pressure is, simply, the force at which water moves through your plumbing pipes, measured in pounds per square inch, or psi. A healthy psi is between 40 and 60. Problems arise when the psi goes much higher or lower than this.
High Pressure Stresses the T&P Valve
The T&P, or temperature and pressure, valve keeps your water tank from overheating or, quite literally, blowing up. Water pressure that’s too high can break this valve or at least make it leak.
High Pressure Makes the Tank Expand
Have you seen cartoons of a boiler that’s getting so hot that it’s expanding and shrieking and steaming? And its seals are breaking, and its nuts and bolts are popping out? Something like that can actually happen to your water heater when the pressure is dangerously high. All the seals and welding that hold the tank together can come apart, and leaks will appear all over the tank.
High Pressure Can Void the Warranty
High water pressure can even void your water heater’s warranty. The water pressure for a water heater is rated at 80 psi. Ideally, it never comes near that. But if the manufacturer finds out that your heater is going above that, they’ll cancel the warranty. If you want to know how they find out if your water heater has been operating at higher-than-allowed water pressure, the manufacturer:
- Looks at the broken T&P valve
- Examines inside the tank and sees cracks in the glass lining
- Observes that the seals leak
- Notices that the sacrificial anode rod has deteriorated much too quickly
The Problems of Low Water Pressure
You might think that low water pressure is better than pressure that’s too high. But the impact of low water pressure can be surprisingly intense. Some of the problems are as follows.
- Your water heater must work harder than it should, which shortens its life.
- Sediment builds up faster than normal because the water pressure is too weak to move the gunk around.
- When buildup develops, the residue bangs around the tank. This makes the heater’s operation noisy.
The right water pressure both satisfies your need for a strong flow of water and does no damage to your water heater. If you live in Cedar Rapids, IA or a surrounding area and need water heater services, make your first call to Benjamin Franklin Plumbing.