How to Flush a Water Heater - Step by Step

How to drain and flush a water heater. Detailed walk-through on how to drain and flush a gas or electric water heater. I show how I flush my water heater from beginning to end. And just as a reference, here is the steps I took in the video:

1. Connect garden hose and route outside or to floor drain
2. Set gas valve to pilot or off - for electric, turn off the breaker
3. Close water supply valve going to water heater
4. Open hot water faucet
5. Open drain valve
6. After 3-5 minutes, open pressure relief valve to help it drain faster. If water comes out of the pipe close it and wait for a few more minutes before opening again.
7. Water heater completely drained
8. Open water supply valve to water heater for 20-30 seconds and close
9. Allow for water to drain out and open it again. Do this 4-5 times.
10. If water is not flowing out from garden hose, try blowing air backwards into the hose to free up any big chunks of debris.
11. Close drain valve tightly
12. Open water supply valve and allow water heater to fill completely. After a minute of filling, close the pressure relief valve. If water starts flowing from the pressure relief valve sooner, close it right away.
13. After water heater tank is full, allow water to run from hot faucet for a minute to purge our any remaining air.
14. Turn gas valve back to ON and increase temp setting back to where it was. If you turned it to OFF, you may need to re-light your pilot light. If you have an electric water heater, simply turn power back on.
15. Your hot water should be back in about half an hour or so. Also, be advised that you may have some yellow water coming out of your hot water faucets for a day or so because of the stirred up residue inside of the water heater tank.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
🛠️ Tools used:

15 foot garden hose:
Drain valve cap:
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
💧 Water Heater Playlist:
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
For More Repair Videos:
🔌 Dryer Repair Playlist:
🧺 Washer Repair Playlist:
🔥 Furnace Repair Playlist:
❄️ AC Repair Playlist:
🛠️ HVAC Tools Playlist:
🔋 Capacitor Playlist:
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
🛒 For a Complete List of Tools and Parts Visit my Amazon Page:
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
🅿️ Want to Support This Channel? You can donate via PayPal:
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
📷 Interested in What Gear I use to Film my Videos?

Sony A6300 16-50mm:
Sony 35mm Fixed Lense:
Extra Batteries:
Memory Card (2):
60" Tripod:
Bird-Eye View Tripod:
Rode VideoMicro Microphone:
Rode Wireless Go Microphone:
Neewer Halo Light (2):
Viltrox LED Light Panel:
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
🙏 We would greatly appreciate it if you considered supporting our channel while shopping on Amazon by buying anything you need on Amazon after clicking on one of the links above. This gives us a small commission at no additional cost to you and helps us continue producing more videos! Thanks a million for your support!!
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
⚠️ Disclaimer:
This video is for educational purposes. All appliance and HVAC repair work should be done by a trained professional. Word of Advice TV is not responsible for any possible damages or injuries caused by the use or misuse of the provided information.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
📥 SPONSORS / Collabs:
Would you like to partner with Word of Advice TV? 🤝

[immcghee]

Dude 🙏🏾, , this is the second time I drained my tank 💁🏽‍♂️, , using Your Video !! ☺️, , , Thanks ! And God Bless You !

[ionu]

My experience showed me this is Step #1:
Before going to bed, TURN DOWN the heater dial to VACATION. In the AM at the least, take a shower [or more unless freezing outside]. That way when you go to drain, you will avoid that darn HOT WATER, which you really do not need [and save $ on gas/electric]. Further, if the water is brown, it means the Anode rod is rusted out and / or the tank is failing and needs replacing.
Great Drain Valve leaky tip [put a cap on it; sweet, cheap and simple]. You are one of the few GOOD GUYS on You Tube, TYVM.

[ayearetee]

Most of the time I have to pause videos for instructions but I got that in 1 go around. I couldn't believe my ears when he said "that was a mouth full let me say it again." Thanks alot for the detail!

[angelthewolfman]

Very good instructions thank you. I especially appreciate the part when you mentioned blowing into the hose if you have blockage.

[arezkia.]

Man, seriously you are an expert on hvac, I am student and I learnt a lot from your videos!!!

[bassinbillRC]

I'm a do-it-yourselfer and this will be the first time that I'll be doing this operation and I thank you for uploading it to YouTube for us newbies.

[anthonyesparsen]

Look I went thru formal schooling for this but I thank you for what you do, I call you a saint for our times, because no one else will teens this, how to save money ok doing it yourself, he'll no one does it

[MiViejoDIM]

Great video, thanks. The only thing different I would do, is to drain all the water into 5 gal. Buckets (if the water is hot) and later when cooled off then use it in my garden or my lawn. If the water coming out of the water heater is cold, then I would use the hose to water my plants/lawn. This is just the water conservationist in me 😊 ...

[c.b.]

Being a lady on my own, with the help of this great tutorial video I was able to flush my hot water tank...that needed a flush badly. I feel confident now to do this yearly. Thank you.

[ConfiscatedZyra]

any hvac issues i have i come to this channel. this man knows his stuff. such a blessing having someone like yourself on youtube. hope you enjoyed the holidays

[kenmarek]

Of all the videos I saw on flushing water heaters yours was the best. Even the professional videos could not compare to yours. Very thorough. Good Job!

[gmcjetpilot]

Yep doing mine today.... I have flushed water heaters before, but good to review the steps... there is an order to be sure.... *Thanks for the no nonsense video.* The house I am in I bought 3 years ago and replaced the water heater in the first year I lived here even though it worked fine, because it is in the attic and the water heater was over 10 years old. I have not flushed it since installed. *The issue is I have is I need at least two 50' garden hoses and go down the attic stairs, through the hall, living room, entrance, out front door to walkway and drive.... I am not a fan of water heaters in attics.... I had one in another house spring a leak, but it was in the garage and just ran out the concrete garage floor and under the garage door and onto driveway... did no harm (well a little to raised pedestal covered in drywall). Can you imagine an attic water heater leaking.... Of course have a drip pan with drain to outside, and I a water alarm in the pan.... am paranoid because a massive water leak in attic would cause massive damage.

[tonioyendis]

Today i drained mine by following your instructions and it went perfectly. Even after turning on the hot water faucet inside, the water didn’t flow until i opened the pressure valve. So those saying that you should never open this valve, are wrong!

[CharlesWilliams-ie]

You done better than most videos I watched your the only one who explained it clearly

[fungiuse]

Excellent lesson!!! I live in my home 15 yrs and never drained it.... I will do it tomorrow !!! Thanks

[FF-xlyw]

you should do MORE videos!!!! you have the sense and clarity that most presenters miss out on!!! again... GREAT

[mottsseaunuu]

Just had a water refinery installed in my home. Used this video to flush out all that old hard water from the water heater out. Perfect. Thanks for the video.

[theresadupree]

I couldn't get my pressure valve to stay down by itself. I didnt want to apply to much pressure coz I was afraid I mite damage it. Great directions..easy to follow. Thank you

[DBR]

Watched your video for the second Thanksgiving in a row. Had soma issues with slow draining. Had to open a faucet in the kitchen as well as the upstairs guest bathroom. Now the water is flowing. Thanks again for producing a quality video.

[jimsales]

I did not have the confidence to drain my water heater until I saw your easy to understand and very detailed tutorial. I cannot thank you enough. Please keep up the great job.