Hot Water System Servicing
Servicing is what you do while the system is still working. It’s also the cheapest point at which to find out your hot water system is on its way out.
Why bother servicing a system that works?
Most hot water systems don’t fail suddenly. They fail after a long period of quietly deteriorating — an anode that has been consumed, a relief valve that has been weeping, sediment building up in the bottom of a tank, a solar controller that stopped talking to the pump two summers ago.
None of that’s visible from the shower. What you notice is the day there’s no hot water, which is almost always the most expensive and least convenient day to find out.
A service is a look at the system while there’s still time to do something about what it finds.
What a service covers
It varies by system type, because the systems are different. On an electric storage system the focus is the tank, the anode, the relief valve and the elements. On a gas system it’s the burner and ignition side along with the valves. On a solar system it’s whether the solar side is actually contributing, plus the controller, pump and sensors. On a heat pump it’s airflow, the refrigeration side and the water side.
What’s consistent is the outcome: you find out the real condition of the system, and if there’s something that needs attention, you hear about it before it becomes a failure.
Seasonal timing
Hot water gets used hardest in winter, and that’s when marginal systems tend to give up. If you’re going to have a system looked at, having it done before winter beats having it done during winter — and it means you’re not competing for a booking with everyone else whose system just died.
Hot water system servicing
Condition assessment
An honest read on how much life the system realistically has left, so you can plan ahead.
Valve checks
Temperature and pressure relief valves, tempering valves and isolation valves — common failure points and common causes of wasted water.
Anode and tank check
On storage systems, the sacrificial anode is what stands between the water and the steel tank. Its condition tells you a lot.
System-specific checks
Solar circulation and controllers, gas burner and ignition, heat pump airflow and operation — whatever your system actually has.
What usually goes wrong
These are the symptoms we hear about most often. A good starting point for the call.
- System is over ten years old and never serviced
- You’ve just moved into the house
- Small drips or damp patches near the unit
- Hot water not quite what it used to be
- Solar booster seems to run a lot
- Bills creeping up without a change in habits
- Getting ahead of winter
- You want to know how long it has left
Please don’t troubleshoot it yourself. Hot water systems combine electricity, gas, stored pressure and water hot enough to scald. If something looks, smells or sounds wrong, turn it off if it’s safe to do so and call (07) 3801 2155.
What a service actually gives you
A realistic picture of where the system is at. Old tanks fail and components fail without warning — what a service does is find the problems that are findable, while there is still time to do something about them.
Sometimes the most useful outcome is being told the system is fine and to leave it alone for now. You should expect to hear that if it’s true.
Good times to book a service
- Before winter, not during it
- After moving into a home with an unknown system
- When a solar booster seems to be doing all the work
- When you’re deciding whether to repair or replace
- Any time the system is behaving differently to how it used to
What happens when you call
- 1
Book it in
Tell us the system type and rough age when you call.
- 2
We check it over
The checks that matter for your particular system type.
- 3
You get a straight answer
Condition, anything that needs attention, and how urgent it’s.
- 4
You decide
Fix it now, plan for later, or leave it. Your call, with the facts.
Common questions
How often should a hot water system be serviced?
Will a service make my system last longer?
Do you service systems you didn’t install?
What if the service finds a problem?
Related services
Want your system looked over?
Book a service before the system decides the timing for you.
Prefer to text or call a mobile? 0400 703 001