Most people never think about their hot-water tank—until it stops working. Save yourself the headache and ill-timed running out of hot water in the middle of a shower by doing some simple annual maintenance.

Water heaters typically use a large storage tank to hold your home’s hot water. This ensures there’s plenty of hot water ready for different purposes throughout your home. Over time, naturally-occurring sediment collects in the bottom of the tank reducing your hot-water tank’s ability to heat water quickly and decreasing the amount of water it can store. By draining your tank once a year, the sediment is removed and the system can run at optimal efficiency and performance.

Barclay, Broadview’s warranty technician, demonstrates how to properly drain your hot-water tank. In this step-by-step video, he walks you through each of the steps, including how to turn off the water, gas and power sources as well as turning them back on.

With a little maintenance once a year, most hot-water problems can be avoided.