I've had our water heater an embarrassingly long time and have never done any maintenance to it. You're supposed to drain it out and re fill it periodically, correct? Do I just need a flat head screw driver to turn the valve open after I connect a hose to it?

Here's another probably dumb question: is the thing I circled in this picture the water shut off to the water heater? If so, how do you operate that valve?

Yes. That's all there is to it.

If it has been a long time, it might not drain. You might have to shove a coat hanger in there to break up the caca.
Not sure that line is the hot water. Might be gas. Look closely.
I had to shut off the gas, kill the water to the house, disable the pop off valve, then hook up an old garden hose to drain into the tub below. Don't forget to put the pop off valve back or when you refill it will all go down the emergency drain spout. Ask me how I know.

Also, write on the water heater the date you drain in.

Unless you drain regularly, then once you open the valve you may need to blow some air back into the wh to open it up. Sometimes a piece of wire can open the crud.

The valve you are seeing is your water supply line. It is missing the handle. Likely will not turn, but it might.

I know some people turn off the gas and the water supply. I never have as any sediment will be on the bottom, so why drain it completely? Maybe I'm doing it wrong though! I do it every year and I've never seen evidence of sediment being drained.

Looks like a water line to me but hard to be certain. Knob looks to be missing. It's sort of looks like electrical conduit, but there would not be a valve. You want to identify the gas supply line. If you can find that, which is usually black iron pipe, then this is the waterline. You'll want to get familiar with which is which and how to shut off each one.

I guess you could touch the mystery pipe, then go turn on hot water somewhere in the house and see if the pipe gets hot. You can also trace where the pipe ties into the water heater. That should help some.

You should be able to tell by where it connects to the top of the water heater if it is cold water supply or hot water out.
Cold usually on the right. Should be stamped or marked with colored collars also.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but that could be a pressure reducing valve and the supply line could be at a different location. Pressure reducing valves are used on the cold water input side, if installed. The expansion tank is also installed on the cold water input side if installed.

I'll double check but I'm pretty sure that's the cold water line coming into the top of the water heater.

gabehcoud said:

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I know some people turn off the gas and the water supply. I never have as any sediment will be on the bottom, so why drain it completely? Maybe I'm doing it wrong though! I do it every year and I've never seen evidence of sediment being drained.

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On an electric water heater, it really helps to shut off the water and drain the tank because you can have a lot of calcium build up from the heating elements if you have hard water. What happens is the elements heat up, and calcium from the water gets deposited on them. Over time they build up and flake off in little bits as water in them boils from being heated by the elements. Then those deposits sink to the bottom and build up over time.

When you go to drain it, those pieces logjam at the drain port and/or clog your hose. Getting them out requires shutting off the supply and unplugging the heater, draining it, and then either chemically dissolving them with vinegar/CLR, scooping them out with a coat hanger, or a combination of the two.

You can also vacuum them out with a CPVC extension on your shop vac. Duct tape it to the end of your hose.

3/4" CPVC will just fit through the threaded openings and is big enough to get most of the lime chips out.

I take enough fittings off the tank so I can change the angle of attack of the pipe, put a flashlight on another and look through another to see what I'm doing.

I also take the drain valve out as those almost never seal back once opened. I replace it with a short nipple and a brass ball valve with a hose adapter on it. The 3/4" ball valve gives you a much larger opening to try to flush the chips out and is going to seal when you close it.

Do y'all actually drain you water heaters? I have never done it and usually get good service out of them.