[kwlug-disc] winter and furnace

[Ron Singh]

Well, eager beaver guys who like to tinker will drain/remove/inspect every
2 years or so.
Most folks wait until the water starts getting discoloured(I did this the
1st time), but for the last 2 decades at least,
I just replace it every 5 years as the body count is 4 is the house. After
5 years, the rod is at least half-gone.

If you have less people in your home, then increase the # of years between
replacement.
I am increasing to 7 years as there is now, on average, only 2 people at
any give time in the 2 homes we live in.

Our distant home is in Saskatoon and talking to locals there, they say the
water is much softer that water here in Ontario so anode replacements
should be even less often since the water should be less reactive.
I am sticking with 5-7 years though, just in case.
The wait time for draining is the most annoying along with cleanup,
allocate about 3  hours for the full job if you are not a DIY guy. I'm not,
and it takes me about 3 hours and a few expletives..

Hope this helps.


*Ron S.*


On Wed, Feb 11, 2026 at 5:25 PM D. Hugh Redelmeier <hugh at mimosa.com> wrote:

> > From: Ron Singh <ronsingh149 at gmail.com>
>
> > Also, keep a spare sacrificial anode around to replace the one in your
> > water heater, and your unit will work for many decades. Time-consuming
> > doing an anode replacement but well worth it.
>
> How can you tell whether an anode needs replacing?  Without major surgery?
>
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