How to Drain the Water From a GE Smart Water Heater

You may need to drain the water from your GE Smart Water Heater. It's good preventative maintenance to allow several gallons of water to flush through the discharge line to an open drain from time-to-time anyway, particularly in hard water areas where deposits can accumulate at the bottom of the tank.

Things You'll Need

• Garden hose

Instructions

1. Shut off the gas to the water heater at the thermostat gas cock or at the manual shut-off valve.

2. Allow the water to cool as much as possible. If you have the time, turn the water heater off a few days before you plan to drain it.

3. Check that there is no one in the vicinity of the Smart Water Heater. The water can be very hot and can burn or scald. Make sure that no-one will be exposed to the water if the hose you will be attaching comes loose and the water drains downhill. Keep pets and small children clear.

4. Attach a garden hose to the drain valve on the bottom of the water heater and direct the hose to an open drain.

5. Turn off the cold water supply.

6. Open a hot water faucet in the house to let air into the tank. You can also lift the handle on the relief valve to let air in, but any contact with the tank increases your chance of contact with the water, which may be extremely hot.

7. Open the drain valve. It will be adjacent to the hose on the water heater.

8. Allow a few gallons to drain for preventative maintenance purposes, or drain the whole tank if you are replacing the tank.

Tips & Warnings

• Your GE Smart Water Heater water can be used should your main water supply become switched off -- say during an emergency such as an earthquake. Even though the hot water tank may be full, the hot water won't run through the faucets if the cold water supply is off, so follow the instructions above -- just allow the water to cool and drain the water into containers. The tank holds 30, 40 or 50 gallons.

References

• GE Smart Water Heater Instructions