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What Is A Water Heater Expansion Tank?  How Does It Affect Your Water Heater?

What is a water heater expansion tank and do you need one? A water heater expansion tank is used to ease the fluctuating pressure that your water heater experiences all day.  Your tank style water heater goes through a lot of pressure changes throughout the day. As water within your water heater expands and contracts, as it cools down and heats back up, the glass lining within the tank experiences a lot of pressure and then loss of pressure, creating constant fluctuations.   

A water heater expansion tank is a small tank with pressurized air. The small pressurized tank alleviates and stabilizes the pressure fluctuations your water heater experiences all day. The expansion tank is installed on the incoming, cold side of your water heater. The expansion tank is then pressurized to balance out the specific pressure of your home. A plumbing professional can customize each expansion tank to meet the specific needs of your homes pressure.  Expansion tanks need to be proper support and installation according to specifications as well as by plumbing code.  

Benefits of having an expansion tank on your water heater 

Expansion tanks can extend the lifespan of your water heater by taking undue pressure from the glass lining within your water heater tank. When the expansion tank takes undue pressure from the water heater it helps prevent it from cracking before it’s time.  It’s like having that glass of wine to chill out when the pressure gets to be too much.   

When is an expansion tank required?  

Expansion tanks can be a requirement by plumbing code not just as an added benefit to your water heater lifespan.  If you have a plumbing system that is considered closed, meaning your plumbing system has no way to push pressure back into the main water system because of a plumbing device then plumbing code requires an expansion tank.   

There are a number of reasons why you might need an expansion tank. You might have a pressure regulating valve on your home. Maybe you have a dedicated recirculating loop on your plumbing system, a water treatment system. Let’s say you have backflow prevention or maybe it’s a manufacture requirement or it’s your city jurisdiction requirements.  

Services in Phoenix & Beyond

If you’re in the Phoenix area and would like an in home consultation about clearing your toilet stoppage please reach out. At Robins Plumbing we are happy to help. Are you facing issues with your plumbing? Feel free to “Call a Robin” and we will do our best to help. If you live in the Phoenix metropolitan area and need help clearing your toilet stoppage trust Robins Plumbing!

With over 20 years of experience in the plumbing industry, you can trust our professionals to deliver a professional consultation to see what solution fits best for your home. We also offer a variety of residential and commercial plumbing services, including: drain cleaning, water heater repair and replacement, sewer camera inspection and locating, backflow prevention, commercial and residential jetting, water treatments, and more. Visit our reviews online to see what others have to say about our local plumbing company!