Tankless water heaters need the occasional bit of maintenance to keep them running well. Sometimes the heating element will burn out and need replacing too. These kinds of things, it’s possible to repair yourself without needing to call out a technician to perform the work for a fee.

The tell-tale sign of a major issue with your best tankless water heaters are when the temperature of the water isn’t getting as warm or as hot as before. Or, it won’t heat the water at all. This is a strong indicator that the element is blown, and work must be done to resolve the issue as it is not going away.

Here is how to resolve the issue.

1. Disengage the Power Supply

Switch off the power by accessing either the breaker or the control panel. Use masking tape over the switch to ensure it isn’t flipped by someone else to the ‘ON’ position again.

Use a volt meter to verify that the circuit is no longer passing a current. This ensures that you haven’t turned off the wrong breaker. Not verifying risks electrocuting yourself when touching a live wire. If in doubt, have a qualified electrician to ensure the right circuit has been disabled. Stay safe.

Let everyone in the household know what you’re doing, so they don’t attempt to flip the breaker off. Inform them before carrying out work on the heater.

2. Get Some Hot Water Flowing

Open a faucet in the home somewhere for hot water to let any remaining water drain out of the heater first.

3. Remove Remaining Water from the Heater

The underside of the heater will be secured by screws. Remove them. Any residual water should be drained from the underside container. Once drained and dried off, put the underside’s plate back in place and secure with the screws again.

Now turn off the water supply.

4. Unhook the Wiring

Double check the electricity is turned off. Now underdo the screws to access the area where the wires connect to the heating element. There should be a black wire and a red wire to disconnect.

5. Take Out the Bad Element & O-Ring

Make the heating element looser using a wrench. Put some cloth over the heating element. This avoids water drips down to the control electronics. Remove the heating element and O-ring completely.

6. Replace the O-Ring and Ready the Wiring

Place the new heating element and seat the new O-ring correctly too. Now reassemble the water heater. Make sure the element fits comfortably so it won’t slide around.

Reconnect the red wire and black wire to the top of the heating element. Use a couple of screws to fix the wires in place.

7. Getting Ready to Turn on the Water Supply Again

Verify that the drain plug screw is secure. Check and remove water near or on the drain plug or heating element. Then when all clear, turn on the water again.

8. Ensure the Control Board is Dried OffFirst

Dry the control board to ensure no moisture has entered it.

9. Refill with Water and Verify There’s No Leakage

Add water to the heater. Check for new water leaks. Should none be found, turn the power back on.

Among the most important equipment in your home are those responsible for heating and cooling—refrigerators, furnaces, heat pumps, and AC units. Since these equipment are made durable for several years, homeowners often forget them, along with the memory of their expensiveness. Homeowners realize the importance of the equipment when it is already too late, when the AC units already need to be replaced or repaired.

If you’re a homeowner who just encountered such problem, you should contact a professional and reputable air conditioning and heating contractor or HVAC contractor—a company that has the qualifications, skills, and knowledge to perform the job.

While it’s easy to find a local contractor using a telephone directory, it’s of course a better to choose a contractor based on its qualifications or credentials. Just like any other types of service, air conditioning replacement and air conditioning repair should be convenient, fast and reliable.

Such qualities can be seen if the contractor has long years of experience in designing, servicing, and installing HVAC systems. Also, the contractor should be updated with the latest developments in equipment, technology, and design procedures. Needless to say, the contractor should follow industry standards by complying with local and state codes and regulations and acquiring proper business insurance policies.

You can tell an HVAC contractor does its job well if it’s highly concerned with what can meet your needs. Whether you need to repair or replace condensing units, furnaces, air conditioner blowers, fans, coil and ducts, a professional and responsible contractor will provide you all the best options and caution you against the worst. It will also listen to your problems and resolve them one by one. For example, if you’re planning an air conditioning installation, the contractor will inform you what is available in the market, they advantages and disadvantages, their prices and their suitability in relation to your home.

A highly regarded contractor is also aware of the effects of HVAC on the environment, and thus committed to employ devices and procedure as well as recommend units that are environment-friendly. Contractors gained training and certification to learn the procedures in reusing, recycling, recovering and disposing environmentally-sensitive mechanisms in HVAC systems.

Sure, a contractor makes money out of servicing your AC systems, but this doesn’t make them care any less about preventive care and maintenance. A competent air conditioning contractor goes the extra mile of teaching its customers on how to operate and take care of their AC units.

When you already have a candidate to do business with, make sure you do interview and background checking. Try to read reviews online of previous clients regarding the contractor. If the company has a little presence on the Internet, ask the contractor itself for a few references. Of course, it’s also important that you ask about the company’s certifications and license. Note that it’s also a plus if the company is affiliated with top professional organizations.