http://mauee069.chudadi.com/ EcoTips for a better home and planet en http://mauee069.chudadi.com/2008/12/30/day-366.html Today is December 31, 2008. Since this was a leap year that makes today day 366. Happy New Year! For the last year I have posted a 1:5:10:365 EcoTip. I’ve had a number of people request what I intend to do once the year of posts was completed. It is my intention to continue posting - but probably not every single day. For the last year I’ve been encouraging people to do one thing on behalf of 5 to 10 minutes a day to help improve our residence as well as planet. Prior to beginning this project our family had already taken numerous of the actions that were discussed - but there's at all times more that can be done. For this next year I plan to refine as well as improve those things about our home that shall manufacture it a better more sustainable place. I shall report on those projects as they progress. Yesterday I tackled our hot water heater. I don’t know its exact age, because of the fact that it was present in our residence when we moved in about 5 years ago, but it is making a lot of noise, which tells me its full of sediment. I tried draining the sediment as well as found there was sufficient to clog the drain valve - so I ended up spending about half the day changing out the drain valve, pressure relief valve as well as checking the sacrificial anode (:209, :210, :212, :213). The anode is still in good shape - so I shall recheck it again in about two years. By the time I finished all this, there wasn’t sufficient time to complete flushing out the sediment. That shall be my project on behalf of today. I’ll let you know how it goes. John Banta Posted in :209 Water Heater Sediment, :210 Water Heater Flushing, :212 Sacrificial Anode, :213 Sacraficial Anode Type, Latest 1:5:10:365 Tips       Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:45:37 -0500 mauee069