[ccfoo242]

Dumb question...can I just attach a hose to my water heater drain valve (assuming the hose is rated for that temp) and have access to hot water in my garage when cleaning up after brewing?

[jimmykx250]

Well for clean up i guess you could but all the sediment will shoot out first!!! Watch the water temp don't burn yourself.

[duboman]

That was my thought as well, especially the concern about getting scalded as there would be no way to regulate the temp

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[chipster27]

I do it all the time. Run the hose to clear sediment then use the hot water. On brew days I run direct from my water heater through a filter in to my HLT. Gives me  a 100+ degree head start on heating my HLT/Mash, and saves some propane.

[flbrewer]

I cannot imagine that the hot water from your heater is suitable for drinking.

[AmandaK]

Can and should are two totally different things.

I did this once, and will never do it again. My first brew day on the ol' Sabco and at the new house was in 3F degree weather. The hose bibs on the house are both about 75-80' away from the brewing location of the garage while the laundry room is a short jaunt inside, through two doors. I attempted to use the exterior hose bibs at first, but the hose froze solid in about 30-40 minutes. We had to drag that inside and let it thaw over the floor drain (btw - trying to move a 100' frozen hose, full of ice, is not fun). Brew day presses on and we obviously need water. I hatch a harebrained plan to disconnect the washer from the hot and cold water, running another hose from the laundry room inside to run the chiller with cold water and then clean up with the hot water, saving our hands from freezing during the hour long clean up.

Here's what really happened:
- The chilling went great. Hit 55F with a single pass. (Yes, I brewed a lager for the first beer at the new place on a new brewery.)
- We switched over to hot water for cleaning. POOR DECISION. Burnt my hand with hot-a$$ water, got pissed at myself for thinking it was a good idea, went back and switched the water source (all while leaning over the dryer), and went back to freezing my fingers off.
- Finished cleaning, went back in to hook the washer back up, and discovered that in my haste I had not fully tightened the hose onto the cold water. Water was about 1/2" deep in my laundry room. UGH.
- Cleaned up the huge mess I made.
- Called my plumber the next week and had hot & cold water plumbed into the garage with a sink. Never again.

[ccfoo242]

Hot water hose and spray nozzle ordered...

This will definitely be better than hauling fermenter and kegs to the kitchen to clean.

[ccfoo242]

I cannot imagine that the hot water from your heater is suitable for drinking.

Well I won't be using it in my beer but why wouldn't it be drinkable? Other than potentially more sediment...

[kramerog]

If you're water heater is set for 120F, which is IIRC the recommended temp, you won't get scalded.

Some water heaters are set to run at very hot temps, say 180 F, and then there is a blend valve to reduce the temp (generally below scalding temps) before the water is released into the hot water piping.  You wouldn't want to hook up to the water heater in this case, you would want to connect downstream of the blend valve.   

[factory]

I cannot imagine that the hot water from your heater is suitable for drinking.

Well I won't be using it in my beer but why wouldn't it be drinkable? Other than potentially more sediment...

I'm curious about that too.  I would assume if you were to run it through a filter you could remove any sediment, but the water supplied to the tank its drinkable, and your tank is just heating it.  Why couldn't you drink it?

[BairsBrewing]

Most mixing valves are in commercial applications like in restaurants that need to maintain hot water for long times.  The bonus to what you're proposing would definitely extend your water heater life by flushing the sediment.  This should actually be done quarterly unless you have high sediment water.  It would be drinkable too, it has to be by health code standards but I would only use it for cleaning.

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[curtism1234]

I cannot imagine that the hot water from your heater is suitable for drinking.

Valid point. Makes me wonder why I'm using hot water instead of the microwave for my tea 

I have mine set for 140 degrees so I don't think bacteria can survive that. Most water heaters are set for about 120 though - not hot enough.

But 140 degree water does not feel good on skin 

[micsager]

My wife and argue quite often about drinking hot water from our kitchen faucet.  I wont even use that water to cook pasta.  My wife however, will use it to start her tea. 

Don't really know why I don't like the idea, maybe it's just that that water has been sitting in a tank for a while.

[micsager]

http://everything2.com/title/Never+drink+or+cook+with+hot+tap+water

And of course we can trust everything on the internet.  LOL

[factory]

http://everything2.com/title/Never+drink+or+cook+with+hot+tap+water

And of course we can trust everything on the internet.  LOL

This PSA comes from someone in the Virgin Islands.  Maybe their standards are not the same.  My house has all PVC or copper lines, absolutely no lead that I am aware of.  My tank is relatively new >3 years old.  This particular tank has a sacrificial anode (magnesium, not aluminum) which I think all tanks now have anodes to prevent rust build up.  But you still have to flush your tank every now and then.  I do mine twice a year and rarely get any sediment out of it.  If I were to use it for brewing, I would filter it just like the cold water that I use.  If you take care of the tank, I see no reason why you couldn't drink or use the water for cooking.

But, like everything else, to each his own. I think a lot of wisdom that has been passed down from our parents may have applied to them, but doesn't apply to us because we have modern equipment and tighter standards.