[rjharper]

Has anyone used the hot water tank drain valve to fill the HLT and save time/propane?  My theory is that the house hot water tank is in the garage, which is where I brew, and I have an RV hose that normally hits the ourstide faucet, then feeds the undersink filter, then onto the HLT.  If I flush any major sediment first, then the rest is trapped in the filter, then I can save time.  Am I missing something here, or should it be this easy?

Thanks
Ross

[ckpash88]

If your talking about the drain on your water heater you may not want to do that. I do hvac and install them and from experience if your unit is old and you crack the valve you may get a constant leak or drip from it. Bc the water in the unit get acid after time at the bottom and the heat can eat away at the seals on the valve.

[rjharper]

Its a new unit (within 5 years) and I flush the tank occasionally anyways so the valve is good.  That said, when I read into the subject of drinking/cooking from the hot water tap, every source said it was a bad idea based upon lead content from hot water sitting in tanks / pipes, and even "lead-free" new houses still have some lead in the brass fittings.  So its back to the original plan and the cold water tap.

[James Lorden]

I will often use the hot water heater to fill a bucket that I plan to add PBW to.  I have noticed that for the fist few seconds the water I get is kind of cruddy.  Not sure if that's just my tank, but I wouldn't want those first few seconds of water in my beer.