Doing work on a water heater that is still connected to electricity is very dangerous. Be sure to flip the breaker and keep it off the whole time you’re working on an electric water heater.
You can also turn the dial all the way to “off” if you’d like to. However, you’ll have to relight the pilot light to turn your water heater back on.
When your handle is perpendicular to the gas pipe, it’s completely off. Turning off the gas supply line isn’t strictly necessary once your water heater is already turned off. However, it’s safer to turn off the gas supply, especially if you’re going to be making repairs.
If your handle is a gate valve (instead of a ball valve), twist the knob counterclockwise 5 to 6 times until you can’t turn it anymore.
Keep the drain spigot set to the “off” position for now—there’s one more step to complete before you can start draining your water heater.
Once you open up the drain valve, water will start flowing out of the heater right away. Make sure the end of the garden hose is outside or directed into a sink or sump pump to collect all of the water. After you’ve made all of your repairs, you can turn your water heater back on.
