Water Heaters - should i take one hot water tank out??

we recently bought a house that has two hot water tanks plumbed together.....this would be great if my wife and i needed more capacity, but there are only two of us and we've been leaving the first one in line turned off as we really don't need it.

my question is.......should i take the extra one right out of the system? does water running through it without being heated cause any deterioration to the tank, as does heating water in the other one? if i take the extra one out, drain it and put it in the corner, it would be there when the one we use wears out......but if its not hurting it to have cold water passing through it for several years, i'll just leave it in the system and wait for the one we're using to wear out.

i'm handy enough to take the extra tank out of the system myself, so there wouldn't be any cost involved.......just thinking of saving a few dollars down the road.

I would remove the extra tank. Then drain it fully (tilt it upside down so you get every last drop of water out of it). Then keep it for a spare.

Otherwise, both tanks will likely bust at about the same time since they are both being exposed to the water.

But if you are on public water it may not be acidic and may not make much difference.

Don't forget to flush out the remaining tank every 6 months...

thanks for the reply....didn't know about flushing the one we're using...first time i've ever heard about doing it. can u tell me what it accomplishes?

regards, gerry

Just my thoughts: Flush them both out to remove any sediment buildup. This will make any water heater operate more efficiently and last longer. If you want to, leave them both in line. The water will flow into the first one, and will attain a slight rise in temp before it goes into the 2nd. The higher the surrounding ambient temp, the less your operating water heater will have to heat.

think about keeping it right in place shut the cold and install a valve on the hot water...... shut both valves,empty the unused tank and set the valve to OFF.might want to flip them every year so you get the years out of them.not to be doom and gloom but if you get rid of it then need a new one?

i agree....it wasn't my plan to get rid of the extra one, just find out if i shud disconnect it or leave it as it is. i didn't know whether or not cold water running thru it wud cause it to deteriorate over time....but i do like the idea of just plumbing around it. its got to sit somewhere so may as well stay where it is.

thank-you for the replies

if it is gas fired might want to rework the flue as if there was one heater on the flue going out just to be on the safe side.