No sooner do I fix my TV than something else needs work. Ahh, home ownership.

Anyway, the hot water has lately been running out sooner than it used to. We've got a 40 gallon gas water heater, mounted in the attic, where it's not exactly easy to get to. The heater and the house are both about seven years old.

Poking around the web, it seems like I've got several things that I need to do, including draining the thing from below, hopefully to extract any sediment buildup. Does anybody understand this "dip tube" business? If I read the various web pages right, the cold-water intake is on *top*, but it has a separate pipe, inside the heater, to route the cold water to the bottom. The hot-water output is also on top. When working properly, the cold water pressure, from below, pushes the hot water out the top. Does that sound correct? Apparently, this "dip tube" thing has a habit of breaking, and thus you need to check it as well. Finally, does anyone think I need to check out the thermostat? Electric units apparently have multiple thermostats, but gas units... I'm not sure.

Thoughts? Experiences? Water pouring through the ceiling because you screwed up horror stories?