We don't drain it either, Rick. They don't have that long a life and each new one is a little more efficient. They're not the difficult to replace either. electric.
That is same kind of drain "device" that came with our new tank last year also. It's a PITA but it does work and I guess the curious (kids and morons ?) won't accidnetally turn it on (if that's the problem they are trying to address.) It works pretty well with a large flat-blade screw driver. I draw 3 or 4 gallons of hot water out from time to time for car-washing and such and seldom drain just for preventage maintenance. Ours is gas heated and I've heard that they sometimes build up scale on the bottom that needs to be flushed out from time to time to improve performance.
