Water Heater Installation in Harrisburg, SD
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Eight months of heat on the water heater, most of the year
Winter nights in Lincoln County average 12°F from December through February, and homes here need heat eight months a year, October through May. That means the incoming water your heater has to warm runs cold for most of the year, not just a few weeks. A tank sized right for summer can fall behind once winter sets in.
The county has seen 34 winter storms and 77 damaging wind events over the past ten years, the kind of weather that brings outages along with the cold. A new installation should account for both. Federal rules set a minimum efficiency for storage water heaters, but the number is not the same for every tank. It is a formula based on the tank's rated volume, checked separately against four different draw patterns, so the right minimum depends on the size and how much hot water the home actually uses.
- 12°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 8 months
- October through May, the months homes here need heat
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A heat pump water heater would save about $300 a year to run in South Dakota compared with an electric water heater.
Estimates for a typical South Dakota home, from EIA household energy data and South Dakota fuel prices. Your home will differ.
- How do I know it's time to replace my water heater?
- Age is the first thing to check. Most tank water heaters last 8 to 12 years, and once one gets past that, a repair is just a delay. Look for rust colored water from the hot tap, a tank that's damp or weeping around the base, or water that won't get as hot as it used to. A popping or rumbling sound during heating means sediment has built up on the bottom of the tank, and that gets worse with time, not better. If your unit is old and starting to act up, especially heading into winter here, a contractor can tell you whether it's worth repairing or better to replace it before it fails outright.
- Should I switch to a tankless water heater?
- It depends on what you want out of it, not just on your current tank failing. A tankless unit heats water on demand instead of storing it, so you don't run out of hot water partway through back to back showers or a load of laundry followed by dishes. It takes up much less space than a tank. The tradeoff is that installation often means new venting and sometimes new gas or electrical supply lines, since tankless units draw more power in short bursts than a tank does. A contractor can look at your home's setup and tell you what switching would actually involve for your gas line, venting and electrical.
- What changes when you install a tankless water heater?
- The biggest change is what the unit needs to run, not just what it looks like on your wall. A tankless heater needs its own venting, sized and routed for that unit, which is different from what a tank used. It also draws more gas or electricity at the moment it's firing, even though it's not running constantly like a tank with a pilot light, so the existing gas line or electrical circuit sometimes needs to be upsized. Where the unit goes on the wall matters too, since tankless heaters mount differently than a tank sitting on the floor. A contractor can walk through your home's gas, electrical and venting before install to know what has to change.