Water Heater Installation in Pierre, SD
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Pierre asks a lot of a water heater
Winter nights here average 10°F from December through February, and the incoming water is that cold too. A water heater in Pierre works harder to bring that water up to temperature than one in a milder place, and it does that work eight months a year, October through May.
The federal minimum efficiency for a storage water heater isn't one number. It's a formula based on the tank's rated volume, and it's applied differently depending on how much hot water a household draws. Two tanks of the same type but different sizes can face different minimums. Getting the size right for the house matters as much as the tank itself.
- 10°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?
- Once a tank water heater passes ten years old, replacement is worth planning even if it still works. Look for rust colored water from the hot tap, a tank that's damp or weeping around the base, or a burner that struggles to keep up with what you need. In Pierre, a failing water heater in the middle of winter is a bad surprise, since the heater has no break from demand with cold weather running October through May. If you're already seeing signs of wear, get a contractor to look at it before it fails outright.
- Should I switch to a tankless water heater?
- It depends on what you want from it, not on whether it's newer technology. A tankless unit heats water on demand instead of holding a tank of it hot all day, so you're not paying to keep a reserve warm when nobody is drawing on it. It also takes up far less space than a tank. The tradeoff is that it needs its own venting and gas supply sized for the unit, so a straight swap for your old tank isn't always simple. A contractor can tell you what your home would need to make the switch work.
- What changes when you install a tankless water heater?
- The biggest change is what's connected to it. A tankless unit needs its own venting. It needs a gas line sized for the burner it uses, and often an upgraded electrical connection, neither of which your old tank necessarily had. It also changes how hot water arrives. Instead of drawing off a tank that's already heated, the unit heats water as it flows through, so there's a small delay before hot water reaches the tap. Because the unit doesn't hold a reserve, running two showers and a dishwasher at once can be more demanding on it than on a tank. A contractor can size the unit to what your household actually uses.