Water Heater Repair in Rapid City, SD
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Nine months of heavy use, and cold water coming in
Your water heater works from September through May here, and on winter nights averaging 13°F, the water coming into the tank is as cold as it gets. The burner or element has to run longer to bring that water up to temperature, and it does this every day for most of the year.
That kind of steady demand is what wears out a heating element or burner assembly before its time. You notice it as water that never quite gets hot, or hot water that runs out faster than it used to. With 420 damaging wind events and 167 winter storms recorded here over the past ten years, homes have also seen the kind of power interruptions that can knock an electric water heater offline until it is reset.
- 13°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 9 months
- September through May, the months homes here need heat
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new water heater would cut about $50 a year off hot water for a typical South Dakota home.
Estimates for a typical South Dakota home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and South Dakota fuel prices. Your home will differ.
Repair makes sense when an element, thermostat or gas valve has failed.
Replacement makes sense when the tank itself is leaking.
- Why is my water heater leaking from the bottom?
- Most often the tank itself has rusted through and is starting to fail. Water heaters corrode from the inside over the years, and once the tank wall gives way, no seal or fitting can stop it, only replacement can. A leak from the bottom can also come from the drain valve or from fittings just above it, and those can sometimes be repaired. A contractor can tell you which one you're dealing with by looking at where the water is actually coming from.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The thermocouple is usually the reason. It's the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve the pilot is lit. Once it wears out, it fails to sense the flame and shuts the gas off, even though the pilot lit fine a second ago. A weak gas supply or a draft blowing on the pilot can also cause this, so a contractor will check both before replacing anything.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems in a tankless water heater are repairable. The igniter, the flow sensor, and the heat exchanger are the parts that tend to fail, and most of them can be replaced without swapping out the whole unit. Mineral buildup in the heat exchanger is common too, and that gets cleared with a descaling flush rather than a replacement. A contractor can tell you which part is causing the problem once they've looked at the unit's error code or symptoms.