Water Heater Repair in Hammond, IN
Tell us what your water heater is doing, and a licensed contractor who covers Lake County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Hammond winters put your water heater to work
From October through May your water heater is taking in groundwater that's already cold, and on nights near 20°F it has to work harder to bring it up to temperature. That extra load wears on the heating element in an electric tank and the burner assembly in a gas one, and those are usually the first parts to give out.
Power outages add to the problem. In Indiana, 17% of households went at least 24 hours without power in 2024, and Lake County has seen 11 winter storms and 121 damaging wind events over the past ten years. A gas water heater with a standing pilot will keep running through an outage like that. One with electronic ignition won't relight on its own once the power comes back. If your water runs cold and there was no outage, the ignition or the element is worth checking first.
- 20°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 8 months
- October through May, the months homes here need heat
- 17%
- of Indiana households lost power for a day or more in 2024, and a heater with an electric element or electric ignition stops without it
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new water heater would cut about $50 a year off hot water for a typical Indiana home.
Estimates for a typical Indiana home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and Indiana 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 of the time this means the tank itself has rusted through and is failing, not a fitting that can be tightened. Water heaters corrode from the inside as sediment settles and eats at the steel, and once the tank is leaking there is no patch for it. A loose drain valve or a fitting at the top can also cause water to run down the outside and pool at the bottom, so it is worth checking those first before assuming the worst. A contractor can tell you in a few minutes which one you are dealing with.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The most common cause is a worn thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. When it wears out it can't sense the flame properly, so the valve shuts the gas off even though the pilot was lit. A weak pilot flame, a draft near it, or a clogged pilot tube can cause the same thing. A standing pilot doesn't use any power, so this isn't related to your electricity, and a contractor can test the thermocouple and replace it if that's the issue.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, in most cases. The heat exchanger, igniter, flow sensor, and venting can all be serviced or replaced without swapping the whole unit. Mineral buildup on the heat exchanger is one of the more common issues, especially if the water is hard, and that's often solved with a descaling flush rather than a new part. A contractor can run the error code the unit displays and tell you what it's actually pointing to.