Water Heater Repair in Zionsville, IN
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Winter storms and outages put your water heater to the test
Boone County has had 41 damaging wind events and 10 winter storms over the past ten years. Storms like these knock out power, and statewide, 17% of households went at least 24 hours without it in 2024.
A gas water heater with a standing pilot keeps running through an outage since it does not need power. Most electric units and gas units with electronic ignition will not come back on by themselves, so once power returns you may find the water cold and need to reset it.
- 21°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 often the tank itself has rusted through, and that means it needs to be replaced, not repaired. Water heaters have a glass lining inside the steel tank, and once that lining cracks, the tank corrodes from the inside out until it leaks. It could also be the drain valve at the bottom, which can loosen or fail on its own, or fittings that have simply worked loose over the years. A leak that only shows up when the heater is running points to the tank. One that is always there points to a valve or fitting, and only one of those can be fixed without replacing the unit.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The most common cause is a worn thermocouple, the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it is safe to keep the gas flowing. When it wears out, it stops sensing the flame correctly and shuts the gas off even though the pilot is lit. A weak or dirty pilot flame can also cause this, as can a draft blowing the flame around, or a failing gas valve. If you have already tried relighting it more than once and it keeps going out, it is time for a contractor to check it rather than keep relighting it.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless water heater are repairable rather than a reason to replace it. Common issues are a clogged inlet filter, mineral buildup on the heat exchanger from hard water, a faulty igniter, or an error code from one of its sensors. Tankless units are built with these parts in mind for servicing, and a contractor can flush the system or replace a part rather than the whole unit. How much life is left in the unit and whether a part is still available are what decide whether repair makes sense in a specific case.