Water Heater Repair in Waterloo, IA
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Cold groundwater keeps your water heater working longer here
Groundwater coming into your house is cold most of the year, since Black Hawk County needs heat from October through May. That means your water heater is working harder to bring it up to temperature, and it runs more than it would somewhere warmer.
The county has seen 23 winter storms and 62 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and statewide, 15% of households lost power for at least a day in 2024. A gas water heater with a standing pilot will keep working through an outage. One with an electric igniter will not light until the power is back on. Either way, when the power drops in the middle of winter, you find out fast whether your water heater came back on its own.
- 13°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 8 months
- October through May, the months homes here need heat
- 15%
- of Iowa 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 Iowa home.
Estimates for a typical Iowa home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and Iowa 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 have an inner tank lined with glass, and once that lining cracks the steel underneath corrodes until it lets go. A leak can also come from the drain valve, a loose fitting, or the temperature and pressure relief valve doing its job because pressure inside is too high. If the tank itself is leaking, it needs to be replaced, not patched. A contractor can tell you which one you are dealing with.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The thermocouple is usually the cause. It is the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve the flame is lit. Once it wears out or sits slightly out of position, it fails to sense the flame fast enough and the valve shuts off the gas as a safety measure. A dirty or partly blocked pilot orifice can cause the same thing. Either part is something a contractor can replace without needing a new water heater.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless unit are repairable. Common issues are a dirty flow sensor, a scaled up heat exchanger, an igniter that has worn out, or an error code pointing to a specific sensor. Most homes in Black Hawk County heat with gas, so many of these units are gas-fired, and the vent and gas supply also get checked when something is wrong. A contractor can read the error code and tell you what part is at fault.