Water Heater Repair and Replacement in Gwinnett County

Water heater repair and replacement

Most water heater calls are one of three things: no hot water at all, hot water that runs out much sooner than it used to, or water on the floor around the tank. The first two are usually repairable. A tank leaking from the body is not.

We tell you which one you are dealing with before you spend anything, and whether a repair is worth doing on a tank of that age.

What we handle

• Gas and electric tank water heaters, repaired or replaced
• Tankless installation, repair, descaling and annual flushing
• Thermostats, heating elements, thermocouples and gas valves
• Expansion tanks, temperature and pressure relief valves, and drain pans
• Recirculation pumps and hot water delivery problems
• Old unit hauled away, and the new one permitted where required

Repair or replace?

It comes down to age. A tank in the first half of its life with a failed element or thermostat is usually worth repairing. A tank past ten years old that is leaking is not. You would be paying to postpone a replacement by a few months and risking water damage while you wait.

Tankless water heaters

A tankless water heater heats water as it passes through, so there is no tank standing in your garage keeping fifty gallons hot around the clock. More people ask us about them every year, and for a lot of houses they are the right call.

The benefits

• Hot water does not run out. It heats on demand, so back-to-back showers and a full tub are not a problem. This is the reason most people switch.
• Lower running costs. A tank reheats itself all day whether you are using it or not. A tankless unit only fires when you open a tap.
• It lasts longer. Tanks generally run 8 to 12 years. Tankless units commonly run 15 to 20 when they are flushed every year.
• Floor space back. The unit hangs on a wall. In a garage or a utility closet that difference is significant.
• No tank to fail. The single most expensive water heater failure is a tank splitting and emptying itself into the house. A tankless unit has no tank to do that.
• Better for a house that sits empty. Nothing is being kept hot while you are away.

The honest trade-offs

It costs more up front than swapping a tank for a tank, and the install is a bigger job. Most conversions need venting changes, and many need a larger gas line, because a tankless unit demands far more gas while it is running than a tank ever does. Undersize that gas line and the unit will not hold temperature, which is the most common complaint we see on tankless units installed cheaply.

They also need flushing once a year. Skip it on our water and you lose the lifespan advantage that made it worth buying.

We will tell you honestly whether one makes sense for your house, your gas supply and how long you plan to stay, rather than just quoting one because you asked.

What we check while we are there

Water heaters fail early when something else is wrong: house pressure that is too high, a missing or waterlogged expansion tank, or sediment that has never been flushed. If we find one of those, we point it out. Replacing the tank without fixing it starts the same clock again.