Water Heater Repair in Rolla, MO
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What Rolla winters do to a water heater
Groundwater coming into your house is cold from October through April, seven months of the year. On nights that average 25°F, your water heater works harder and longer to bring that water up to temperature. The burner or the heating element cycles more, and that wear adds up over a Rolla winter.
Power loss makes it worse. Missouri saw 19% of households lose power for 24 hours or more in 2024, and Phelps County has logged 56 damaging wind events and 10 winter storms over the past ten years. A gas water heater with a standing pilot will keep running through an outage, but one with an electric igniter won't relight on its own. If your water heater has been quiet since the lights flickered, that's likely why.
- 25°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 7 months
- October through April, the months homes here need heat
- 19%
- of Missouri 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 $270 a year off hot water for a typical Missouri home.
Estimates for a typical Missouri home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and Missouri 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?
- The most common cause is the tank itself failing from the inside out. Sediment builds up on the bottom of the tank over years, and it holds moisture against the steel until it rusts through. Once a tank is leaking like this, it needs to be replaced, not patched, since the crack will only widen. A leak can also come from a loose drain valve or a fitting at the bottom, and those a contractor can often just tighten or replace.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- Most of the time this means the thermocouple has worn out. That's the small sensor the pilot flame touches, and its job is to tell the gas valve the pilot is lit. When it wears out, it reads the flame as out even when it isn't, and the gas valve shuts off to be safe. A dirty pilot orifice or a draft blowing on the flame can cause the same thing, so a contractor will check both before replacing any parts.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless unit are repairable. Common issues are a clogged inlet filter, a buildup of scale on the heat exchanger, or a failed igniter, and all of those can be fixed without replacing the unit. Tankless units also run diagnostic codes on a display or through a series of blinks, which tells a contractor what's wrong before they open it up.