Water Heater Repair in Lancaster, PA
Tell us what your water heater is doing, and a licensed contractor who covers Lancaster County will get in touch.
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What winter here does to your water heater
Groundwater coming into your house is cold from October through April, and your water heater has to work harder to make up the difference. On nights that average 24°F, a tank in a garage or basement that isn't fully conditioned loses heat faster, and the heating element or gas burner runs longer to hold temperature. That extra runtime is what wears out a heating element or burns through a thermocouple before its time.
Pennsylvania also sees its share of power gone out, 15% of households last year had an outage of 24 hours or more, and this county has logged 16 winter storms and 215 damaging wind events over the past decade. An electric water heater will come back on by itself once power returns, but if yours doesn't, or if you're getting lukewarm water, cold water, or a tank that won't recover between uses, that's worth a look.
- 24°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 7 months
- October through April, the months homes here need heat
- 15%
- of Pennsylvania 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 $390 a year off hot water for a typical Pennsylvania home.
Estimates for a typical Pennsylvania home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and Pennsylvania 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 once that happens the tank cannot be repaired, only replaced. Sediment settles at the bottom of the tank over years and corrodes the steel from the inside, so a leak there usually means the tank has reached the end of its life. Sometimes the leak is not the tank at all, but the drain valve or a fitting on the bottom that has loosened or worn out, and those can be repaired. A contractor can tell which one it is by checking whether water is coming from the tank wall itself or from a valve or connection.
- 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 sending gas. When it wears out, it fails to sense the flame properly and shuts the gas off, even though the pilot lit fine a moment ago. A dirty pilot orifice or a draft blowing across the flame can also cause it to keep going out. A contractor can test the thermocouple's reading directly and replace it if that's the issue.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless water heater can be repaired without replacing the whole unit. Common repairs include descaling the heat exchanger, replacing a failed igniter or flow sensor, and clearing a blocked vent. Because these units run on electronic controls, a contractor can usually pull an error code from the display to point straight at the failed part.