Water Heater Repair in Burlington, NC
Tell us what your water heater is doing, and a licensed contractor who covers Alamance County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
What winter and storms do to a water heater here
Alamance County gets cold enough, seven months of the year, that your water heater works harder just to keep up. Groundwater coming into the tank is colder for longer, so the burner or the heating element runs more often to hold the temperature you set. That extra cycling wears on the thermostat and the heating element in an electric unit, or the igniter and burner assembly in a gas one.
Storms add a second problem. The county has seen 105 damaging wind events and 8 winter storms over the past ten years, and across North Carolina a quarter of households lost power for at least a day in 2024. When the power drops, an electric water heater stops heating until it comes back on. A gas water heater with a standing pilot keeps working through the outage. If yours has electronic ignition, it will not relight until power returns, and you may need to relight it yourself.
- 31°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 7 months
- October through April, the months homes here need heat
- 25%
- of North Carolina 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 $300 a year off hot water for a typical North Carolina home.
Estimates for a typical North Carolina home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and North Carolina 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 reason is that the tank itself has rusted through from the inside and is starting to fail. Water heaters have a glass lining inside the steel tank, and once that lining cracks, the metal underneath corrodes and eventually leaks. It can also be a loose drain valve or a fitting at the bottom, which a contractor can check before assuming the tank is done. A tank that is actually leaking from a rusted-through spot needs to be replaced, not repaired.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- Usually the thermocouple has worn out and is no longer telling the gas valve that the pilot is lit. The thermocouple sits in the pilot flame and sends a small signal to keep the gas valve open. When it wears down or sits out of position, the valve reads no flame and shuts off the gas even though the pilot was burning fine. A dirty pilot tube or a draft pulling the flame away can also cause it, so a contractor will check both before replacing parts.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless water heater 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 serviced without replacing the unit. Tankless units also run diagnostic codes that point a contractor straight to the failed part. Replacement usually only comes up when the heat exchanger itself has cracked.