Water Heater Repair in Hendersonville, NC
Tell us what your water heater is doing, and a licensed contractor who covers Henderson County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
What Hendersonville winters do to a water heater
Your water heater works harder from October through April, when incoming water runs cold and nights average 30°F. The burner or heating element stays on longer to make up that difference, and that extra runtime wears on the thermostat and the heating element itself. You notice it as water that used to run hot taking longer to warm up, or not getting hot at all.
Hendersonville has seen 11 winter storms and 42 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and power out for a day or more hits a quarter of North Carolina households in a bad year. A gas water heater with a standing pilot will keep working through an outage. One with electric ignition or an electric water heater will not come back on until power is restored, and after a long outage the tank may need time to reheat a full cycle before you get hot water again.
- 30°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 tank itself has likely rusted through and is leaking from the inside. Water heater tanks corrode over time, and once a hole forms, no sealant or repair fixes it, the tank has to be replaced. Water pooling at the base can also come from a loose drain valve or a failed pressure relief valve, both of which a contractor can check before assuming the tank is the problem. If it is the tank, turn off the water supply and power to the unit until it's replaced.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- Most often the thermocouple has worn out and stopped sensing the flame, so the gas valve shuts off as a safety measure. A dirty or clogged pilot orifice can cause the same problem, and a draft in the area can blow the flame out even when the parts are working fine. A contractor can test the thermocouple and clean or replace the parts that are causing it to fail. If your water heater has a standing pilot, it stays lit without power, so a power outage will not be the cause.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless water heater can be repaired without replacing the whole unit. Mineral buildup on the heating element is common and can be flushed out, and parts like the igniter, flow sensor or exhaust vent can be replaced individually when they fail. A contractor will need to check the error code the unit is showing to know which part is at fault. Replacement only comes into play if the heat exchanger itself has failed.