Water Heater Repair in Lancaster, OH
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Cold water and lost power both fall on your water heater
From October through May, water heaters in Lancaster take in groundwater that runs cold, so the burner or the heating element has to work longer to get hot water out of the tap. That extra runtime wears on the thermostat and on the element or burner itself.
Power loss adds to it. Fairfield County has seen 13 winter storms and 81 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and 18 percent of Ohio households went at least a day without power in 2024. Most water heaters come back on by themselves once power returns. A gas water heater with a standing pilot does not need power at all, but if the pilot blew out in the outage, it will not relight on its own. You will notice water that was hot yesterday now running lukewarm or cold.
- 24°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 8 months
- October through May, the months homes here need heat
- 18%
- of Ohio 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 $70 a year off hot water for a typical Ohio home.
Estimates for a typical Ohio home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and Ohio 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 from the inside and is starting to fail. Water heaters corrode over years of heating and reheating, and once the tank wall is breached there is no patching it, the unit needs to be replaced. Before you assume the worst, though, check the drain valve at the bottom and the fittings above it, since a loose valve or a leaking connection can look like a tank failure but costs far less to fix. A contractor can tell you in a few minutes which one you are dealing with.
- 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 the gas flowing. Once it wears out, it fails to sense the flame properly and shuts the gas off even though the pilot is lit. A dirty pilot orifice or a draft blowing the flame around can cause the same thing, so it is worth checking that the area is clean and free of drafts before assuming it is the thermocouple. Either way, this is a gas appliance issue, and a contractor should be the one to diagnose and fix it.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless unit are repairable. Mineral buildup on the heat exchanger is the most common issue, especially if the unit has never been flushed, and that can be cleaned out. Igniter failures, sensor faults, and clogged inlet filters are also common and are usually straightforward fixes rather than reasons to replace the whole unit. A contractor can run the diagnostics built into most tankless units to point straight to the cause.