Water Heater Repair in Hackensack, NJ
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Cold groundwater and power outages both work against your water heater
From December through February, nights here average 25°F, and the water coming into your tank starts out cold. The unit has to work harder to bring it up to temperature, and that extra work falls on the heating element or the burner. Over enough winters, that's what gives out first, and you notice it as water that used to be hot running lukewarm, or not getting hot at all.
Across New Jersey, 11% of households lost power for 24 hours or more in 2024, and Bergen County has logged 34 winter storms and 155 damaging wind events over the past ten years. An electric water heater will not heat water until power is back, and even a gas unit with an electric igniter can lose its flame in an outage and stay out until it's relit.
- 25°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 8 months
- October through May, the months homes here need heat
- 11%
- of New Jersey 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 $90 a year off hot water for a typical New Jersey home.
Estimates for a typical New Jersey home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and New Jersey 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 is starting to fail. Water heaters are lined inside, and once that lining wears out the steel tank underneath corrodes and cracks. Water can also drip from a loose drain valve or a fitting near the bottom, which a contractor can tighten or replace, but water pooling under the tank itself usually means the tank is done. There is no repair for a leaking tank. It has to be replaced.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The most common cause is a worn thermocouple or flame sensor, the part that tells the gas valve the pilot is actually burning. When it wears out or sits coated with soot, it reads the flame as out and shuts the gas off even though the pilot is lit. A draft blowing across the pilot, a dirty pilot orifice, or a failing gas control valve can also cause this. A contractor can test which of these it is and replace the part.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most tankless water heater problems are repairable. Common issues are a dirty inlet filter or heat exchanger from mineral buildup, a failed igniter, or an error code pointing to a specific sensor. A contractor can flush the unit and replace the failed part in most cases. It's only in older units, or when a major component like the heat exchanger has cracked, that replacement makes more sense than repair.