Water Heater Installation in St. Augustine, FL
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St. Augustine asks less of a water heater, but power still fails
Winters here are mild. Nights average 48°F from December through February, and heat is only needed those three months. A water heater in St. Johns County isn't fighting hard freezes, so that part of the job is easy on it.
The bigger risk is the grid. Nearly 4 in 10 Florida households went at least 24 hours without power in 2024, and the county has logged 127 damaging wind events over the past ten years. If you're choosing a new water heater, it's worth asking your contractor how each option handles an outage, since some recover on their own once power is back and some don't.
- 48°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 3 months
- December through February, the months homes here need heat
- 38%
- of Florida 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 heat pump water heater would save about $240 a year to run in Florida compared with an electric water heater.
Estimates for a typical Florida home, from EIA household energy data and Florida fuel prices. Your home will differ.
- How do I know it's time to replace my water heater?
- Watch for water that never gets fully hot, rust colored water, or water pooling around the base of the tank. Rust in the water or on the tank itself usually means the tank is corroding from the inside, and that does not get better. A popping or rumbling sound during heating means sediment has built up on the bottom of the tank, which makes it work harder and can shorten its life. If the unit is old and starts needing repairs more than once a year, replacing it is usually the more sensible move than continuing to fix it.
- Should I switch to a tankless water heater?
- It depends on what you want from your hot water and what your home can support. A tankless unit heats water on demand instead of storing it, so you do not run out of hot water partway through a shower when someone else runs the dishwasher. It does not sit there all day holding a tank of hot water, so it does not lose heat the way a tank does between uses. A contractor can look at your gas line, venting, or electrical panel and tell you what switching would involve in your house.
- What changes when you install a tankless water heater?
- The biggest change is that there is no tank storing hot water, so it heats water only when you turn on a tap. That means no standby heat loss from a tank sitting full of hot water all day, and no tank to eventually rust through. It also usually means a different venting setup than a tank water heater uses, and in a gas home it can call for a larger gas line to supply enough fuel for the burner to heat water quickly. A contractor can check your home's gas line, venting, and electrical setup to see what installing one would actually require.