Water Heater Repair in St. Augustine, FL
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St. Johns County is hard on water heaters in its own way
Your water heater runs all year here. It never gets the break a unit in a colder state gets, where demand drops off for months. That steady use adds up on the tank, the heating element, and the anode rod inside it.
St. Johns County also loses power. Statewide, close to four in ten households went at least a day without power in 2024, and this stretch of coast has logged 127 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Electric water heaters come back on by themselves once power returns, so if yours does not, the problem is with the unit itself, not the outage.
- 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 new water heater would cut about $240 a year off hot water for a typical Florida home.
Estimates for a typical Florida home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and Florida 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 of the time this means the tank itself has failed. Sediment builds up on the bottom of the tank over the years, and it eats through the metal from the inside until a crack opens. A leak can also come from the drain valve or a fitting near the bottom, and those can sometimes be repaired. Once the tank is cracked, the water heater needs to be replaced, not repaired.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The most common cause is a weak or dirty thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. If it can't sense the flame, the gas valve shuts off the pilot for safety. A clogged pilot tube or a draft pulling the flame away from the sensor can cause the same thing. A gas valve that's failing will also do this, and that part has to be replaced rather than cleaned.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless water heater are repairable. Mineral buildup on the heat exchanger is common and is cleared with a descaling flush, especially where the water is hard. Igniters, flow sensors, and venting issues can also be replaced or corrected without swapping out the whole unit. A contractor can tell you which one you're dealing with once they've looked at the error code and checked the unit.