Water Heater Installation in Fond du Lac, WI
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Fond du Lac County winters put a new water heater to work early
Your water heater runs alongside a furnace that's also working, September through May, nine months of the year here. On nights averaging 13°F, both are pulling on the same gas and power lines, so a unit sized right for your house matters.
Power doesn't always stay on through a storm. Wisconsin saw 18% of households lose power for at least 24 hours in 2024, and this county has logged 15 winter storms and 59 damaging wind events over the past ten years. A gas water heater with a standing pilot keeps making hot water when the power drops. One with electric ignition does not, until the power is back. Either way, a new installation has to meet the federal minimum efficiency for its size and type, set by a formula tied to the tank's rated volume rather than one number for every heater.
- 13°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 9 months
- September through May, the months homes here need heat
- 18%
- of Wisconsin 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 $330 a year to run in Wisconsin compared with an electric water heater.
Estimates for a typical Wisconsin home, from EIA household energy data and Wisconsin fuel prices. Your home will differ.
- How do I know it's time to replace my water heater?
- The clearest sign is age. Tank water heaters have a working life, and past a certain point the tank itself starts to weaken from the inside, so a repair on an old unit is often just delaying the tank failing outright. Rusty water, a tank that's rusting on the outside, water pooling underneath, or a pilot that won't stay lit are all signs the unit is failing rather than having a small fixable problem. If you're running out of hot water faster than you used to, or the water never gets fully hot, that's the heating element or the tank itself giving out. A contractor can tell you whether what you're seeing is a repair or a sign the tank is done.
- Should I switch to a tankless water heater?
- It depends on what you want from your hot water and what's already in the house. A tankless unit heats water as it's used instead of storing a tankful, so you don't run out partway through back to back showers. But switching usually means changes to the gas line, the venting, and sometimes the electrical to the house, since a tankless unit draws more gas or power at the moment it's heating water than a tank does. Both types need power to run their controls, so neither one keeps working on its own through an outage. A contractor can look at your gas line, venting, and electrical panel and tell you what the switch actually involves in your house.
- What changes when you install a tankless water heater?
- The water heater itself changes from a tank that stores and reheats water to a unit that heats water only when a tap is opened. The gas line feeding it often needs to be a larger diameter, since the unit needs more gas flowing at once to heat water on demand. The venting changes too. Tankless units vent differently than tank units, and the new venting has to be run to the outside, which can mean new venting through a wall or the roof. Where the unit sits can change as well, since tankless heaters mount on a wall rather than sitting on the floor, which frees up some space but means the location has to work for the new gas and venting connections. A contractor can walk through what your home already has and what would need to change.