Water Heater Repair in Kenosha, WI
Tell us what your water heater is doing, and a licensed contractor who covers Kenosha County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
What Kenosha winters do to a water heater
Groundwater coming into your house is already cold when it reaches the tank, and from October through May your water heater works harder just to make up the difference. That extra runtime wears on the heating element in an electric tank and the burner assembly in a gas one, and both show it sooner than they would in a milder place.
Kenosha County has seen 19 winter storms and 43 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and statewide, 18% of households lost power for at least 24 hours in 2024. A gas water heater with a standing pilot keeps working through an outage. One with electronic ignition will not light again until the power is back on. Either way, a tank that was already struggling to keep up with cold incoming water gives out faster once the weather turns hard on it.
- 18°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 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 new water heater would cut about $40 a year off hot water for a typical Wisconsin home.
Estimates for a typical Wisconsin home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and Wisconsin 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 cracked. Water heaters aren't meant to be repaired once the tank fails, so this usually means replacement, not a patch job. Before assuming the worst, though, a contractor will check the drain valve and the fittings above the tank, since a leak from either of those can look like it's coming from the bottom. A loose drain valve or a failed temperature and pressure relief valve can sometimes be fixed without replacing the whole unit.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The most common cause is a thermocouple that's worn out or out of position. That's the small rod that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to keep the gas flowing. When it fails, the valve shuts the gas off as a safety measure, even though the pilot lit just fine a moment ago. A dirty pilot orifice or a draft pulling the flame away from the thermocouple can cause the same problem, so a contractor will check both before replacing any parts.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless water heater are repairable. The heat exchanger, the igniter, and the flow sensor are the parts that tend to fail, and a contractor can replace any of them without swapping out the whole unit. Mineral buildup inside the heat exchanger is common too, especially if the unit has never been flushed, and that can usually be cleared rather than replaced. A contractor will need to look at the specific unit to say what's actually gone wrong.