Water Heater Repair in Dover-Foxcroft, ME
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Winter here means power outages, and your water heater feels it
Piscataquis County winter nights average 6°F from December through February, and homes here run their heat from September through June, ten months of the year. That is a long stretch for a water heater to keep doing its job without a break.
More than half of Maine households lost power for at least 24 hours at some point in 2024. Most water heaters come back on by themselves once power returns, but a long enough outage will let the water in the tank drop to room temperature, and you will notice it at the tap before it catches back up.
- 6°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 10 months
- September through June, the months homes here need heat
- 54%
- of Maine households lost power for a day or more in 2024, and a heater with an electric element or electric ignition stops without it
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NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- Why is my water heater leaking from the bottom?
- Most often the tank itself has rusted through and is holding water it can no longer contain. Sediment builds up at the bottom of the tank over years and eats away at the steel underneath it, and once it gives way the leak will not stop or seal itself. It could also be the drain valve or a fitting rather than the tank, and those can sometimes be repaired instead of replaced. A contractor can tell you which one you have by looking at where the water is actually coming from.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The most common cause is a worn thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. When it wears out it stops sending that signal even though the flame is lit, so the gas valve shuts off the pilot as a safety measure. A weak pilot flame, a dirty pilot orifice, or a draft blowing across the flame can cause the same thing. This is a gas appliance, so have a contractor check it rather than repeatedly relighting it yourself.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless water heater are repairable. Mineral buildup on the heat exchanger, a failed igniter, or a clogged inlet filter are common issues and a contractor can flush the unit or replace the failed part. Some tankless units also show an error code on a display, which tells the contractor what to check first. Full replacement is usually only needed when the heat exchanger itself has failed.