Water Heater Installation in Cheyenne, WY
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What a Cheyenne winter asks of a water heater
Nights here average 16°F from December through February, and homes need heat from September through May, nine months of the year. A water heater is working through most of that stretch alongside everything else in the house.
Cheyenne has logged 382 winter storms and 1,869 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and 8% of Wyoming households went at least 24 hours without power in 2024. A gas water heater with a standing pilot keeps working through an outage. One with electric ignition needs the power back before it will fire again.
New storage water heaters have to meet a federal efficiency minimum, and that minimum is not one number. It is set by a formula tied to the tank's rated volume and to how a household draws hot water, so two tanks of different sizes can face different minimums even when they are the same type of heater.
- 16°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 9 months
- September through May, the months homes here need heat
- 8%
- of Wyoming 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 $300 a year to run in Wyoming compared with an electric water heater.
Estimates for a typical Wyoming home, from EIA household energy data and Wyoming fuel prices. Your home will differ.
- How do I know it's time to replace my water heater?
- The clearest sign is water that won't stay hot, especially if the tank is more than ten years old. Rust colored water, a tank that's damp or rusted around the base, or a popping and rumbling sound when it heats are all signs the tank itself is failing, not just a part inside it. A leak at the tank means replacement, not repair, since the tank can't be patched. If your water heater sits somewhere a leak would cause real damage, don't wait for the leak to confirm it.
- Should I switch to a tankless water heater?
- It depends on what you want out of it, not on your current tank failing. A tankless unit heats water as it runs instead of storing it, so you don't run out partway through a long shower with the dishwasher going. It won't heat water any faster in the sense of raising the temperature quicker, it just doesn't have a limited supply to drain. A contractor can look at your gas line, venting, and water use and tell you whether it makes sense for your house.
- What changes when you install a tankless water heater?
- The biggest change is what's on the wall instead of what's on the floor. A tankless unit mounts against a wall and takes up a fraction of the space a tank does, which matters if you're trying to free up a closet or utility room. It also needs its own venting, since it runs on a burner that fires only when water is running, not a standing tank that stays hot around the clock. Gas line size matters too, since a tankless unit can call for more gas flow than the old tank did. A contractor will need to check your existing gas line and vent before quoting the switch, since not every setup can take a tankless unit without changes.