Water Heater Installation in Rawlins, WY
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Rawlins asks a lot of a water heater
Winter nights here average 13°F from December through February, and cold groundwater coming into the tank means it has to work harder to bring water up to temperature. Homes in this county need heat for ten months of the year, September through June, and a water heater is doing its own version of that work right alongside the furnace through most of that stretch.
Power doesn't always stay on to run one. Wyoming saw 8% of households lose power for 24 hours or more in 2024, and the county has logged 775 winter storms and 1,556 damaging wind events over the past ten years. A gas water heater with a standing pilot keeps making hot water through an outage that would stop an electric one cold. When you size a new one, the federal minimum efficiency isn't a single number. It's set by a formula tied to the tank's rated volume, applied separately across four draw patterns, so two tanks of the same type but different size don't face the same minimum.
- 13°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 10 months
- September through June, 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 pooling at the base of the tank, since that means the tank itself is failing and nothing can patch it. Water that never gets fully hot, a pilot or igniter that keeps failing, or a tank that's been in service a long time are all reasons to plan for replacement rather than another repair. Rust-colored water from the hot side often points to corrosion inside the tank. If your water heater sits somewhere a leak would cause real damage, don't wait until it fails outright to have it looked at.
- Should I switch to a tankless water heater?
- It depends on what you want from your hot water, not just on saving space. A tankless unit heats water on demand, so you don't run out during a long shower or back-to-back loads of laundry, but a contractor needs to size it correctly for your home's fixtures and incoming water temperature. Winters here get cold, and the groundwater coming into the house is colder too, which means a tankless unit has to work harder to bring it up to temperature than it would in a milder climate. A contractor can tell you what size unit your household actually needs.
- What changes when you install a tankless water heater?
- The biggest change is that hot water no longer runs out, since the unit heats water as it flows rather than storing a tankful. Gas tankless units usually need a larger gas line and a dedicated vent than a tank did, and electric units often need more amperage than the old tank was wired for, so the installation involves more than swapping one unit for another. Tankless units also have no tank to store sediment, but they do need periodic descaling, especially where water is hard. A contractor can walk through what your gas line, venting, or electrical panel would need for the switch.