Water Heater Repair in Buffalo, WY
Tell us what your water heater is doing, and a licensed contractor who covers Johnson County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
What cold winters do to your water heater in Buffalo
Buffalo needs heat in the house from September through June, ten months of the year, and your water heater is working right alongside it. Cold groundwater in the winter months means the unit has to run longer to bring water up to temperature, and that extra runtime wears on the heating element and the thermostat over time.
Power matters too. Johnson County has logged 84 winter storms and 110 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and across Wyoming, 8% of households lost power for at least 24 hours in 2024. An electric water heater stops heating the moment the power goes out, and if that happens during a cold stretch, you will notice within hours when the water turns lukewarm and then cold.
- 14°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 new water heater would cut about $70 a year off hot water for a typical Wyoming home.
Estimates for a typical Wyoming home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and Wyoming 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, and once that happens the leak will not stop or seal on its own. Sediment builds up on the bottom of the tank over years, and it eats away at the metal from the inside until it gives way. It can also be a loose drain valve or a fitting that has failed, and those can be repaired. But water actually coming from under the tank usually means the tank is done, and it needs to be replaced rather than patched.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The thermocouple is the usual reason. It is the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve the pilot is lit. Once it wears out or sits dirty, it stops sending that signal and the valve shuts the gas off, even though the pilot was burning fine a second earlier. A dirty pilot orifice or a draft blowing on the flame can cause the same thing. A contractor can test the thermocouple in a few minutes and replace it if that is the cause.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless unit are repairable. Common issues are a clogged inlet filter, a buildup of scale on the heat exchanger, a bad igniter, or a sensor throwing an error code. The error code itself usually points straight to the problem, since tankless units are built to report what is wrong. A contractor can read that code and go from there.