Water Heater Repair in Rock Springs, WY
Tell us what your water heater is doing, and a licensed contractor who covers Sweetwater County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Cold groundwater and long power outages both take a toll
Winter nights here average 11°F, and groundwater coming into your water heater is just as cold. The unit has to work harder to raise it to temperature, and it does that for most of the year, since homes here need heat from September through June. That extra work falls on the heating element or the burner, and those are the parts that tend to give out first.
Sweetwater County also sees real winter storms, 87 of them over the last ten years, along with 185 damaging wind events. Storms like that knock out power, and in Wyoming, 8% of households lost power for 24 hours or more in 2024. An electric water heater goes cold until power is back. A gas water heater with a standing pilot keeps running through the outage, but one with an electronic ignition will not relight on its own.
- 11°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 of the time this means the tank itself has failed. Sediment builds up inside over years, and that layer sits on the tank floor and corrodes it from the inside until it gives way. Once the tank is leaking, it can't be patched or sealed, it needs to be replaced. A leak from the bottom can also come from a drain valve that isn't sealed tight or fittings on the cold water inlet, so it's worth checking those before you assume the worst, but a steady leak under the tank usually means the tank is done.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The most common reason is a thermocouple that's worn out or out of position. That's the small sensor 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 fine a moment before. A dirty pilot orifice or a draft in the area can also blow the flame out. Either way, a standing pilot doesn't run on electricity, so a power blip isn't the cause.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless unit are repairable. Mineral buildup on the heat exchanger is common and causes error codes or hot water that won't stay hot, and that can be flushed out. Igniters, flow sensors and venting issues can also be replaced or corrected without swapping the whole unit. A contractor can run the diagnostics and tell you which part is failing and what it takes to fix it.