Three Important Reasons You’ll Call Us For Water Heater Repair | Conway, SC
Your hot water heater is typically the strong, silent type, sitting quietly in your basement and providing hot water for your family. When you call us at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Myrtle Beach for water heater repair in Conway, SC, there’s usually a specific problem on your mind and certain clues you’ve observed. Typically, these problems fall into three main areas: hot water quality, temperature and quantity issues, and worries about leaks and potential flooding, especially from tank-based units. Whether you have a traditional water heater, hybrid unit, or tankless, our team can provide the expert plumbing services you need.
Problems with Your Hot Water Quality
When your hot water flows, but is discolored or has a strange smell, your showers won’t be as enjoyable. Laundry results may be disappointing, and most other hot water uses may be affected as well. You’ll be concerned about your hot water system, and whether you need water heater repair to correct the problem and take care of an underlying cause that could be serious. In fact, hot water quality problems could indicate concerns such as an anode rod that’s not keeping bacteria from growing in the water in a tank-based heater which is the source of the smell, or sediment gathering in the bottom of the tank or tankless system that affects the heating element as well as discoloring the water. Either of these issues could point to accelerated wear of the tank material as well, especially if the anode rod has been depleted or is the wrong type, and corrosion is happening faster from hard water. In any case, water heater repair to improve your hot water quality may also lead to repairs that improve the longevity, effectiveness, and reliability of your hot water heater.
Water Quality Problems with Both Hot and Cold Water
If you have discoloration or odors for both your hot and cold water, water heater repair may not be the primary issue. If it’s a recent change, your well or city water supply may have changed. Perhaps the city is working on the water lines, for maintenance or because of some damage. Your home’s water supply line could also have a leak which is allowing contamination of your home’s incoming water. Our experienced plumbers can find the source of the problem, and if it’s a city water issue, they may already be aware of it through their contacts with the city, or from serving your neighbors for similar problems.
Inconsistent Water Temperature and Supply
City water pressure is one place to look for problems with your hot water supply such as low or even high pressure, but that would normally be if your cold water is also affected. When you call us for water heater repair because your water temperature and supply is not ideal, we can check for problems with the plumbing inside the tank or in the hot water lines, especially if you have older pipes that may be accumulating corrosion inside. Hot water leaks in lines that run under the basement slab in some homes can also produce problems with the supply as gallons of hot water leak into the ground beneath your home. Our team can check for leaks and perform slab leak repairs if needed.
Insufficient hot water supply can also be the result of a water heater with dual heaters, where one heater or thermostat system is malfunctioning. Only half the tank will receive adequate heating, and you’ll get hot water that runs out quickly, or perhaps that only begins to flow after the cold or lukewarm part of the tank’s contents has been dispensed. Our plumbing professionals can check for heating issues and make the necessary fixes, or locate a faulty thermostat that’s resulting in variable temperature in a tank-based or tankless unit. For hybrid units, when the heat pump feature is not able to gather enough energy to heat the water, any issues with the backup electric heating element may be revealed and require attention. For tankless units, you may also have problems if your system’s sediment has not been flushed, or the vent hasn’t been cleaned and is overdue. You may notice an alarm that’s reminding you the unit needs service.
Flood Prevention
Puddles near your water heater, especially tank-based units, can require quick attention from our water heater repair team. The cause could be a pressure and temperature relief valve that’s malfunctioning or one that’s periodically providing pressure relief because the tank is overheating, and releasing small amounts of water. The cause could also be a corroded tank that’s starting to fail, and the first signs of trouble warn of bigger trouble to come, even a release or explosion spreading 40 gallons or more of hot water in the nearby area. This would of course damage materials stored nearby and any furniture, rugs, or other decorative items in the flood path. For tankless water heaters, there’s no stored water supply to be released, so leaks are typically standard plumbing leaks that our plumbers can identify and correct.
Other Water Heater Repair Reasons Like Efficiency
Many water heater problems also show up as changes in your energy usage, for example, if hot water is leaking into the ground from a slab leak, you’ll be wasting energy with the spilled hot water. Ineffective heating elements or burners will waste power or gas trying to reach the thermostat setting, often due to sediment but possibly due to issues with the heating unit itself. Thermostats can be bumped or adjusted unexpectedly and produce hotter hot water, higher energy usage, and a higher risk of both accidental scalding for your family and overpressure situations in the tank.
Your Water Heater Repair and Replacement Company in Conway, SC
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Myrtle Beach is your expert plumbing provider for Conway, SC, handling water heater repair for all types of hot water heaters and maintenance, replacement, and new system installation. Call us for expert service!