Water Heater Installation in Springfield, IL
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What a Sangamon County winter asks of a water heater
Homes here need heat from October through April, seven months a year, with winter nights averaging 22°F from December through February. A water heater is working through most of the year, not just a few cold weeks.
Power is part of the picture too. Illinois saw 16% of households go at least 24 hours without power in 2024, and the county has logged 198 damaging wind events and 7 winter storms over the past ten years. A gas water heater with a standing pilot keeps making hot water through an outage. One with electric ignition will not light until power is back.
Federal rules set a minimum efficiency for storage water heaters, but the number is not the same for every unit. It is a formula based on the tank's rated volume, worked out separately for four draw patterns, so two tanks of the same type can carry different minimums depending on their size.
- 22°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 7 months
- October through April, the months homes here need heat
- 16%
- of Illinois 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 $360 a year to run in Illinois compared with an electric water heater.
Estimates for a typical Illinois home, from EIA household energy data and Illinois fuel prices. Your home will differ.
- How do I know it's time to replace my water heater?
- If it's leaking from the tank itself, that's the end, since a tank does not get patched. Water that comes out rusty or metallic tasting means the tank is corroding from the inside. A water heater that can't keep up anymore, running out fast or taking longer to heat than it used to, is wearing out even if it hasn't failed yet. If yours is getting old and starting to act up, it's worth having a contractor look at it before it fails on its own.
- Should I switch to a tankless water heater?
- It depends on what you want out of it, not on whether tank heaters are bad. A tankless unit heats water as it flows through rather than storing it, so you don't run out of hot water partway through a shower, and it takes up far less space than a tank. It also usually costs more upfront and needs gas line and venting changes that a tank replacement doesn't. A contractor can look at your house and tell you what switching would actually involve.
- What changes when you install a tankless water heater?
- The unit itself is small enough to mount on a wall, so the space where your tank used to sit opens up. Because it burns more gas at once to heat water on demand, it usually needs a larger gas line than a tank unit uses, and its own dedicated venting. The electrical and water connections get run to wherever it's mounted instead of to the old tank location. A contractor who comes out to quote the job will know exactly what your house needs changed to make the switch.