Water Heater Repair in Pekin, IL
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Pekin winters put years on your water heater
Water heaters here run hard from October through May, eight months of the year. On a 20°F night, the water coming into the tank is already cold, so the burner or heating element has to stay on longer to bring it up to temperature. That extra runtime wears on the thermocouple and the heating element sooner than in a house that only needs hot water part of the year.
Tazewell County has had ten winter storms and 154 damaging wind events over the past decade, and storms like these knock out power. When that happens, an electric water heater stops heating until the power comes back, and a gas one with an electronic ignition may need to be relit before it will fire again.
- 20°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 8 months
- October through May, 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 new water heater would cut about $60 a year off hot water for a typical Illinois home.
Estimates for a typical Illinois home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and Illinois 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 rusted through and is failing. Water heaters don't repair a leaking tank, because once the steel corrodes and lets water through, that spot only gets worse. Sometimes what looks like a tank leak is actually the drain valve or a fitting on top letting water run down the side, and that a plumber can fix. If the tank is the source, the water heater needs to be replaced, not patched.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The most common cause 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 gas flowing. When it fails, the valve shuts off the gas as soon as you let go of the button, even though the pilot lit fine. A dirty pilot orifice or a draft blowing out the flame can cause the same thing, so a plumber will check both before replacing parts.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most tankless problems are repairs, not replacements. A failed igniter, a clogged inlet filter, a bad flow sensor, or mineral scale built up on the heat exchanger are all things a plumber can fix or clean without replacing the unit. Error codes on the display usually point straight to which part is causing the problem. Replacement usually only comes up when the heat exchanger itself has cracked or corroded.