Water Heater Repair in Leonardtown, MD
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St. Mary's County puts your water heater to work most of the year
Water heaters in Leonardtown run hardest from October through April, when the water coming into the tank is coldest and the burner or element has to work longer to keep up. That extra runtime wears on the heating element in an electric tank and the gas valve and thermocouple in a gas one, so a unit that's been fine for years can start struggling right in the middle of winter.
The county has also seen 14 winter storms and 146 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and about 1 in 10 Maryland households lost power for a full day or more in 2024. A gas water heater with a standing pilot will keep running through an outage, but most electric units and any gas unit with an electronic ignition go cold until the power comes back on, and some need to be relit by hand once it does.
- 29°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 7 months
- October through April, the months homes here need heat
- 11%
- of Maryland 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 $370 a year off hot water for a typical Maryland home.
Estimates for a typical Maryland home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and Maryland 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?
- The most common cause is the tank itself has rusted through from the inside and is failing. Sediment builds up at the bottom of the tank over years, and once it wears through the lining, water finds a way out and the tank can't be patched. It can also be a loose drain valve or a fitting that has failed, which a contractor can replace. If the leak is coming from the tank itself, the water heater needs to be replaced, not repaired.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- Most of the time this means the thermocouple has worn out and needs to be replaced. The thermocouple is the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to keep the gas flowing. When it wears out, it can't hold that signal, so the valve shuts the gas off and the pilot goes out. A dirty pilot orifice or a draft blowing on the flame can also cause it, and a contractor can tell which one it is by looking at the flame itself.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most tankless water heater problems are repairable. Common issues are a clogged inlet filter, a buildup of scale on the heat exchanger, or an error code pointing to a failed sensor or igniter, and all of these can usually be fixed without replacing the unit. A contractor can pull the error code from the unit's display and diagnose it from there.