Water Heater Repair in Thompson Falls, MT
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Cold ground water and long power outages both add up
Groundwater in Thompson Falls runs cold most of the year, since homes here need heat from September through June. Your water heater has to work harder to bring that cold water up to temperature, and it runs more of the year than it would somewhere warmer. That extra work adds up on the heating element or the burner, the parts doing the job of raising the temperature every time you turn on a tap.
Sanders County also sees real winter weather. Ten years of storm records show 128 winter storms and 60 damaging wind events, and across Montana, 18% of households lost power for 24 hours or more in 2024. A gas water heater with a standing pilot will keep working through an outage like that. One with electronic ignition will not, and neither will an electric water heater, so when the power comes back on, check that it has actually relit or reset before you run hot water again.
- 20°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 10 months
- September through June, the months homes here need heat
- 18%
- of Montana 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
- Why is my water heater leaking from the bottom?
- Most often the tank itself has rusted through from the inside and is starting to fail. Water heaters have a glass lining that protects the steel tank, and once that lining cracks, the tank corrodes and eventually leaks low, where the water collects. It can also be a loose drain valve or a fitting that has come loose, which a contractor can check first since those are simple to fix. But a leak from the tank itself means the water heater needs to be replaced, not repaired, since there is no way to patch a tank from the inside.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The most common cause is a worn out thermocouple, the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it is safe to keep the gas flowing. When that sensor wears out, it fails to sense the flame correctly and shuts the gas off, even though the pilot is lit. A thermocouple is inexpensive to replace and usually solves the problem. If a new thermocouple does not fix it, the gas valve itself may need to be replaced instead.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most tankless water heater problems are repairable. Common issues are a clogged inlet filter, mineral scale built up in the heat exchanger from hard water, or a failed igniter, and all of these can be cleaned or replaced without swapping the whole unit. The heat exchanger itself is the most expensive part to replace, so if that has failed a contractor will look at the age of the unit before deciding whether repair or replacement makes more sense.