Water Heater Repair in Burlington, VT
Tell us what your water heater is doing, and a licensed contractor who covers Chittenden County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
What Chittenden County winters do to a water heater
Nights here average 12°F from December through February, and homes need heat from September through May. That is nine months of your water heater making up for cold pipes and a cold basement or utility closet, not just the months you notice the chill. The extra runtime wears on a heating element or burner faster than it would somewhere milder.
Power is the other side of it. Vermont saw 21% of households lose power for 24 hours or more in 2024, and Chittenden County has logged 53 winter storms and 124 damaging wind events over the past ten years. A water heater with no power gives you no hot water until service is back, and if yours is already old, an outage in the middle of winter is often when it finally quits for good.
- 12°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 9 months
- September through May, the months homes here need heat
- 21%
- of Vermont 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 $100 a year off hot water for a typical Vermont home.
Estimates for a typical Vermont home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and Vermont 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 from the inside. Water heaters don't get patched once the tank leaks, they get replaced. Before you assume the worst, check that the leak isn't actually coming from a loose drain valve or a fitting above the tank, since those can be repaired. A contractor can tell you in a few minutes which one you're dealing with.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The most common cause is a worn thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the flame is lit. When it wears out, it can't confirm the flame anymore, so the gas valve shuts off even though the pilot was burning fine. A weak pilot flame or a draft blowing on it can cause the same thing. This is a repair a contractor can usually make without replacing the whole unit.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most tankless problems are repairable. Mineral buildup on the heat exchanger, a failed igniter, or a blocked vent are common causes, and each one can be fixed on its own without replacing the unit. Tankless units also throw error codes that point straight to the problem, which makes diagnosis faster than with a tank model. A contractor can read the code and tell you what part is failing.