Water Heater Installation in Spokane, WA
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Your water heater works nearly year round here
Homes in Spokane County need heat from September through June, ten months a year, and that same cold water runs into your water heater's tank. Winter nights average 24°F from December through February, so the incoming water is colder and the burner or element has more work to do to bring it up to temperature. There is not much of the year when this tank gets to rest.
The county has logged 527 winter storms and 120 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and in 2024, 23% of Washington households went at least 24 hours without power. A gas water heater with a standing pilot keeps making hot water through an outage. One with electronic ignition needs the power back before it will light again, and most units start back up on their own once it returns.
- 24°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 10 months
- September through June, the months homes here need heat
- 23%
- of Washington 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 $380 a year to run in Washington compared with an electric water heater.
Estimates for a typical Washington home, from EIA household energy data and Washington fuel prices. Your home will differ.
- How do I know it's time to replace my water heater?
- The clearest sign is water that doesn't get hot anymore, or runs out fast when it used to last. Rust colored water from the hot side, a tank that's rusting or sweating around the base, or a popping and rumbling sound as it heats all point to a tank near the end of its life. Most storage tanks last a decade or so, and once a tank starts leaking there's no repair for it, only replacement. If yours is old and starting to act up, it's worth having a contractor look at it before it fails outright and floods the area around it.
- Should I switch to a tankless water heater?
- It depends on what you want out of it, not on your old tank failing. A tankless unit heats water on demand instead of storing it, so you get a steady supply of hot water without running out partway through a shower, and it takes up a fraction of the space a tank does. What it won't do is save you from ever waiting for hot water to reach the tap, since that has more to do with the distance between the heater and the fixture. A contractor can walk through your household's hot water use and tell you whether the switch makes sense for your home.
- What changes when you install a tankless water heater?
- The biggest change is what the unit needs to run. Gas tankless heaters need a larger gas line than most storage tanks use, because they heat water fast and need more fuel flowing at once, and they need venting rated for their higher output. Electric tankless units often need a bigger electrical circuit than a standard tank did. None of this is a reason to avoid one, but it does mean the installation is more involved than swapping one tank for another, and a contractor will need to check your gas line, venting, or electrical panel before installing it.