Water Heater Installation in St. George, UT
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Your water heater works alongside the furnace here
Washington County needs heat eight months a year, October through May, and a water heater is running through that same stretch on top of its regular job. Winter nights average 28°F here from December through February.
The county has logged 40 winter storms and 60 damaging wind events over the past ten years, the kind of weather that can knock out power. A gas water heater with a standing pilot keeps running through an outage. One with electronic ignition, or an electric tank, won't heat water until power comes back, though most start back up on their own once it does.
Whatever size tank you choose, it has to meet the federal minimum efficiency for water heaters, and that minimum isn't one number. It's set by a formula based on the tank's rated volume, applied differently depending on how much hot water a household draws in a day. Your contractor can tell you what that works out to for the size tank your home needs.
- 28°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 8 months
- October through May, the months homes here need heat
- 7%
- of Utah 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 $320 a year to run in Utah compared with an electric water heater.
Estimates for a typical Utah home, from EIA household energy data and Utah fuel prices. Your home will differ.
- How do I know it's time to replace my water heater?
- Look at the age first. Once a tank water heater gets old, a repair is just a delay before the same problem comes back. Rust colored water from the hot tap, rust at the fittings, or water pooling underneath are signs the tank itself is failing, and a tank cannot be repaired. If it's still making hot water but running out fast or making a rumbling sound, sediment has likely built up in the bottom, and a contractor can tell you whether that's worth flushing or whether the tank is too far gone.
- 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 as it passes through instead of storing it, so you don't run out of hot water partway through a shower or a load of laundry. It also has no tank to rust out, which removes one of the main ways storage heaters fail. Whether it's the right move for your house depends on your gas line, venting, and how much hot water you actually use at once, and that's worth walking through with a contractor before deciding.
- What changes when you install a tankless water heater?
- The biggest change is that hot water becomes limited by flow rate instead of tank size. A storage heater can run out if too many things draw hot water at once, but a tankless unit can hit its limit the same way if you're running a shower and a dishwasher at the same time. Venting is usually different too, since tankless units often need their own dedicated vent rather than sharing one. A contractor can look at your gas line and existing venting to say what needs to change in your specific home.