Water Heaters
Hot Water,Back On
No hot water, not enough of it, rusty water, or a puddle under a tank that has quietly reached the end of its life.
Hard Water Decides When Yours Fails
Water heaters rarely die of old age in this part of Alberta. They die of scale. Central Alberta water is hard, and every litre heated leaves a little mineral behind in the bottom of the tank — which insulates the burner from the water it is meant to be heating, drives the unit to run longer and hotter, and eventually cooks the tank from the inside. Two identical heaters installed the same week in two houses a street apart can fail years apart for no reason other than what is coming out of the tap.
That is why a national average lifespan is close to useless as a prediction for your house, and why a tank that has never been drained is on a different schedule from one that has. It is also why treating the water is sometimes the more sensible purchase than replacing the heater with a unit that will do the same thing again.
What We Do With Water Heaters
Diagnosis when there is no hot water
Ignition, thermocouple, element, thermostat, gas valve or venting — the failures look identical from the shower and are not remotely the same repair.
Repairs worth doing
A failed part on a tank with years left is worth replacing. We will tell you when the economics say otherwise rather than quietly selling the bigger job.
Tank replacement
Sized to the household rather than to whatever was there before, removed, installed, vented correctly and the old unit taken away.
Tankless systems
Install and service. They suit some houses very well and others poorly, and we will go through which yours is before you commit to one.
Scale and water quality
If hardness is what killed the last one, that is worth addressing — otherwise the replacement is on the same clock as its predecessor.
Maintenance that extends the life
Draining sediment and checking the anode rod are unglamorous and they add years. Most tanks in this region have had neither done.
Signs Yours Is Near the End
A water heater that fails without warning usually gave several. These are the ones people tell us about afterwards.
- Hot water that runs out noticeably sooner than it used to
- Rusty or brown water from the hot tap, but not the cold
- Rumbling, popping or kettling noises while it heats
- Any moisture, rust or staining around the base of the tank
- Water that comes through lukewarm no matter the thermostat setting
- A second repair on a unit you have already had repaired once
- A relief valve that weeps or discharges
- A unit whose age nobody in the house actually knows
What Decides the Cost
There is no price list on this page. A tank swap where the new unit matches the old one and the connections line up is a fundamentally different job from one where the venting has to change or the unit has to come down a tight basement stair, and quoting both from one number does neither of you a favour.
Tankless is a separate conversation again — a higher initial cost against a longer service life and no standing tank to fail, but it is not the right answer in every house, and gas supply and venting often decide it.
- Tank or tankless, and the capacity the household actually needs
- Whether the venting and gas or electrical supply suit the new unit as-is
- Access — a clear basement, or a unit that has to be manoeuvred through a finished space
- Whether water hardness needs addressing so the replacement lasts longer than the last one
Why This Is Worth Getting Right
Sized for your house
Replacing like-for-like is the default and it is often wrong, because the household changed. Undersized means cold showers; oversized means paying to keep water hot that nobody uses.
The failure mode matters
A leaking tank is not a repair, at any price — the steel has gone. A failed part on a sound tank usually is. Those two get very different advice here.
Installed to last
Correct venting, proper relief discharge, and a drain pan where one belongs. The shortcuts on a water heater install are invisible until the day they matter a great deal.
How a Water Heater Job Runs
- 01
What it is doing, and how old
Age and symptom together usually narrow it to two or three possibilities before anyone is on site.
- 02
Test rather than assume
No hot water has half a dozen causes at very different prices. Guessing at the cheapest and working up wastes your money.
- 03
Repair or replace, with reasons
Including the age of the tank, what has already failed, and what the repair costs against a replacement.
- 04
Install and commission
Sized properly, vented correctly, tested under load, and the old unit removed and taken away.
- 05
How to make it last
Before we go, what to do about sediment and what to watch for. Ten minutes that add years.
Water Heater Questions
There is water under my tank. Is that an emergency?
Treat it as one. Shut the cold supply valve at the top of the tank, turn a gas unit's control to off and switch off the breaker on an electric one, then call. Water pooling under a tank usually means the inner vessel has corroded through, and tanks that have started to go can let go completely with very little notice.
Should I go tankless?
Sometimes. They take up less space, do not hold a tank of water that can fail, and last longer. Against that, the initial cost is higher, they need adequate gas supply and correct venting, and hard water is harder on them than people expect unless it is treated. It is a genuine house-by-house question and we would rather work through yours than give you a general recommendation.
How often should a tank be drained?
More often here than the manual assumes, because of the hardness. What matters more than the exact interval is that it happens at all — a tank that has never been drained in a decade has a layer of scale in the bottom that is actively shortening its life and driving your gas bill up.
Why does my hot water run out faster than it used to?
Usually scale. Sediment takes up volume that used to be hot water and insulates the burner from it, so the tank both holds less and reheats more slowly. It can also be a failed lower element on an electric unit, which produces much the same complaint and is a far smaller repair — which is exactly why it is worth testing rather than assuming.
Our Other Services
No Hot Water, or a Tank You Do Not Trust?
Tell us what it is doing and roughly how old it is. If there is water around the base, shut the supply off first and then call.