Water Heater Repair in Opelousas, LA
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St. Landry Parish tests your water heater with power, not just cold
Winters here are mild, with nights averaging 43°F from December through February, so your water heater is not working hard the way one further north would. What it does have to deal with is the power going out. Nearly half of Louisiana households lost power for 24 hours or more in 2024, and the parish has logged 52 damaging wind events over the past ten years.
A gas water heater with a standing pilot will keep making hot water through an outage. One with electronic ignition will not light again until the power is back, and some units need that ignition reset by hand. If your water heater has been dead since the lights came back on, that is likely why.
- 43°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 5 months
- November through March, the months homes here need heat
- 49%
- of Louisiana 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 $250 a year off hot water for a typical Louisiana home.
Estimates for a typical Louisiana home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and Louisiana 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 often the tank itself has rusted through and is leaking from the inside out. Water heaters aren't built to be patched once the tank fails, so this usually means replacement, not repair. A drain valve that's loose or a fitting that's failed can also leak from the bottom, and those can be fixed. A contractor can tell you within a few minutes which one you're dealing with.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The most common reason is a worn thermocouple, the small part that senses the pilot flame and tells the gas valve to stay open. When it wears out, it can't hold that signal, so the gas shuts off and the pilot goes out. A dirty pilot orifice or a draft in the area can also cause this. The thermocouple is a straightforward part to replace and doesn't mean the water heater itself is failing.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless water heater are repairable. A flow sensor, igniter, or heat exchanger can fail on its own without meaning the whole unit needs to be replaced. Mineral buildup from hard water is a common cause of trouble too, and that can often be flushed out rather than replaced. A contractor can check the error code the unit is showing to find out exactly what's wrong.