No matter the season, no matter what outdoor temperatures are, there is one home comfort system you will need year-round, on a daily basis. That is your water heater! It’s easy to take this system for granted, along with the fact that you’ll get hot water from your taps whenever you need it.
When you consider the amount of work your water heater goes through to do its job (it’s working 365 days a year, after all) it’s easy to understand that you can’t expect this system to work 100% free of malfunctions. At some time or another, you might need to have your water heater professionally repaired. Therefore, it helps to know the warning signs that something is amiss with this system. Keep reading for some of the tell-tale signs that it’s time to call a professional plumber in Palatine, IL for water heater service.
Decline in Hot Water Volume
Have you noticed anyone in your household complaining about going with lukewarm showers in the morning? If this is a new occurrence, meaning you’ve had the system for a while and never experienced this decline before, then your water heater is probably losing its heating power. This is one of the most common signs that your water heater either needs repairs or, depending on its age, replacement.
Discolored Water
Turn on your hot water taps. Do you see rusty and/or brownish discoloration in your water? It may be similar to what you’d see if you turned on the faucets after coming back from a long vacation. It could mean there is too much sediment inside the water heater, but it could instead indicate corrosion. It’s best to cease using your hot water lines until you can call in a pro to inspect, just to be sure before you use or drink contaminated water.
Rumbling Noises from the Tank
This sound can be alarming—is your water heater about to explode?! No, probably not. However, the noise isn’t something you should ever ignore. It can indicate an increase in water pressure within the tank, sediment along the bottom of the tank, a broken expansion tank, or it could mean that cold and hot water are mixing at the top of the tank due to a broken dip tube. It’s best to have a repair expert take a look to determine what’s causing the noise and decide on the next best steps.
Water Leaks
It probably goes without saying that you don’t want to see water pooling around the base of your water heater. The only place you should ever see dripping water near your tank is from the pressure relief valve. Water dripping from anywhere else is a serious problem that needs to be repaired before the leak grows worse and you find yourself facing property damage from the water (not to mention unnecessarily high water bills since you’re technically “using” that water that you’re losing!)