Fixing the heater you have
A failed heating element, thermostat, gas valve or relief valve can be replaced on its own when the tank itself is sound and still has years left.
Water Heater Repair and Installation in Kannapolis
A water heater that runs out of hot water too soon, makes popping noises or leaves a wet ring on the floor needs a look. Depending on its age and the fault, the answer can be a repair or a new heater.
We help Kannapolis homeowners reach a plumber for tank and tankless heaters, gas or electric, from a single part to a full replacement.
Repair, replace or go tankless
A new tank in the same spot
Tanks do not get patched once the steel inside starts to leak. The old one is drained and hauled out, and the replacement is matched to the fuel you have and the hot water your house uses.
Switching to tankless
Going tankless means sizing by flow, so the count that matters is how many showers and taps run together. The gas line, venting and electrical service may need upgrades, and a plumber checks those first.
Looking after a tankless unit
A tankless unit needs its heat exchanger flushed and its inlet screen cleaned from time to time, and a plumber can do both so the unit keeps its flow.
Who can replace a water heater
In North Carolina, installing or replacing a water heater is work that falls under the state plumbing license law.
Full Plumbing Class I and Class II licenses are not the only route. The State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors also issues a Limited Plumbing Water Heater Replacement license, and it is narrow, covering a replacement heater in a single-family detached house in the same location and nothing more.
When a new heater needs a permit
North Carolina ties a permit to installing, extending or generally repairing plumbing, and water heaters get one carve-out. No permit is needed to connect a replacement heater in a one- or two-family home if a licensed contractor does the job, checks it in person, leak-tests any gas piping and installs it to the current State Building Code.
The exception holds only when nothing changes. A different fuel or energy source, a new location, a bigger or smaller capacity, a higher energy input, or rerouted or resized venting and piping takes the job back under the permit rule.
Sizing a heater for your household
Bathroom count alone does not size a tank. What matters is how much hot water the house uses in its busiest hour. For tankless, the numbers are flow and how far the unit must warm the incoming water.
The water heater size calculator works out a tank from the people in the house and their busiest hour. Its partner, the tankless flow calculator, adds the 68°F temperature rise it uses for Kannapolis, set from the town’s 30°F average January low, so the flow it reports is a winter figure rather than a summer one.
How old is your heater
Not sure how old the heater is? The label carries a serial number, and the year it was built is coded inside it in a way that changes from brand to brand. The serial number decoder reads it for you.
Damp spots well away from the tank call for leak detection. Pipe that has begun to corrode is a repiping job, and the home page has the other services.
Call for a free plumbing estimate
Call us to discuss your current issue and how we can assist you. The call is free and you get a free, personalized estimate with no obligation. We're here to help.
Call (855) 321-3426