Gas Water Heater Repair and Replacement in West Palm Beach
Gas tank installed $800 to $2,500
A gas water heater has a burner, a pilot or an igniter, a flame sensor or thermocouple, a gas control valve and a vent. Each one fails in its own way, and each one is a safety part. Natural gas in Palm Beach County comes mainly from Florida Public Utilities, which has sold natural gas here since 1959 and serves the eastern side of the county, West Palm Beach and Boca Raton included; homes without a gas main run electric or propane. Gas piping and appliance hookups are licensed work in Florida under Chapters 489 and 527.
Common gas water heater problems
- Pilot will not stay lit. Thermocouple or flame sensor worn out. The most common gas repair.
- No pilot at all. Clogged pilot orifice, dead piezo igniter, or a failed gas control valve.
- Burner lights, then shuts off. Flammable vapor sensor tripped by fumes in the garage, a clogged air intake screen at the base, or the vent is not drawing.
- Water lukewarm, burner short. Gas valve thermostat failing, or the burner is sooted up.
- Rust or scorch marks at the top of the jacket. Backdrafting. The exhaust is coming back into the room. Stop using it and call.
Venting and carbon monoxide
An atmospheric gas heater sends its exhaust up a metal vent by draft alone. A disconnected joint, a vent sloped the wrong way, or a new kitchen hood that pulls air out of the house can send the exhaust back down. Every gas visit includes a draft test at the hood. A carbon monoxide alarm near the heater and near the bedrooms costs little and belongs in any house with gas.
Garage installs
Older gas heaters in a garage sit on a stand that keeps the burner 18 inches up off the floor, away from gasoline vapor. New gas tanks are flammable-vapor-ignition-resistant models, which the code lets sit lower, but a heater in a garage still has to be protected from car bumpers.
Replacing a gas tank
A new gas tank comes with a new gas connector, a sediment trap, a new relief valve, the vent reconnected and checked, and a leak test on the gas joints. It runs $800 to $2,500 installed. Switching to a gas tankless unit is a bigger job; see tankless installation.
Say whether the pilot is out, the burner is short-cycling, or there is a smell when you call (561) 264-5624. Those three answers decide the first part the plumber checks.