Water Heater Repair in Broken Bow, NE
Tell us what your water heater is doing, and a licensed contractor who covers Custer County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Broken Bow winters keep your water heater working hard
Groundwater coming into your house is already cold, and from December through February nights here average 15°F. Your water heater has to work harder for eight months of the year, October through May, just to keep up. That extra runtime wears on the heating element or burner and on the thermostat that controls it, so a unit that struggles here may still have plenty of life left somewhere warmer.
Custer County has seen 23 winter storms and 129 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and a quarter of Nebraska households lost power for at least 24 hours in 2024. When the power drops, an electric water heater simply stops until it comes back on, but a gas unit with an igniter that has already worn down may not restart on its own. If your water runs lukewarm or cold after an outage, that is often where to look.
- 15°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 8 months
- October through May, the months homes here need heat
- 25%
- of Nebraska 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 $200 a year off hot water for a typical Nebraska home.
Estimates for a typical Nebraska home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and Nebraska 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 of the time this means the tank itself has rusted through and is starting to fail. Sediment builds up inside the tank over the years, and once it corrodes a hole in the steel, water gets past it and no amount of tightening fittings will stop it. It could also be a loose drain valve or a fitting at the bottom, which a contractor can check and tighten or replace. If the tank itself is the source, the water heater needs to be replaced rather than repaired.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- The most common cause is a worn thermocouple, the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it is safe to keep the gas flowing. When it wears out, it cools down and shuts off the gas even though the pilot is still lit, so the flame goes out. A dirty or partly blocked pilot orifice can cause the same thing. Either part can be replaced without needing a whole new water heater.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems with a tankless water heater are repairable. Issues like a failed igniter, a clogged inlet filter, mineral scale on the heat exchanger, or a bad flow sensor are all parts a contractor can replace or clean. A tankless unit only needs full replacement when the heat exchanger itself has cracked or corroded through.