Water Heater Installation in Hot Springs, AR
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Water heaters here work through six cold months and through storms that cut power
Garland County homes need heat from November through April, six months of the year. Water heaters run those same months, and on nights that average 33°F the tank has to work harder to hold its temperature than it does in summer.
The county has seen 61 damaging wind events and 7 winter storms over the past ten years, and across Arkansas almost a quarter of households lost power for at least 24 hours in 2024. An electric water heater stops making hot water the moment power goes out. A gas unit with a standing pilot keeps working through the outage. Whatever you install, it has to meet the federal minimum efficiency set for its size and type, since the standard is set separately for each tank volume rather than as one number for every heater.
- 33°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 6 months
- November through April, the months homes here need heat
- 24%
- of Arkansas 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 heat pump water heater would save about $290 a year to run in Arkansas compared with an electric water heater.
Estimates for a typical Arkansas home, from EIA household energy data and Arkansas fuel prices. Your home will differ.
- How do I know it's time to replace my water heater?
- Look at how the tank is behaving, not just its age. Rust colored water, a tank that's rusting on the outside, water pooling underneath, or a pilot or igniter that keeps failing are all signs the tank itself is wearing out rather than one part failing. If the problem looks like a single part and the tank isn't showing any of those signs, a contractor can usually tell you whether it's worth fixing instead of replacing. If power outages are a concern here, most water heaters come back on by themselves once power returns, so an outage alone isn't a reason to replace one.
- Should I switch to a tankless water heater?
- It depends on what you want out of the switch, not on your current tank failing. A tankless unit heats water as it runs rather than storing it, so you don't run out of hot water partway through back to back showers, and it doesn't sit there losing heat from a full tank all day. It won't fix low water pressure or issues with the pipes themselves, since those come from the plumbing, not the water heater. Because a tankless unit usually means different venting and gas or electrical connections than the tank it's replacing, a contractor needs to look at the house to say what the switch actually involves.
- What changes when you install a tankless water heater?
- The biggest change is venting. A tankless unit vents differently than a tank, and that often means new venting has to be run, not just reused from the old heater. Gas units also draw more gas at once than a tank does, so the gas line sometimes needs to be upsized to keep up. Electric tankless units draw enough power that the electrical circuit feeding it may need to be upgraded too. None of this means a tank is a worse choice, it just means a tankless installation is more involved than swapping one tank for another, and a contractor will need to check the gas line, venting, and electrical before pricing the job.