Water Heater Installation in Little Rock, AR
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What Pulaski County asks of a water heater
Winter nights here average 33°F from December through February, and the cold groundwater feeding your tank during those months means it has more work to do to reach the temperature you set. Your water heater runs all year, but that stretch adds to the load.
Power is the other issue. Nearly a quarter of Arkansas households went at least 24 hours without power in 2024, and Pulaski County has seen 12 winter storms and 178 damaging wind events over the last ten years. A gas water heater with a standing pilot keeps making hot water through an outage. One with electronic ignition, or an electric tank, will not until the power comes back, though most restart on their own once it does. Whatever you install, the federal minimum efficiency it has to meet is set by its size and type, so a small tank and a large one are held to different numbers.
- 33°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 5 months
- November through March, 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 $250 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?
- The clearest sign is water that's cooler than it used to be, or that runs out faster than it did a year ago. Rust colored water from the hot tap, or rust around the tank itself, means the tank is corroding from the inside and won't be repaired. Water pooling at the base of the tank is another sign, since that's usually the tank itself failing, not a fitting that can be tightened. Storage tank water heaters have a limited lifespan, so if yours is older and showing any of these signs, replacement is worth looking into rather than waiting for it to fail outright.
- Should I switch to a tankless water heater?
- It depends on what you want from your hot water and what your home can support. A tankless unit heats water on demand instead of storing it, so you don't run out of hot water partway through a shower or a load of dishes. It also takes up much less space than a tank. Switching means a contractor has to look at your gas line or electrical circuit, since tankless units often need more capacity than what's feeding your current tank, and venting requirements are different too. A licensed contractor can tell you whether your home's setup supports the switch as is or needs work first.
- What changes when you install a tankless water heater?
- The biggest change is that hot water becomes available for as long as you need it, since there's no tank to run dry. Beyond that, a few things in the house change too. Gas fired tankless units usually need a larger gas line than a tank did, because they draw more gas in the moment to heat water quickly. Venting is different as well, often requiring a dedicated vent run to the outside. The unit itself mounts on a wall instead of sitting on the floor, which frees up space where the old tank was. A licensed contractor will check your home's gas and venting against what the new unit needs before installing it.