The water heater is one of those appliances that most people know very little about. As long as it functions, they are happy. However, water heaters can fail for a variety of reasons and sometimes they do so quite spectacularly. For example, when the tank in the water heater begins to corrode, and the unit is installed in a location where it cannot be seen, the resultant leak can spray water all over the place. Damages from water can cost the property owner a lot of money because water destroys construction materials such as drywall and makes wood swell and rot. Unfortunately, tank corrosion is not one of those failures that are an easy water heater repair in St Louis. In fact, most tank failures result in water heater replacement.
There are several kinds of water heaters. The most common are the tank based system, and this device comes in various sizes and two different heating methods. Typical sizes for storage tanks range from twenty gallons to eighty gallons with forty being the average. A forty gallon storage tank provides an excellent trade-off between heating times and energy consumption. The two methods for heating water are electrical resistance and burning a fuel such as natural gas or propane.
Water heaters that use electrical resistance have heating elements inside the tank, typically two for forty gallon or larger units. Electrical resistance heats the water because the elements resist the flow of energy and this causes the metal in the electrode to heat up. The heat is transferred directly to the water. Controlling the electrode is a thermostat, usually one per element. Need for water heater repair in St Louis occurs when one or both elements short circuit or a thermostat fails. The fix is fairly simple, just replace any damaged parts. Keep in mind that the elements are secured very tightly and may be difficult to remove. The repair also requires working with electrical wires and could be dangerous.
Gas burning water heaters may need the occasional repair as well. For instance, the device that controls the flow of fuel can fail, which reduces or completely inhibits fuel delivery. Faults can also occur in the ignition system that begins fuel combustion. Older models used a constantly burning pilot light, but some newer systems use a Piezoelectric device for this function. Get more information about water heaters from the experts at Classic Aire Care.
