FAQs

The temperature and pressure relief valve and the drain valve, followed by the connections on top of the tank. On older heaters, corrosion inside the tank is the cause.

Often, yes. Leaks at the relief valve, drain valve, connectors, nipples or gaskets are repaired. Water from the tank body or bottom seam is not repairable, and the heater is replaced.

Usually the hot or cold connections, the nipples or the relief valve threads. Those are repairable. Water from the top seam of the tank itself means replacement.

It may be the tank, but check first for relief-valve discharge, condensation on a gas unit or an AC line draining into the pan.

Yes. Set the gas control to OFF or switch off the breaker for an electric heater, then close the cold supply valve on top. If that valve won't turn, close the main.

A steady flow or spray is: turn the heater off and close its cold supply now. A slow drip from a valve is urgent rather than dangerous, but book it within a day or two.

With the heater's cold supply valve closed, the cold water in the rest of the house still works. You will not have hot water until the leak is fixed.

If the tank body is leaking, yes: with the heater off and the cold supply closed, drain it through a garden hose to a drain or outside. For a valve or fitting leak it usually isn't needed.

Repair is far cheaper when a part is leaking, an estimated $150 to $600. Replacement, estimated at $1,200 to $3,500, makes sense when the tank leaks or the heater is past 10 to 12 years.

A valve or fitting leak can be fixed and the heater keeps going. A leaking tank only gets worse; some drip for months, others let go without warning, so don't wait on it.

Tank water heaters typically last 8 to 12 years. Tankless units commonly last 15 to 20 years or more.

Most valve and fitting repairs are estimated at $150 to $600. Replacing a leaking tank is estimated at $1,200 to $3,500.