Water Heater Installation in Flagstaff, AZ
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Your water heater works a long, cold season here
Flagstaff sees winter nights average 23°F from December through February, and homes here need heat eight months a year, October through May. A water heater has to work harder to bring cold incoming water up to temperature through all of that.
Power isn't guaranteed to stay on either. Arizona saw 7% of households lose power for 24 hours or more in 2024, and Coconino County has logged 201 winter storms and 146 damaging wind events over the past ten years. A gas water heater with a standing pilot keeps running through an outage. One with electronic ignition will not light until power is back. Whichever kind goes in, it has to meet the federal minimum efficiency for its size, since the standard is set separately for each tank volume and draw pattern rather than one number for every heater.
- 23°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 8 months
- October through May, the months homes here need heat
- 7%
- of Arizona 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 $270 a year to run in Arizona compared with an electric water heater.
Estimates for a typical Arizona home, from EIA household energy data and Arizona fuel prices. Your home will differ.
- How do I know it's time to replace my water heater?
- The clearest sign is age. Most tank water heaters last 8 to 10 years, and once one passes that mark, the tank itself starts to weaken from the inside. Water pooling at the base, rust at the fittings, or water that comes out lukewarm no matter how long you run it are signs the tank is failing rather than just needing a repair. A popping or rumbling sound during heating means sediment has built up on the bottom, and while that alone doesn't mean replacement, it does mean the heater is working harder than it should. If your unit is old and showing any of these signs, replacing it before it fails outright means you choose the timing instead of a leak choosing it for you.
- Should I switch to a tankless water heater?
- It depends on what you want out of it, not on whether your current tank is failing. A tankless unit heats water only when you turn on a tap, so it doesn't run out during a long shower and it doesn't sit there holding a tank of hot water all day waiting to be used. What it won't do is deliver more hot water at once than its rated flow allows, so a house that runs the shower and the dishwasher at the same time needs a unit sized for that. A contractor can look at your household's actual hot water use and tell you whether tankless fits it.
- What changes when you install a tankless water heater?
- The biggest change is that the water heater no longer stores hot water, it makes it on demand as you use it. That means no more running out partway through a shower because someone started the laundry, but it also means the unit is limited by flow rate rather than tank size. Gas tankless units need proper venting and gas line sizing, and electric ones may need more electrical capacity than a tank ever did, so the installation itself involves more than swapping one unit for another. Arizona requires a state license for this kind of work, so a licensed contractor handles the sizing, venting and permitting as part of putting one in correctly.