Water Heater Installation in El Paso, TX
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El Paso winters are mild, but the power still goes out
Winter nights here average 32°F from December through February, and homes only need heat from November through March, five months a year. That is a short, mild season next to most of the country, and it is not what asks the most of a water heater here.
The bigger risk is the power going out from under it. A third of Texas households lost power for 24 hours or more in 2024, and El Paso County has logged 70 damaging wind events and 5 winter storms over the past ten years. A gas water heater with a standing pilot keeps making hot water through an outage. One with electronic ignition, gas or electric, does not, though most start back up on their own once power returns. Whatever type a new tank is, it has to meet the federal minimum efficiency set for its size, since that standard is written separately for each tank volume rather than as one number for every water heater.
- 32°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 5 months
- November through March, the months homes here need heat
- 33%
- of Texas 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 $300 a year to run in Texas compared with an electric water heater.
Estimates for a typical Texas home, from EIA household energy data and Texas fuel prices. Your home will differ.
- How do I know it's time to replace my water heater?
- Age is the first thing to check. Once a storage tank water heater gets old, a repair becomes a gamble, since the tank itself can't be fixed once it starts to fail. Look for rust-colored water, a tank that's damp or wet around the base, or water pooling underneath. Those signs mean the tank is corroding from the inside and it won't get better. If the unit is making noise it didn't used to make, that's often sediment built up on the bottom, and by the time it's loud enough to notice, replacement is usually the more sensible call than a repair.
- Should I switch to a tankless water heater?
- It depends on what you want out of it, not on whether one is better than the other in general. A tankless unit heats water as it flows through instead of storing it, so you don't run out during a long shower or back-to-back loads of laundry. It also takes up less space than a tank. What it doesn't do is fix a power outage. Tankless units run on electricity or gas with an electric ignition, so if the power's out, it won't run either, same as most storage tank heaters. A contractor can look at your gas line, venting and water flow needs and tell you whether your house is a straightforward switch or needs some work first.
- What changes when you install a tankless water heater?
- The biggest change is what's on your wall instead of what's on your floor. A tankless unit mounts to a wall and takes up a fraction of the space a tank does. Beyond that, the gas line feeding it often needs to be larger than what fed your old tank, because the unit draws more gas for the short time it's heating water. Venting is different too, usually a dedicated vent rather than sharing one with other appliances. None of that means your house can't handle it, but it does mean a contractor needs to check the gas line size and venting path before install day, not after.