Water Heater Installation in Holland, MI
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What a water heater in Holland has to handle
Winter nights here average 20°F from December through February, and a water heater has to pull cold groundwater up to temperature through all of it. Homes in Ottawa County need heat eight months a year, October through May, which gives some sense of how long the incoming water stays cold.
Power is the other piece. More than a third of Michigan households lost power for 24 hours or longer in 2024, and the county has seen 17 winter storms and 35 damaging wind events over the past ten years. A gas water heater with a standing pilot keeps running through an outage. One with an electronic ignition needs power to light, though most models come back on by themselves once it returns.
Any new storage water heater installed today has to meet a federal minimum efficiency standard. That minimum is set by a formula based on the tank's size and how the household draws hot water, so two tanks of different sizes are not held to the same number.
- 20°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 8 months
- October through May, the months homes here need heat
- 34%
- of Michigan 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 $410 a year to run in Michigan compared with an electric water heater.
Estimates for a typical Michigan home, from EIA household energy data and Michigan 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 are built to last a limited number of years, and once a tank gets old the tank itself has usually taken enough corrosion that a leak is a matter of when, not if. Watch for rust-colored water, a tank that's rusting on the outside near the bottom, or water pooling underneath even when nothing is dripping from a fitting. A popping or rumbling sound during heating means sediment has built up on the bottom of the tank, and while that alone doesn't mean replace it, it's worth having a contractor check the tank's condition rather than just flushing it. If the water isn't getting as hot as it used to, or you run out faster than you did before, the heating element or burner may be struggling, which is also a sign the unit is nearing the end of its life.
- Should I switch to a tankless water heater?
- It depends on what you want out of it, not on whether your current tank has failed. A tankless unit heats water only as it's used, so it doesn't run out the way a tank can when several people shower back to back. It also takes up much less space than a storage tank. Against that, a tankless unit usually needs different venting and gas or electrical supply than a tank did, since it draws more power for shorter bursts, so switching is more involved than a straight swap. A contractor can look at your home's gas line, electrical panel and venting to tell you what changing over would actually involve.
- What changes when you install a tankless water heater?
- The biggest change is what feeds it. A tankless unit needs a gas line sized for its higher burner demand, or an electrical circuit sized for its heating elements, and neither is usually the same as what a tank used. Venting changes too, since tankless units vent differently than most tank models and often need new venting run to the outside. You gain a unit that takes up a fraction of the floor or wall space a tank did, and one that won't run out of hot water partway through a full house of showers. A contractor can tell you whether your home's existing gas, electrical and venting can support the switch or what would need to change.