Water heaters
Six kinds of water heater, and the four reasons any of them quit
Traditional, gas, tank, tankless, quick recovery and commercial water heaters, repaired or replaced across North Georgia by a shop that has been doing it since 1989.
Chapter 01
Six kinds of heater, one truck that covers all of them
A water heater looks like one appliance until you are the one standing in front of a dead one. We work on traditional water heaters, gas water heaters, tank water heaters, tankless water heaters, quick recovery water heaters, and commercial water heaters sized for a business rather than a home. Six different builds, six different failure points, and one truck stocked to handle whichever one is sitting in your closet or your garage.
Tankless units get quoted a lot these days, and they earn it for a house that never wants to run short on hot water, but a tankless system is not a drop in swap for a tank heater. Venting, gas line sizing and the hardness of the water coming into the house all change the job. We will tell you straight whether a tankless unit is the right call for your place, or whether a quick recovery tank does the same work for less trouble and less cost.
Traditional and gas tank heaters are still the most common calls, because that is what is already installed in most North Georgia homes and a straight swap keeps the job simple. Commercial water heaters carry a different math again, with higher recovery rates, a bigger footprint, and a duty cycle built around a business that cannot afford to run out of hot water mid shift.
The Fortune Plumbing team and service van, lettered Fortune Plumbing, Inc. Since 1989, at a North Georgia job
Why heaters quit before their time
Four things put a water heater out of service ahead of schedule, and we see all four regularly across North Georgia. Internal oxidation of your water heater eats the tank from the inside until it finally gives out. Sediment buildup in water heaters settles on the bottom of the tank and insulates the burner or the element from the water it is supposed to be heating, which makes the unit work harder and die younger than it should.
The other two causes are less about the heater itself and more about what is feeding it. Improper size of your water heater means it has been fighting a losing battle against your household's actual hot water demand since the day it went in. Water pressure too high leading to your water heater stresses the tank and every fitting on it around the clock, long before anyone notices a leak at the base.
A tank that pops or rumbles when it fires is usually sediment knocking against the bottom, not the burner failing. A tank heater that never quite gets hot enough, no matter how far the dial is turned, points at either sizing or a sediment layer thick enough to insulate the burner from the water above it.
Chapter 03
Repair or replace, and the honest arithmetic
A ten year old tank with a bad thermocouple is a repair. A fifteen year old tank with rust showing in the hot water and a slow weep at the base is a replacement, and we will tell you that plainly instead of chasing a repair that buys six more months and a bigger mess later.
We look at the age of the unit, what has actually failed, and what it would cost to keep patching against what a new unit costs installed, then put both numbers in front of you so the call is yours to make and not ours to talk you into.
Sixteen towns, one heater problem
We provide water heater replacement, sales and repair across North Georgia, including Gainesville, Cumming, Dawsonville, Dahlonega, Clermont, Oakwood, Flowery Branch, Cleveland, Murrayville, Hoschton, Lula, Buford, Johns Creek, Suwanee, Roswell and Alpharetta. Sixteen towns, one phone number, and a truck that already knows the water in most of them.
Whichever of those towns the address is in, the drill stays the same: describe what the heater is doing, and we will tell you honestly whether it is a repair or a replacement before anyone climbs in the truck to look at it.
Fortune Plumbing, Family-owned and operated since 1989. Call (770) 532-9489.
Make Sure You Have Hot Water When You Need It
Six kinds of heater come off this truck, and the sixteen towns below are where we bring them.
- Traditional water heaters
- Gas water heaters
- Tank water heaters
- Tankless water heaters
- Quick recovery water heaters
- Commercial water heaters
We provide water heater replacement, sales, and repair to all of North Georgia including: Cumming, Gainesville, Dawsonville, Dahlonega, Clermont, Oakwood, Flowery Branch, Cleveland, Murrayville, Hoschton, Lula, Buford, Johns Creek, Suwanee, Roswell, Alpharetta