Water heater repair in Anchorage, AK

Eklutna, Ship Creek and the wells

Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility, known as AWWU, delivers most of the city's drinking water from Eklutna Lake, a glacier-fed lake in Chugach State Park northeast of Eagle River. Water travels by pipeline to the Eklutna Water Treatment Facility and on into the bowl. The older Ship Creek plant near Fort Richardson treats water from Ship Creek as a second source, and a network of municipal wells adds supply, especially in peak demand.

Water drawn from a deep, cold mountain lake fed by glacial melt does not warm much on its way to a Midtown or Muldoon home. Through the long winter, the cold line into a heater often reads in the upper 30s. Even after a warm stretch in July, inlet water seldom climbs past the low 50s. A 50-gallon tank that would serve a family in Atlanta can feel small in Anchorage.

Mineral content is a lesser worry for homes on Eklutna water, though some sediment and fine glacial silt can settle in tanks. Homes on the Hillside, in parts of Eagle River and out toward Chugiak often run private wells, and many of those wells carry iron, manganese or more hardness, which does build scale and stains in a heater.

Boilers, indirect tanks and Anchorage housing

Anchorage homes are heated for a long season, and a large share of them use a natural gas boiler with baseboard or radiant heat. Many of those houses make domestic hot water with an indirect tank, a storage heater with a coil inside that is warmed by the boiler loop. Others use a combi boiler that heats both the house and the taps, and plenty still have a conventional gas or electric tank in a mechanical room.

Neighborhoods built in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Spenard, Fairview, Government Hill, the South Addition and Turnagain, mix small ranches, split-levels and duplexes, often with a cramped utility closet or a crawlspace. Sand Lake, Abbott Loop and Oceanview grew in the 1970s and 1980s with larger split-entry homes that usually have a dedicated mechanical room on the lower level. Newer homes on the Hillside and in Eagle River commonly have high-efficiency boilers with indirect tanks or wall-hung combi units.

Because so much hot water depends on the boiler here, a no-hot-water call in Anchorage is often a heating call too. A failed zone valve, circulator pump or boiler control can leave the indirect tank cold even though the tank itself is fine.

Earthquakes and seismic strapping

On November 30, 2018, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck north of Anchorage, damaging roads, homes and utilities across the city and the Mat-Su. Water heaters that were not strapped walked, tipped or pulled their gas and water connections loose, and some homes had leaks or gas odors in the hours afterward. Strapping is not optional in a place that sits this close to an active subduction zone.

Every tank-style heater in Anchorage should be held by a pair of seismic straps, spaced near the top and bottom of the tank and lagged into studs or concrete, along with flexible gas and water connectors that can absorb movement. When a plumber replaces a heater, expect the new straps and flexible connectors to be part of the inspected work.

After any strong shaking, check for the smell of gas near the heater and boiler, look at the vent pipe where it meets the draft hood, and watch for water on the floor. If the vent has shifted or the gas line looks strained, shut the gas off and call for service rather than relighting.

The problems plumbers see most in Anchorage

• Running out of hot water in January because near-freezing Eklutna water halves a small tank's useful output.
• Cold indirect tanks caused by a stuck zone valve, failed circulator or boiler lockout.
• Frosted or blocked sidewall vents on high-efficiency units after cold snaps and drifting snow.
• Unstrapped or loosely strapped heaters still found in Spenard and Mountain View rentals since the 2018 quake.
• Iron and scale buildup in tanks on private Hillside and Chugiak wells.
• Relief valve weeping where thermal expansion has no expansion tank to go to.

Typical water heater prices in Anchorage

Anchorage prices run higher than most Lower 48 cities because equipment and parts arrive by barge or freight, and skilled labor costs more. In midwinter, emergency calls during a cold snap can stack up, so a heater that is already acting up is worth fixing before the temperature drops below zero.

Alaska certificates and Municipality of Anchorage permits

In Alaska, individual plumbers must hold a certificate of fitness issued by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and contractors must be registered with the state. Within the Municipality of Anchorage, plumbing and mechanical permits come from the municipality's Development Services Department, which inspects gas venting, seismic restraint, the relief valve line and the gas connection on a new heater.

Ask the company you hire for the certificate of fitness held by the person doing the work, and make sure the MOA permit is part of the job. If you are in Eagle River, Chugiak or Girdwood, you are still inside the municipality, though permit requirements can differ in a few outlying areas.

Sizing, fuel and venting in a cold climate

ENSTAR Natural Gas serves most of Anchorage, and gas is the most common fuel for both heat and hot water. Chugach Electric, which took over the former Municipal Light and Power territory in 2020, supplies electricity across the bowl. Electric tanks exist, but with long winters and gas widely available, most families choose gas or a boiler-fed indirect tank.

Because inlet water is so cold, plumbers here size heaters on recovery rather than tank size alone. A tankless unit that delivers a comfortable shower in Phoenix may only manage one fixture at a time in Anchorage in February. An indirect tank paired with a properly sized boiler often gives the best hot water capacity per dollar in a large household.

Sidewall vents on high-efficiency heaters and boilers need clearance from snow lines and drifts. Ice can build on the intake and exhaust during long stretches below zero, so terminations should be placed and maintained with Anchorage snowfall in mind.

Repair or replace in Anchorage

Because a new heater costs more to bring north and install, Anchorage owners tend to repair longer. A control, thermocouple, igniter or element is almost always worth replacing on a tank that does not leak. Indirect tanks often outlast the boiler that feeds them, so a cold tap may only need a zone valve or pump.

Replacement makes sense once the tank itself leaks, when an old atmospheric gas heater's vent no longer drafts reliably, or when a household has outgrown its capacity. That is also the time to add an expansion tank, update straps and look at whether an indirect tank off the boiler would serve better.

Around Anchorage

Outside the municipality, rules change. Palmer and Wasilla in the Mat-Su Borough have their own small city water systems, many homes there are on private wells, and local permitting is much lighter than in Anchorage. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson housing is handled by the base. Girdwood, Eagle River and Chugiak fall under Municipality of Anchorage permits even though they feel like separate towns.

Water heater questions from Anchorage