Water heater repair in San Bernardino, CA

Water from the Bunker Hill basin

The San Bernardino Municipal Water Department, a city-owned utility, serves most of San Bernardino from a network of wells tapping the Bunker Hill groundwater basin. That basin is a deep bowl of sand and gravel filling the valley floor between the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Jacinto Fault, and it is refilled by runoff from the Santa Ana River, Lytle Creek, City Creek and smaller streams pouring off the mountains. Regional agencies, including the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, help recharge the basin with local and imported water through spreading grounds.

Because the supply is mostly well water filtered through miles of alluvium, it arrives clean and fairly stable in quality, with moderate hardness. Some wells require treatment for specific contaminants, and the department blends and treats water accordingly; its annual consumer confidence report lists current results. For a water heater, the steady mineral content means sediment builds at a predictable pace, and a tank flushed every year or so rarely develops the heavy crust common in harder desert supplies.

Older homes and where heaters sit

San Bernardino has a deep stock of older housing. Neighborhoods north of downtown along Arrowhead Avenue and E Street, along with older blocks west of downtown, include craftsman bungalows and Spanish revival homes from the 1910s through the 1940s. In those houses, the heater often sits in an outside closet built against the rear wall, on a service porch, or in a cramped closet off the kitchen with a vent running up through the roof.

Postwar tracts in Del Rosa, Muscoy and the neighborhoods off Baseline and Highland Avenue moved heaters into attached garages, while newer subdivisions in Verdemont and the foothills above Shandin Hills were built with garage installs and sometimes tankless units. Owners of the oldest homes often find galvanized supply pipe near the heater, undersized gas lines and vents with too little rise, all of which add work to what looks like a simple swap.

Heat, Santa Ana winds and fire

Summer in San Bernardino regularly brings stretches over 100 degrees, and the inside of an exterior water heater closet or a west-facing garage gets hotter still. The heat ages plastic fittings, cracks old insulation on the gas line, and makes tankless control boards work at the top of their rated range. Exterior closets with warped doors also let in dust and leaves that collect around the burner.

From fall into winter, Santa Ana winds roar down Cajon Pass and through the canyons on the city's north edge. Gusts can blow out pilot lights on heaters in outside closets and push air back down poorly capped vents. The same winds drive wildfire; the 2003 Old Fire burned into neighborhoods along the northern foothills and destroyed hundreds of homes. Foothill owners should keep brush cleared from around exterior heater closets and make sure vent caps are intact, since embers can enter through open flues.

The problems plumbers see most in San Bernardino

• Pilot lights snuffed out in outdoor closets during Santa Ana wind events. Relighting tips and gas valve fixes for windy foothill nights.
• Rusted tank bottoms on heaters in exterior closets exposed to rain splash and dust.
• Undersized or damaged vents on bungalow-era installations.
• Galvanized pipe corrosion at heater connections in pre-1950 homes.
• Heat-related failures of tankless electronics in hot garages.
• Missing earthquake straps on older installs near the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults.

Typical water heater prices in San Bernardino

Inland Empire labor costs less than in coastal Los Angeles or the Bay Area, so most San Bernardino jobs land toward the lower part of California pricing. Bungalow installs with old piping or tight exterior closets, and any job that needs a larger gas line, cost more.

Permits and licensing in San Bernardino

Swapping a heater at a San Bernardino address calls for a permit from Building and Safety, a division of the Community and Economic Development Department. An inspector checks the strapping, combustion air, venting, relief valve drain and gas connection. Unincorporated pockets nearby are permitted by San Bernardino County Land Use Services instead.

Any plumber you bring in for a job above $500 must carry the CSLB's C-36 classification. Checking a license takes a minute on the CSLB site and shows any complaints or bonding problems. Replacement units also need to meet the efficiency standards in Title 24, California's energy code.

Seismic straps are mandatory statewide, and the San Andreas Fault runs along the foot of the mountains just north of the city. Two straps tied into wall studs, plus flexible connectors on the gas and water lines, keep a tank upright and sealed when the ground moves.

Exterior closets and venting

Many San Bernardino heaters live in small closets attached to the outside of the house. These need intact doors, a weatherproof vent cap and enough combustion air through louvers. When a closet door rots or a louver is blocked by stored items, the heater can starve for air, burn yellow and produce carbon monoxide. When the door is missing, rain, sun and wind wear the tank and controls quickly.

Older gas vents in bungalows were often installed with long horizontal runs and too little vertical rise, and repairs over the years may have mixed single-wall and double-wall pipe. If the top of your heater has scorch marks or the vent pipe is rusted through, have it checked before the winter wind season, when downdrafts are most likely.

Repair or replace in San Bernardino

Moderate water and mild winters let many San Bernardino tanks reach 12 years or more. Repairing an igniter, thermocouple or relief valve makes sense on a tank that is not leaking. A leak from the tank body, a corroded base in an outdoor closet, or a failed gas valve on an old unit generally makes replacement the better choice.

Southern California Edison provides electricity and SoCalGas provides natural gas throughout the city. Each utility has run water heating incentives now and then. In the summer heat, a heat pump water heater in a garage can run efficiently while also cooling the space slightly, which some owners find a welcome side effect.

Around San Bernardino

Highland next door gets water from East Valley Water District and has its own building office. Redlands runs a municipal water utility that mixes groundwater with Santa Ana River and State Water Project supplies. Rialto, Colton and Loma Linda each operate their own water systems and permit counters, and parts of Fontana are served by Fontana Water Company. Mountain communities such as Crestline and Lake Arrowhead above the city deal with freezing pipes in winter, a very different set of heater problems.

Water heater questions from San Bernardino