Water heater repair in Lansing, MI

BWL's deep wells and lime softening

The Lansing Board of Water and Light pumps its drinking water from more than a hundred wells drilled into the Saginaw Formation, a sandstone aquifer that sits under much of mid-Michigan. Straight out of the ground that water is very hard and carries iron. BWL's conditioning plants, including the John Dye plant near downtown, use lime softening to pull out much of the calcium and magnesium and remove iron before the water goes into the mains.

Softened BWL water is moderate in hardness, a big improvement over the raw supply but not soft. Over five or ten years, a gas tank in a Lansing basement still accumulates white and tan flakes, and tankless heat exchangers develop scale. Homeowners in neighboring townships on private wells or smaller systems often see much more.

Because the source is deep underground, Lansing water enters homes around 50 degrees nearly year round. Heaters do not face the near-freezing January water of Lake Michigan towns, which is a quiet advantage when sizing a tankless unit.

BWL is also known for finishing the replacement of its lead service lines years before most Michigan utilities, so concerns about lead tend to center on old interior plumbing rather than the line from the street.

Lansing housing, from REO Town to the Eastside

Lansing grew up around auto plants and the Capitol, and its neighborhoods show it. REO Town, near the old Reo Motor Car works, and the Eastside streets between Michigan Avenue and Kalamazoo Street are full of 1910s and 1920s frame houses and bungalows with Michigan basements, often with fieldstone or block walls and a heater tucked under the stairs. Old Town, along the Grand River north of downtown, mixes restored commercial buildings with small homes and apartments.

Moores River Drive and the Country Club area on the southwest side have larger brick and Tudor homes with full basements and, in some cases, boilers with indirect water heaters. Post-war ranches fill much of the south side and the Westside, while newer homes and condos stretch into Delta Township and toward Okemos with basement or utility room heaters.

Michigan State University in East Lansing drives a large rental market across the area. Duplexes and converted houses near the campus edge and along the Michigan Avenue corridor often have older tanks serving more people than they were sized for.

The problems plumbers see most in Lansing

• Softening residue on tank floors that muffles the burner and wastes gas in heaters past their tenth winter.
• Undersized tanks in student rentals where five roommates share one 40-gallon heater.
• Orphaned chimney flues in Eastside and REO Town houses after furnace upgrades.
• Damp fieldstone basements that rust burner compartments and gas connectors.
• Expansion tank and relief valve issues on homes with check valves or pressure-reducing valves.
• Ice storm outages on BWL lines leaving power-vent and tankless units dead.

Typical water heater prices in Lansing

Greater Lansing pricing falls between Grand Rapids and metro Detroit. Fall move-in season near MSU, steep basement stairs in older Eastside homes, and chimney liners are the usual reasons a quote climbs.

Michigan licensing and Lansing permits

In Michigan, plumbing licenses come from LARA, the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, whose State Plumbing Board sets the standards; gas piping and venting fall under a separate mechanical license. Many water heater jobs involve both trades, so a company may carry both licenses or bring in a partner. LARA's online search will confirm a license.

Within the city, plumbing and mechanical permits come from the City of Lansing's building safety office. East Lansing, Lansing Township, Delta Township and Meridian Township each run their own permit desks or contract the work out. Because the city and the townships are tangled together on the map, confirm which one covers your street.

Get the contractor to tell you in writing whether the permit and inspection are included. A heater swapped without one can come up during a home sale inspection, which is common in a market with as much turnover as Lansing's.

BWL electric and Consumers Energy gas

The Board of Water and Light is also the electric utility for the city and parts of the surrounding townships, while natural gas comes from Consumers Energy. That split means a gas heater emergency is a Consumers call, while a power problem affecting an electric or power-vent heater goes to BWL. Customers in East Lansing and some townships may get electricity from Consumers instead.

Both utilities have, at times, run rebates on efficient water heaters. Heat pump water heaters fit well in Lansing basements, which hold a fairly steady temperature, and BWL customers in particular may find incentives worth asking about.

Sizing with steady 50-degree water

A tankless heater in Lansing faces a temperature rise of roughly 70 degrees to reach 120°F at the tap, rather than the 80 or more a Great Lakes town sees in winter. That lets a mid-sized gas tankless unit handle two showers at once in many homes. Older houses may still need a gas line upgrade from the Consumers meter, and the unit should be descaled about once a year on BWL water.

For tanks, a 50-gallon gas heater is the usual fit for a family of four. Student rentals and duplexes often justify a larger or high-recovery tank, or separate heaters for each unit, to stop the cold-shower complaints that come with five people on one schedule.

When to repair a Lansing water heater

Tanks on softened BWL water commonly last 10 to 13 years with a drain every year or two. A failed thermocouple, element or control on a tank under eight or so deserves a repair. A tank weeping from its seams, rusty water from the hot side only, or a heater in a damp basement whose burner chamber is flaking rust should be replaced.

Landlords near campus often replace heaters between tenants, in May or August, to avoid an emergency call during the school year. That timing also makes it easier to get a plumber before the fall rush.

Around Lansing

East Lansing buys water from a regional authority shared with Meridian Township, which treats its own groundwater, and has its own permit office. Okemos and Haslett in Meridian Township mix 1960s ranches and newer homes. Delta Township and Grand Ledge to the west have township or city water and building departments. Holt in Delhi Township and DeWitt to the north are growing suburbs, some on private wells with harder water.

Water heater questions from Lansing