Water heater repair in Cheltenham Township, PA

Aqua Pennsylvania water in Cheltenham

Unlike the Philadelphia neighborhoods across Cheltenham Avenue, which drink city water from the Delaware and Schuylkill, Cheltenham Township is an Aqua Pennsylvania town. Aqua has supplied water here for decades and bought the township's sewer system in 2019, though wastewater still flows into Philadelphia's system for treatment. The water that reaches Elkins Park and Wyncote comes from Aqua's large interconnected network in the southeastern counties, which draws on creeks, the Schuylkill and groundwater wells, treats each source at its own plant, and blends the results across a web of mains.

Because the supply mixes sources, Cheltenham water lands in the moderately hard range and can shift a bit through the year. It is hard enough that a tank which goes many years without being drained ends up with a layer of white scale and grit on the bottom, and a tankless heater benefits from a periodic descaling. For an exact figure before buying a softener or a tankless model, pull up the Aqua water quality report that covers Cheltenham.

Stone houses, twins and split-levels

Cheltenham grew as one of Philadelphia's first railroad suburbs, and the housing reflects a century of building. Elkins Park and Wyncote are known for large stone and stucco homes from the 1910s through the 1930s, a few of them former estate houses, with deep basements where the heater often shares space with an old hot water boiler. Laverock and the streets around Curtis Arboretum have similar homes on bigger lots.

Glenside, La Mott and Cheltenham Village have more brick twins and modest singles, and in those the heater is usually a 40-gallon PECO gas tank in a bare basement near the furnace. Melrose Park and Lynnewood Gardens have postwar split-levels and garden apartments, and many of the split-levels keep the heater in a utility room off the lower level. Along Old York Road and Township Line Road, mid-rise apartment and condominium buildings run central plants or individual electric tanks in closets.

Basement access in the older stone homes is rarely easy. Curved stairs, narrow bulkhead doors and finished rec rooms built around the mechanical corner can turn a routine swap into a two-person carry.

Tookany Creek storms and cold basements

The Tookany Creek, which becomes the Tacony as it crosses into Philadelphia, winds through the middle of the township past Curtis Arboretum and Cheltenham's parks. Heavy summer storms, including the remnants of Ida in September 2021, have pushed it and its small tributaries out of their banks and sent water into low basements nearby. Basements elsewhere flood from groundwater and overwhelmed storm drains even when the creek stays put. If water rose high enough to reach a gas heater's burner or control, the heater should be replaced.

Montgomery County winters are not extreme, but January cold snaps into the teens are routine, and incoming Aqua water drops into the low 40s. Stone foundations on the older Elkins Park houses lose heat steadily, so a heater in an unheated corner works harder and recovers more slowly. Drafts from old coal windows and bulkhead doors are a frequent cause of pilots going out on windy nights.

What Cheltenham plumbers fix most often

• Scale and grit on the tank bottom from Aqua's moderately hard water, crackling every time an Elkins Park burner kicks on.
• Heaters orphaned in big stone chimneys after an old boiler is swapped for a wall-vented unit.
• Flood-damaged gas controls in basements near the Tookany Creek and its tributaries.
• Undersized 40-gallon tanks serving large Elkins Park homes with several bathrooms and a soaking tub.
• Leaking relief valves and drain valves on tanks that have run past their twelfth year.
• Scaled tankless heat exchangers that were never descaled after installation.

Popping and rumbling from scale is handled in our flush and sediment service, and an Elkins Park basement with no hot water at all is covered in no hot water repair.

Water heater prices in Cheltenham Township

Rates in eastern Montgomery County run a little above the Lehigh Valley and central Pennsylvania. The largest swings on a Cheltenham invoice come from big stone homes that need a 75-gallon tank or two heaters, from chimneys that must be lined, and from finished basements where drywall has to be opened to reach the plumbing.

Plumber licensing and permits in Cheltenham

Pennsylvania leaves plumbing licensing to local governments, and Cheltenham is one of the townships that enforces its own rules. Under the township code, a master plumber working here needs a license obtained by passing the exam given through the Eastern Montgomery County Regional Testing Center or another examining board the township accepts, and the license is renewed each year. Water heater replacements need a plumbing permit from the township's code enforcement office at the administration building on Old York Road in Elkins Park, followed by an inspection.

Look too for the plumber's Pennsylvania home improvement contractor number, issued through the Attorney General, printed on the Cheltenham estimate. A license from Philadelphia or from another county does not on its own satisfy Cheltenham's requirement, so confirm the plumber is registered with the township before work starts. Neighboring Abington, Springfield Township and Jenkintown each handle permits separately.

Venting a heater in a big stone chimney

Many Cheltenham homes from the 1920s were built with a large masonry chimney for a coal boiler, and the gas water heater was later piped into it. When a Wyncote owner trades that boiler for a condensing unit with PVC through the wall, the water heater becomes the lone user of a flue sized for an appliance several times larger. Its thin plume of exhaust chills in that big stone shaft, moisture attacks the old mortar, and on frosty mornings fumes can drift down into the basement.

Cheltenham plumbers usually reline the flue in stainless, switch to a power-vent tank, or fit a direct-vent model. On houses with tight side yards in Glenside or La Mott, the vent termination has to keep its distance from the neighbor's windows, so the plumber may need to route it to the rear. A carbon monoxide alarm near the basement stairs and outside each bedroom is a must.

Sizing hot water for larger Elkins Park homes

A four-bedroom Wyncote or Elkins Park house with renovated baths, a deep soaking tub and a busy morning routine can empty a standard 50-gallon tank before the last shower. Owners here typically move to a 75-gallon tank, a faster-recovering high-input model, an indirect tank heated by the home's boiler, or a tankless unit sized for 42-degree winter water. PECO's gas service to older homes is not always large enough for a whole-house tankless heater, so check the meter and pipe size first.

Because Aqua water is moderately hard, a tankless heater in Cheltenham needs a descaling every year or so, and some owners add a softener or scale-reduction cartridge ahead of it. Before buying a tankless unit, read up on the effect of hardness in Cheltenham kitchens, baths and heaters alike.

Repair or replace in Cheltenham

On a Cheltenham tank still shy of its ninth birthday, new thermocouples, elements, gas valves or relief valves are money well spent. Once a tank passes ten to twelve years on Aqua water and starts to leak from the shell or rust at the base, a fresh tank from Warmspan set in that Elkins Park basement is the better choice. PECO has at times paid incentives toward efficient water heaters, so ask the installer what the program offers this year.

Around Cheltenham Township

Abington Township borders Cheltenham to the north and shares the Glenside and Elkins Park mailing areas, but has its own code office. Jenkintown is a small borough with older twins and apartment buildings and its own permits. Springfield Township, home to Wyndmoor and Oreland, runs separate inspections. To the south, Philadelphia's Northeast and Northwest neighborhoods sit on city water and the city's own licensing system.

Water heater questions from Cheltenham