Water heater repair in Providence, RI

Scituate Reservoir water and corrosion control

Providence Water collects its supply in the Scituate Reservoir, a large impoundment of the North Branch of the Pawtuxet River created in the 1920s, along with a group of smaller tributary reservoirs across the forested uplands of western Rhode Island. Treatment happens at the Philip J. Holton Water Purification Plant in Scituate, and from there the water flows by gravity and pumping to Providence, Cranston, Johnston, North Providence and wholesale customers across much of the state.

This is about as soft as public water gets in the Northeast, often only 1 to 2 grains per gallon. Water that low in minerals and alkalinity tends to dissolve metal, so the utility raises the pH and adjusts alkalinity at the plant to protect pipes and reduce lead from older service lines. Providence Water has also run a long effort to replace lead service lines, which many homes in the older wards still had.

For water heaters, the soft supply means almost no sediment bed and very little scale on tankless heat exchangers. The flip side is that the anode rod is still being consumed, connectors and nipples can corrode, and copper lines near the heater sometimes show pinhole leaks after decades of service.

Triple-deckers and shared cellars

The triple-decker, three stacked flats with porches up the front or back, defines whole stretches of Providence. Elmhurst, Mount Pleasant, Elmwood, Olneyville, Silver Lake, Federal Hill, the West End and Fox Point all have long rows of them. In most, each apartment has its own water heater down in a fieldstone or brick cellar, so a single basement may hold three tanks, three gas meters and a tangle of vent connectors leading to one chimney.

That setup creates its own trouble. When one landlord replaces two of the three heaters with sidewall-vented models and leaves the third on the chimney, the old flue may be far too large for one small appliance. Gas meters and lines in these cellars also date from different decades, and tracing which pipe feeds which unit is a regular part of the job.

College Hill, Wayland Square and the Blackstone neighborhood on the East Side have larger Colonial Revival, Victorian and Federal-era homes, some with boilers and indirect tanks. Brown University and RISD students rent a large share of the units near Thayer and Hope Streets, where heaters often get little attention until they fail.

Nor'easters, hurricanes and cold cellars

Providence sits at the head of Narragansett Bay, and the city remembers the 1938 hurricane and Carol in 1954, both of which flooded downtown. The Fox Point Hurricane Barrier now protects the downtown core from storm surge, but cellars outside it, especially in low parts of Fox Point and along the Woonasquatucket in Olneyville, can still take water in heavy rain. March 2010 brought record flooding along the Pawtuxet River in Cranston and Warwick.

A gas heater whose controls were soaked in that kind of event needs a new valve at minimum, and plumbers here will usually recommend a new heater. Winter is the more routine threat. Stone foundations leak cold air, and a triple-decker cellar in February can drop near freezing beside the heater, which steals efficiency and occasionally blows out a pilot.

The problems plumbers see most in Providence

• Orphaned chimney vents in triple-decker cellars after neighbors' heaters move to sidewall venting.
• Pinhole leaks and corroded nipples on copper and galvanized lines near the tank.
• Depleted anode rods that leave a soft-water tank unprotected.
• Short hot water in winter when Scituate water reaches the tank in the upper 30s.
• Mislabeled gas lines in cellars serving three apartments.
• Pilot outages from drafts in stone foundations during cold snaps.

Typical water heater prices in Providence

Providence labor runs higher than much of the country, in line with the rest of southern New England. Narrow cellar stairs, three-unit buildings where tenants must be notified, and parking on dense streets like Atwells Avenue or Ives Street add time to most jobs.

Rhode Island plumbing licenses and Providence permits

Rhode Island licenses master plumbers and journeyperson plumbers through the Department of Labor and Training's Professional Regulation unit. Only a licensed master plumber, or a journeyperson working under one, may install or replace a water heater, and the license number should appear on the estimate and the permit.

Inside the city, permits and inspections are handled by the Providence Department of Inspection and Standards. Expect an inspector to look at the relief valve discharge line, the gas connection, the vent and the combustion air. On a triple-decker, mention at the outset whether the heater serves one unit or the whole building, since that shapes both the permit and the sizing.

Venting three heaters through one chimney

Many Providence triple-deckers were built with one central chimney that originally carried a coal furnace or a set of kitchen stoves. Later owners tied in a gas boiler and three atmospheric water heaters. When those appliances are replaced one at a time, the chimney can end up oversized or unlined for what remains, and cold, wet flue gases condense and erode the mortar inside.

A plumber may recommend a stainless liner sized to the remaining heaters or a switch to power-vented units on the side wall. Sidewall vents on closely spaced Providence lots need clearances from windows, porches and the neighboring house, so the exit point is sometimes the hardest part of the design.

Rhode Island Energy and choosing a heater

Providence homes buy their gas and their electricity from Rhode Island Energy, which took over from National Grid in 2022. Gas remains the most common fuel for city water heaters, while some condos and newer apartments rely on electric tanks or heat pump units.

The state and the utility have at times offered incentives for high-efficiency gas heaters and heat pump water heaters. A heat pump tank in a chilly fieldstone cellar will work but may run slower in winter, so a plumber should check the space before recommending one.

Repair or replace in Providence

Because Scituate water leaves so little sediment, the tank shell usually outlasts the anode by years. A heater around seven years old with a bad thermocouple or valve is often a good repair candidate, especially if the anode is swapped at the same visit. Rust at the bottom seam, water pooling on the cellar floor or a tank past twelve years points toward replacement. Read more about replacing a Providence tank and chasing down a cellar leak.

Around Providence

Cranston, Johnston and North Providence drink Providence Water and have their own building officials. Pawtucket and Central Falls are served by the Pawtucket Water Supply Board, with water from the Pawtucket Reservoir system and its own treatment. East Providence buys Providence Water and permits work through its own inspection office. Warwick has a mix of suppliers, and neighborhoods along the Pawtuxet there still recall the 2010 flood.

Water heater questions from Providence