Diagnose it before you replace it
Half the heaters replaced every year were fixable for under $100 in parts. This hub is a symptom-by-symptom diagnostic desk: no hot water, lukewarm water, rumbling, rusty water, a pilot that will not stay lit. Each guide tells you what the symptom usually means, which checks are safe to do yourself, and the point where the honest answer is a new heater, not another repair.
Inside this hub
- No hot water: the five checks to run before you call anyone
- Rumbling and popping: sediment, explained — and the flush that fixes it
- Rotten-egg smell: it is the anode rod, and it is replaceable
- When repair stops making sense: the age-and-cost rule we use
Work through the checklist first — it takes twenty minutes and costs nothing.