Leaking Water Heater: What to Turn Off, and in What Order

It can be, because a leaking tank is hot water under pressure with electricity or gas attached, so deal with the energy before the water. On an electric heater, turn off the power at the breaker; on a gas heater, a steady leak is on National Grid's own list of gas emergencies, so report it to the gas utility as one. Then stop the tank refilling at the cold water valve on its inlet, or at the main shutoff if that valve will not close.

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Where the water is coming from tells you how urgent it is

Look before you touch anything, because the source changes what comes next. Every storage heater in New York carries a relief valve near the top of the tank. Section P2804 of the state's Residential Code requires it to open at no more than 150 psi of pressure or 210 degrees Fahrenheit, and section P2804.6.1 requires its discharge pipe to end in the same room, pointing at the floor, a pan or a drain, no more than 6 inches above the floor, where the people in the house can see it. Water coming out of the end of that pipe means the valve opened because something was too hot or the pressure too high, which is a reason to shut off the energy first. The same code allows no valve and no threaded connection at the end of that pipe, so never plug or cap it to stop the drip: it exists to let the tank relieve itself. Water pooling from the body or the base of the tank is the tank. Water dripping from a joint on the pipes above it may be a connection rather than the heater.

Electric heater: turn the power off at the breaker

An electric tank has heating elements wired to the service panel, and water is now somewhere near them. The CDC's advice where electrical equipment has gotten wet or is in or near water is to turn off the power at the main breaker or fuse on the service panel. If only the heater is affected, the breaker labeled for it may be enough; if the water has spread to other equipment or outlets, use the main. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says to shut off the current at the breaker or fuse before removing an electric heater's access panels, which is a reminder that nothing on the tank itself should be opened with the power on. Turning the power off also stops the elements heating an emptying tank. Once the breaker is off, the tank can wait for the plumber.

Gas heater: a steady leak is on National Grid's gas emergency list

National Grid publishes what it treats as a gas emergency for Upstate New York customers, and a continuous flow of water leaking from a gas water heater is on that list, beside an abnormally high or low flame, gas to an appliance that cannot be shut off, roaring, hissing or whistling from gas pipes, and symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure such as headache, nausea, lethargy and disorientation. So a gas heater that is pouring water is a gas utility question before it is a plumbing one: report it to your gas utility as an emergency and follow what they say. That matters in this metro because so many homes are on gas. In the Town of DeWitt, for example, 79.3 percent of households heat with utility gas. While the leak is dealt with, it is worth knowing one related warning from the Consumer Product Safety Commission: gas appliances, including older water heaters, can ignite flammable vapors, so gasoline and gasoline powered equipment should never be stored where that could happen.

Stop the tank refilling from the cold side

A leaking tank keeps leaking for as long as the supply keeps filling it, so once the energy is dealt with, close the water to it. On a heater installed under an Onondaga County permit there should be a full bore shutoff on the cold line feeding it, because the county's residential water heater permit checklist asks for one; it is on the cold pipe running into the tank, usually at the top. Close it fully. If there is no valve, or it will not move, close the main shutoff where the water service comes into the house, as described in the guide to what to do first after a pipe bursts. Do not open the drain valve at the bottom to empty the tank yourself tonight. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says most adults suffer third degree burns from 150 degree water in two seconds and from 140 degree water in six, and a tank that has been heating is full of it. Leave draining to the plumber.

The tank itself is rarely what a policy pays for

If the water has damaged floors, walls or belongings, the insurance question is the same one as for a burst pipe, with one difference worth knowing before anyone hauls the old heater away. The standard ISO homeowners form covers loss caused by an accidental discharge of water from a household appliance, but states that it does not cover loss to the appliance the water escaped from, and it excludes wear and tear, deterioration and corrosion while restoring coverage for the resulting water damage. So the heater is usually yours to replace, and the damage it caused is the part a claim concerns. Photograph the tank, where it leaked, the floor and anything wet before any of it is moved, and do not let the old tank leave the house until your insurer has said whether it wants to see it: New York's Department of Financial Services says an insurer can refuse to pay for damage repaired before it has inspected. The guide to burst pipe insurance claims in New York goes through the rest.

No hot water and no leak can usually wait until morning

This is the reassuring case. A heater that has stopped making hot water, with no water on the floor and nothing on National Grid's list, is an inconvenience rather than an emergency, and it can be booked in ordinary hours like any other repair. If you rent, it may not be yours to fix at all. In the City of Syracuse, where 58.4 percent of occupied homes are rented according to Census estimates, section 27-11 of the Property Conservation Code requires the owner to furnish adequate hot water and keep the plumbing the owner supplies in good working order, and section 27-52 requires hot water at no less than 110 degrees Fahrenheit at every required fixture. The state's Property Maintenance Code sets the same 110 degree floor in section 505.4. Tell the landlord in writing and keep a copy. If nothing happens, the city office that enforces that code is the Division of Code Enforcement, on 315-448-8695, Monday to Friday during office hours.

Replacing the heater is a daylight decision

A heater that has failed at midnight does not need to be replaced at midnight, and in this county it should not be. In Onondaga County a new water heater is permitted work, with the permit taken out before the heater goes in, and the county explains why: a heater connected, vented or spaced wrongly can cause an electric shock or a fire. That is a decision to make with the energy off, the water off and a written quote in front of you, not with a tank dripping behind you. Tonight's part is making the heater safe, and a licensed plumber can do that and quote the rest afterwards. Tell us whether the heater is gas or electric, where the water is coming from and whether the power, gas and cold water are off, and we will connect you to a licensed, insured plumber who takes work in your town.