Tankless Water Heater Repair and Installation

As their name implies, tankless water heaters don’t carry water in a tank like standard water heaters do. Instead, they are demand-type systems: they heat water as needed for your home, by running water past heating within the system. This essentially means that tankless water heaters can supply an unlimited amount of hot water. This makes them a great fit for households with large families that need to get ready in the morning.

On average, standard water heaters last between 10-15 years before needing to be replaced. However, if yours is older than that, you may want to consider upgrading to a new standard or tankless water heater. Here are just some of the problems you might encounter running an older water heater: reduced energy-efficiency, reduced heating performance, and an increased risk of tank bursting.

On average, tankless water heaters are more than 30% more energy efficient than standard water heaters. This could mean that you save more than $100 a year on energy. Over two decades, that’s $2,000 saved on energy alone.

King Heating, Cooling & Plumbing has been serving Chicago’s South Side communities—including Orland Park, Oak Lawn, and Joliet—for more than 50 years. We’re your local, trusted water heater experts, and we’re proud to install advanced tankless water heaters that help homeowners save money and stay comfortable, all year long.

Tankless units need an annual flush to stay efficient and reach their 20+ year service life. In the Chicago area, Lake Michigan water runs in the moderately hard range (around 7–9 grains per gallon), and when that water flash-heats inside a tankless unit, calcium and magnesium bake onto the heat exchanger. Left alone, that scale insulates the burner from the water, drives up gas usage, and eventually cracks the exchanger — a failure that usually means full replacement.
Beyond the annual flush, homeowners should rinse the air intake filter every six months, check the water inlet screen, and inspect the condensate drain line. For a full walkthrough — including a step-by-step flush procedure, what error codes to watch for, and how to protect exterior vents from Chicago winter ice — see our complete guide to tankless water heater maintenance.