A Burbank water heater lives two lives each year. In summer, warm water reaches the tank and the burner has less to do, but a closed garage or sun-facing closet bakes the plastic and rubber parts around it. In winter, colder water arrives, each shower draws more hot water and a tank weakened by sediment is the first to run short. Knowing its age tells you which season will expose it.
Burbank's homes and heaters
Burbank is named for David Burbank, a dentist who started a sheep ranch here in 1867 and sold the railroad its right-of-way. The town was laid out in 1887 and incorporated in 1911. Lockheed built its plant here in 1928, and film studios followed from 1929, bringing homes for workers through the 1930s and 1940s. This page covers five ZIP codes.
Homes range from 1920s and 1930s bungalows and Spanish-style houses to post-war homes, hillside houses and apartments. Heaters sit in garages, exterior closets and service porches, many lots add a back unit, and remodels bring tankless units. The water is hard, and some homes have softeners. Most homes are several heaters past the original.
Reading the plate
The rating plate on the side of the tank lists the model, capacity and fuel, and often a manufacture date. If there's no date, the serial number usually encodes it, though formats vary by brand. In an exterior closet the plate may face the wall; a phone photo from the side helps the technician prepare.
Securing the tank comes with the job.
Hard water and early tank failure in Burbank
Burbank's water carries minerals that fall out of solution when it's heated. They settle on the tank floor and build a layer that thickens every cycle, and water trapped beneath it flashes to steam under the burner, the rumbling or popping many owners hear first. The layer also crowds out hot water, which shows most in winter.
It insulates the water from the flame, too. The steel bottom runs hotter and the burner longer, the lining wears and, over years, the tank begins to leak, often earlier than it would on softer water. The anode rod, which corrodes so the tank doesn't, is used up faster, and once it's gone the steel takes the wear directly, from the inside out.
Electric tanks show it as crusted elements that burn out, and tankless units as scale in the heat exchanger that trips error codes. Locally in Burbank, the answer is steady upkeep: flushing while sediment is loose, anode checks every few years and descaling on a schedule set at the first service. Around Burbank, your water provider can describe your supply and how hard it is.
Softeners and filtration in Burbank
Some Burbank homes soften their water, and that changes how the heater should be looked after. Softened water leaves far less sediment in a tank and less scale in a tankless unit, so rumbling, lost capacity and error codes are slower to appear, and flushing or descaling may be needed less often.
For homes in Burbank, the trade-off is the anode rod. Softened water can wear it away faster, so it's checked sooner than on unsoftened water, and a different anode type is sometimes suggested. A spent anode leaves the steel to corrode, which is how a tank on soft water can still fail early.
Whole-house filters don't change much for the heater, though a clogged one can reduce flow. Tell the technician about any softener or filter, since it affects the schedule. The first service sets it from what comes out of the tank and how the anode looks. A softener also needs its own upkeep, since one that stops regenerating lets hard water through again without anyone noticing.
Compare tankless with a new tank.
Gas or electric in Burbank homes
What the home already has usually decides it. A garage or exterior closet with a gas line and a working vent makes another gas tank the simplest swap, and gas recovers quickly for back-to-back winter showers. An apartment or back unit wired for an electric tank, with no gas or vent, usually stays electric.
A gas heater needs combustion air and a sound vent. An electric tank needs neither, suiting a closet or a back unit, but it recovers more slowly and its elements scale up in hard water. A heat pump model, the efficient electric option, draws warmth from the surrounding air, so a warm Burbank garage suits it well; it needs clearance, a condensate drain and a suitable circuit. In Burbank, programs vary; check with your utility before you buy.
A back unit or ADU often raises the question on its own. If it's far from the main heater, giving it a separate heater, gas or electric depending on what can reach it, usually beats a long pipe run. Tankless gas units save space in either home but need a gas line sized for their output, new venting and descaling on a schedule. The installer compares the options against each home's space and supply.
Strapping in Burbank
At a Burbank property, the tank is tied to the building with straps or a bracing kit so the supply lines aren't left to take the strain. At a Burbank property, a full tank is heavy and top-heavy, and once it is secured it stays put when the ground moves, which keeps the gas, water and vent lines attached. It's part of nearly every Burbank replacement and is checked when a home is sold.
At a Burbank property, a garage wall of bare studs makes the strapping simple, and a sloping garage floor doesn't change the fastening. An exterior closet or porch on an older bungalow may need blocking so the straps grip solid framing. Around Burbank, loose straps on an older tank are tightened at a service visit, so replacement is not required for that alone. For homes in Burbank, a good question to ask is what the straps will be anchored into, since the strap is only as good as what it grips. Around Burbank, the installer goes through the local requirements for the property and answers questions along the way.
End-of-life signs
Moisture seeping from the tank body, rust in the hot water only, rumbling that returns soon after a flush and several repairs in a short time point toward replacement. Water spreading across a floor or a relief valve running steadily means call today; close the cold supply valve above the tank if it's safe to reach.
Burbank ZIP codes
ZIP codes served: 91501, 91502, 91504, 91505, 91506
Nearby areas with their own pages include North Hollywood, Sun Valley, Glendale, Valley Village and Studio City. See every city on the Los Angeles Metro page.
Popular services in Burbank
Burbank water heater FAQs
If the house already has a gas line and vent, a gas tank is usually the simplest swap and recovers quickly. Electric suits a unit without gas, and a heat pump model is the efficient electric choice, working well in a warm Burbank garage.
It carries combustion gases, including carbon monoxide, safely outdoors. A standard tank vents by natural draft through a metal pipe; power-vent and direct-vent models use a fan or sealed pipe. Soot at the top of the heater or a pilot that keeps going out can point to a venting fault.
Often. When a new tank full of cold water first fires, moisture in the exhaust condenses on the cold steel and drips onto the burner, sometimes with a sizzle. It usually stops once the tank warms. If it continues, have the installer check the fittings and connections.
Mostly hard water. Sediment overheats the tank floor, scale crusts electric elements and the anode rod is used up faster, while summer heat ages garage and closet parts. Many Burbank tanks also go years without a flush. Upkeep started early helps a heater last its expected life.
Ask your water provider, which publishes water quality information every year and can answer questions about your supply. A technician can also judge from what the first flush brings out of the tank and set a flushing and anode schedule from it.
An ADU close to the main house can share its heater if there's capacity to spare. Farther away, or where both homes shower at the same hour, a separate tank, tankless unit or heat pump model usually serves better. The installer weighs distance, demand and fuel supply.
Leave the home immediately, and call the gas utility and 911 once you're outside. Don't operate switches, and don't try to find the leak. After it's safe and the source is identified, a technician can repair the water heater or its connection.
A little. Softened water leaves less sediment, so flushing may be needed less often, but it can wear the anode rod faster, so the anode is checked sooner. Tell the technician about the softener, and they'll set the schedule from what the first service finds.