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Water Heater Repair in Chicago, IL

80% of households in Chicago heat with gas. That is the strongest free clue to what kind of water heater is in your basement, and it decides which faults are even possible.

Answer first

Most households in Chicago heat with gas — 80% of them — which is the strongest free clue to what stands in the basement, though the figure counts house heating rather than the water heater itself. Gas heaters go wrong at the burner end: pilot, thermocouple, control valve, flue.

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25040.

HeaterRelay is a referral service, not a contractor. We connect homeowners with independent contractors. Contractors are required to hold whatever credential their state or municipality demands. Every state page sets out who licenses plumbers there and where to check, so you can confirm before work begins. We carry out no work, we sell no equipment, we do not set prices, and we never charge homeowners anything — the contractors in our network pay us when we route them a call.

What Chicago runs on

With gas clearly ahead, a cold tank usually means the burner never lit — not that the heater has worn out.

Fuel	Share of households
Gas — mains and bottled	80%
Electricity	18%
Fuel oil and kerosene	under 1%
Everything else	3%

US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, table B25040, 2023 5-year release. The universe is 1,140,118 occupied housing units in and around Chicago.

Illinois statewide runs 4 points lower on gas, so this town is not typical of it.

That figure is house heating fuel, not water heater fuel. They correlate strongly, because the same gas line generally serves both, but the Census does not publish the second one and we are not going to pretend it does.

Which one do you have

If you are not sure, look at the top of the tank: a flue pipe going up into the ceiling means gas, and no flue at all means electric. The fuel decides the fault list, so start there rather than with the symptom.

Then match what you are seeing: cold from the start, hot then cold, banging and popping, or a leak.

ZIP codes we route in Chicago

60601
60602
60603
60604
60605
60606
60607
60608
60609
60610
60611
60612
60613
60614
60615
60616
60617
60618
60619
60620
60621
60622
60623
60624
60625
60626
60628
60629
60630
60631
60632
60633
60634
60636
60637
60638
60639
60640
60641
60642
60643
60644
60645
60646
60647
60649
60651
60652
60653
60654
60655
60656
60657
60659
60660
60661
60664
60666
60668
60669
60670
60673
60674
60675
60677
60678
60680
60681
60682
60684
60685
60686
60687
60688
60689
60690
60691
60693
60694
60695
60696
60697
60699
60701

Nearby towns, and what they burn

The nearby towns we route all lead on gas as well, so the regional pattern is consistent. It still does not tell you what is in your own house.

Hometown 98% gas
Naperville 87% gas
La Grange 84% gas
Lisle 78% gas
Morton Grove 86% gas

Know the fuel and the symptom? That is most of the call.Gas and electric heaters fail in almost entirely different ways, so saying which you have gets you to the right person faster. We route the call and never charge you for it. Whatever else is wrong in Chicago, mention it while we have you.

Call (866) 871-2892