Water heaters here work in bursts — quiet for weeks, then a full house running showers back to back — and that is when problems appear.
Rentals expose a marginal heater
A tank that coped fine with one couple will not keep up with eight people over a long weekend. If guests have complained about running out of hot water, the heater may not be faulty at all — it may simply be too small for how the property is now being used.
Villas and closets
In many Wild Dunes units the heater sits in a cupboard inside the living space, sometimes above the unit below. That makes a proper drip pan plumbed to a drain essential rather than optional, and plenty of older installations do not have one.
Salt air on the fittings
The tank may be sound while the connections, flue and valves around it corrode. It is worth having the whole installation looked at rather than just the unit.
What is worth repairing
A thermostat, element, thermocouple or gas valve on a tank under about eight years old is usually worth fixing. A tank leaking from the body has rusted through, and we will tell you that plainly.