What moves the price of a water heater replacement

1. Tank or tankless, gas or electric

The cheapest replacement there is, is a like-for-like swap, a 40 or 50 gallon tank where a 40 or 50 gallon tank already was, with the same fuel. The price rises in steps from there. Electric to gas needs a gas line and a vent. Gas to tankless usually needs a larger gas line and a new vent through the wall. Each step is a real job on its own, not a line item.

Tankless is not automatically the expensive answer, but the gas supply decides it more than the household does. If the line has to be upsized from the meter, a well sized tank is often the better call. We tell you which before pricing either.

2. Size, and whether the old one was right

We size from how the house uses hot water. What happens to be there now is only a starting point. A family that has been running out of hot water for years does not need the same 40 gallon tank again. Going up a size costs a little more at the tank and nothing more in labor, so decide now, not on the first cold morning.

3. Where it sits

A heater in an open basement next to a floor drain is the easy case. A heater in a closet, an attic, a crawl space or a cabinet under a kitchen counter takes longer to get out and longer to get back in, and the new one may not fit the same opening because modern tanks carry more insulation and are wider than the ones they replace.

Stairs matter. A full tank cannot be carried, so it is drained first, and a tank that has to come up from a basement with a tight turn adds time.

4. What the code now asks for

A heater installed twenty years ago was installed to a twenty-year-old code. Replacing it means bringing the connection up to today's, and these are the items that most often appear on the estimate as a surprise to people who were told a flat price over the phone:

• An expansion tank where the house has a pressure reducing valve or a backflow preventer, which most do now
• A drain pan with a line to a drain where the heater sits above living space
• A new temperature and pressure relief valve and a discharge line run to the right place
• A stand that lifts the burner 18 inches off the floor where a gas heater sits in a garage
• On gas, a vent sized and routed to the new appliance, not reused because it was there

None of these are upsells. They are what the permit inspection checks, and in Montgomery and Prince George's counties the work has to be done by a WSSC Water licensee and permitted through them.

5. What is found when the old one comes out

The shutoff valve above the heater has often not been turned since it was installed. Many will not close, and some will not open again. The flexible connectors, the gas flex and the gas shutoff are usually replaced along with the heater. These are small items, and they belong on the estimate, where you can see them before you agree to anything.

Where the old heater leaked, the floor or the platform underneath it may be soft. We tell you if that is the case before the new one goes down on it.

6. Permit and disposal

A replacement water heater is permitted work in Maryland, DC and Virginia. The permit fee and the inspection are part of the job, and so is hauling the old tank away. Both go on the written estimate so there is nothing to add at the end.

Water heater replacement cost with labor, 40 or 50 gallon

The written price covers the heater and the labor together, so there is no separate labor bill to add at the end. For a 40 or 50 gallon tank the labor is about the same. Going up a size costs a little more at the tank and nothing more in labor. What moves the labor is the fuel, the venting and where the heater sits.

The size and fuel questions people ask most each have their own answer. See labor cost to install a 50 gallon gas water heater, cost to replace a 50 gallon electric water heater, labor cost to install a 40 gallon water heater and what a 40 gallon hot water heater costs.

Still wondering what the normal price to replace a water heater is, or why plumbers charge so much to replace a water heater? Both come back to the six items above.

Why we do not quote a water heater over the phone

Anyone who gives you one number without seeing the heater is guessing at all six of the items above. A low guess gets revised on the day, when the old tank is already disconnected and you have no hot water and no real choice but to say yes. A written price after a look does not change.

The estimate is free. It lists the heater by make, model and size, every code item it needs, the permit, the disposal and the warranty on our work, which is 60 to 90 days depending on the job. The manufacturer's warranty on the tank itself is separate and longer, and we tell you who registers it.