Replacing a Water Heater Cost - Buyer Experiences and Price Information

My 15 year old GE water heater finally gave went out. Never paid a dime in repair or servicing of the water heater in 15 years of services. The GE unit was a 9 year parts and labor warranty model that cost $187 ($250.00 installed) in 1999. Today, the new unit, a Premier unit with a 6 year parts and labor warranty and 6 years free service costs me $1312.00. I just hope it lasts as long as the $250.00 installed unit of 1999. Do you think it will????

I have a power vent 50 GAL water heater would not work. M&S came over, offer $900 to fix existing one, but may take 7-9 days because need get part from RUUD. Offer to install a new one at $2650. After the start to work, I learned that Home Depot sells a Rheem 50 GAL power vent for about $1000, plus installation fee of $295. Feel like stupid and being ripped off today. I could made about $1200 in a few hours myself.

My 9 yr old power vented gas water heater started leaking at bottom... got about four quotes ranging from $1200-2100. Plumb Crazy was high. Picked BGE Home - $1310 for a 40 gal Bradford White heater incl installation. Took the 10 yr warranty tank. Guy did job in one hour. Still thot it was quite expensive seeing as will be doing this again in 6-10 yrs.

promised 2.5- 3 hrs. But, billed me at 3.5 x 85.00, plus cost of unit; so, $238 new Lowes Whirlpool, and $322 for labor/install= 560 total in Wilm NC to one bedroom condo, second floor.

We went from a 40 to 50 gallon tank. Pressure gauge was installed. New water pan under tank was included in total cost.

My 22 year old gas water heater started leaking badly from the bottom. I called a professional and they were here in about an hour and finished the job in about an hour. I had already turned off the gas and water to the hot water heater and drained the tank. By the looks of the average cost in these posts, I now feel like I came out really good. It's nice to have hot water! If you are reading this in expectation of replacing a hot water heater, be sure to open all of your hot water faucets in each room after the install to clear the pipes of rust and gunk. I was surprised at the gunk that came out of each faucet! You wouldn't want that junk on you taking a shower or on your first load of clothes washing clothes. Yes, turn the clothes washer to hot water and let it allow the dirty water to pass them too. To speed up draining a hot water heater, turn off water to hot water heater, duh... and turn on a hot water faucet. God bless.

I noticed my harwood floor in the hallway from the garage was warped. A week later, warping spreads further into the hallway. Checked water heater in garage which is next to hallway wall and found a small leak at bottom of tank in the rear. I was able to McGiver and direct leak to the front and into bucket. Got a few quotes and they were between 1500.00 and 1800.00 with a 10 year warranty. WES came out on same day of phone call and installed new tank, removed the old, new fittings, new expansion tank and permits. Work was completed 2.5 hours. I could go with a cheaper company but decided to go with WES due to excellent reputation in the area. Sale rep took time to explain all my questions and options. Other guys sounded like used car salesman trying to meet quotas.

Cost me about $1300 for new water heater and installation, including permit, removal of old heater and repairs to bring up to code. Work done by Peoples Plumbing

Woke up in the morning and tried to take a shower and noticed no hot water. Went to the basement and heard the water leak alarm going off. I called a local plumber that I got off of Angie's List and used several times before. They always gave me a good price.

He came around 12:00pm and turned off the water to the house which stopped the water from leaking from the water heater that I was spending all morning trying to clean up.... He gave me a quote of around $1000 and would be back around 1:30pm to complete the job. Looking back it seems a little high. Especially since people were telling us that it should have cost around $450-$600. I think they used a handyman and did not get permits.

I live in a rural area so I didn't have many options to choose from. Home Depot was the lowest bidder at 799. When the guy finally arrived (a day late) he dropped the price to 750 because I had drained the old one.

The plumber replaced my water heater as well as some of the gas pipes and valves that were near it(within 24") and also replaced moved the house shutoff valve for the houses main water(again I say, all within 24" of water heater). I was given an initial estimate of $1600.00 and the final price was $1800.00. I personally think the cost is highway robbery but, it was my choice! The cost of replacing it 8 years previous was less than $700.00 and that was with a local plumber replacing it. If I need it done again I will hire a local plumber again.rnI will say this though, I have had Roto Rooter work done before and have up till now been pleased with the service received.

18 yr old water heater went out on Sunday and I would be gone all week. Wife said fix! Didn't shop around. Went right to Home Depot. Took a few hours to install and couple of trips to hardware store. Found receipt for old heater-$158. Maybe I should have shopped around.

I had a leak in the ceiling and so called Michael and Sons to check it out, it turned out that it was an open pipe that could be capped. The MS guy told me he would waive off the $200 bucks if I would install a new water as my current water heater had nearly overdone it's time.

He quoted me $2300, for a 6 year warranty 50 Gal State Select Water heater, with 1 year complete warranty on all repair, and 5 years of parts and pay for labor charge,it included 2, 3/4 valve replacements, a plumbing permit and 3 complimentary flushes.

I had not done my research and was thinking about saving $200 bucks and agreed for the $2300 job down the reapir, he mentioned the main valve and pressure divertor were dying and quoted me another $550 bucks for a total of $2800.

After having read the reviews her I feel disappointed, I am never going to call Micheal and Sons ever again for anything. They are a total rip off, please stay away from them.

I was never told how much the actual heater costs; checking online the one I had installed was around $420, so I assume the balance was labor. Home Depo was about $120 over this cost. Another plumber wanted $288 for instalation.

customers really have no clue what they are talking about with these prices. they are giving all these people bad advice go buy a tank and call a handy man to install it? Really folks take that approach with an attorney, or a doctor, or a car repair. Water heater cost are the same across the board just call home depot or lowes they will tell you the price but what are the other cost involved? Well if the tank cost an averge of 400.00 dollars and the average install is 1000.00 to 1500.00 that leaves 600.00 to 1100.00 for installation of a pan,stand, 3/4 ball valve, thermal expansion tank or valve, water flex lines,t&p drain, vent pipping through roof with cap and collor with new flashing, permit and disposal, any type of water line modification, gas lines and drip legs, and gas cocks. It takes three yrs to get licensed, understand that its not the cost of the parts that should be looked at for the price of the job but how many people it takes to operate a company that you can call and talk to someone and to warrenty your water heater. Tht truck they pulled up in with all these tools on it, insurance,work comp, truck insurance, individual insurance for the technition and there family. Do you want a 10 dollar an hour so called plumber trying to install a new water heater. Really folks get a clue, take my advise call a real plumber and just get price quotes dont settle on the first guy that walkes in your home. If you dont mind risking your property or your families life settle for a handy man service. But for me I will always call a professional.

I have worked in heavy construction in long time but never replace my own heater and when I ran into trouble all Im thinking is I can do this. I googled it first and surprise to find out how much it would cost for contarctors to do it. heres my break down cost.. electric water heater 204 + tax = to 218 , breaker 30 amps 12 dollors and 20 ft wire 10 gage for 220 which is around 20 dollors and 10 dollors pvc pipe and one day of work including electrical saves me money..Just always remember to make sure your tank is full of water before making electrical connections to avoid burning off your heater. Theres a procedure of doing this like turning your faucet on after you make your connections on cold and hot water and turn your main water switch. watch steady flow of water in the hot water faucet this will indicate the tank is full then shut it off to do the rest of work. And use teflon tape when making connections on your pipe securing a proper connections and to avoid all hassles makes sure to get the same height of the old heater your replacing so you can fit the new one right in place with out having to add new pipe.. and among other things make sure the breaker is off when making electrical work of somekind to avoid hassles and check the code for proper installation good luck. is this helpful

Our gas water heater burst so we went to Home Depot since I generally trust the contractors that they use. The cost of the tank was around $464 and the plumbing company quoted us $839 over the phone for the combined cost of the water heater and the basic installation and removal of the old unit. We had to pay another $50 to pull the permit and the rep warned me that there may be additional costs to bring our water heater up to code. Now, our old heater was the original unit installed in the late 80s so we were expecting some additional cost, but after the final estimate ($833 in additional charges), we were speechless! Here is what we were charged for: $79 for earthquake straps, $99 for a shut off valve, $179 for an expansion tank, $89 to bond water and gas pipes with 6 awg wire and clamps, $240 to increase vent size to 4", $69 for 2x4 bracing (really?), and $39 to adapt hard plumbing to 3/4" fittings. I'm sure we overpaid, but we had to make a hard decision having no hot water and other plumbers were either unresponsive or unavailable for at least a week.

Saw my garage flooded from water heater leak. I tried not to panic, shut-off the gas and waterline. I YELP for a Christian plumbing for obvious reasons and found one in the area. I took picture and emailed to the plumber and gave me an estimate. !5mins later the service person came to check. They will be back by noon to install. I have faith that they will fix and install the new water heater right.

Will find out tomorrow afternoon the brand they installed and how well the job was done when i get home from work; hopefully i get home in time while their over there

$350 for the tank, Home dept only charged $220 to replace no matter if gas or electric. Rotor Rooter came. Excellent job, same day service.

Leaking Ge Smart Water heater w/ 12 year warranty, leaking in last month of warranty. GE units sold by HD are made by Rheem. Called & got repl credit for heater. Then you must buy new one from HD which the pices have MORE then doubled from 12 years ago. Unit we bout 12 years ago for 236. is 525 now with same 12 year warranty! Now they offer 6 year, 9 yr and 12 yr warranty models.. of wither 40 or 50 gal units. Prices are sky high for water tanks... Is it the metal involved? I thought the tanks were fiberglass surrounded by insulation then a metal shell now.
Plumber mad 2 trips and 1.5 book time for removal an replaced/installed 2 shutoff valves. THen 2nd trip installed 50 gal unit I had gotten.. HD didn't have 40 gal 9yr unit had to get 50 gal 9 yr unit to save time and $$. Plumber installed (Metal pan and drain valve to pan (brought it up to Code now) and took 2 hours to installed new one. I had job of Taking old one back to HD so I could get warranty replacement.August 2012

I had my old water heater replaced last year the heater itself was about $250.00 and Fix It Handyman installed it for $150.00 I felt like it was a fair price and they did such a great job they were in and out done with the project in about an hour. I would def call them again. If you live in the SLC area of Utah give them a call. 801-717-8757 and this is there website. www.Utah-Handyman.net

extra recovery! Old water heater went out, needed a new one. Did the research and found BW had an excellent reputation but a plumber was the only one who could install it. Searched Yelp and found a few candidates, this was the one I felt most comfortable with. Price just a bit more than a 60 gallon Home Depot heater installed. Feel the BW was a good value. Price included draining and removal of old heater. Did not include pulling city permit, unfortunately. Plumber had to pull door jamb off exterior closet to get the unit in. Install took about 2.5 hours or so. 75 gallon ER tank...1 hour to hot shower- nearly endless hot water for my family of 5.

Friday evening discovered 1 heater (10 yrs old) burner was out and the other(20 yrs old)was leaking badly. Called Rusty Speakes at Heritage Plumbing (972-494-6700). He told me an easy way to seal off (cost $16 in parts)and drain leaky heater until he could get replacements. He installed 2 heaters, 2 drain pans, 4 cutoff valves, and replumbed my system so I could isolate either heater and use the other if I have problems in the future. Rusty has helped me with advice over the phone several times. He is honest and reliable. Rusty does not know I am giving him this recommendation.

Gas water tank was found leaking in the garage the day after Christmas. Called Plumbing Connection (had good ratings on Google) in the morning and someone was able to come early afternoon. Able to get $50 off the bill w/ online coupon. Replaced unit and took away the old WH in the same same day. Everything went pretty smoothly.

How hard is it to replace 2 water pipes and a gas line. Why would you need a permit for a replacement, sonds like some of you are getting ripped off. HWH was $400, Parts kit was $50. Took me 2 hours, and thats with a lunch break.

Flooding from water heater, so I had my mom call Home Depot to fix/replace it, but they told her they don't do that kind of work! Don't understand when they have a huge splash on their website with a 1-800 #.rnrnLeak has been going on for a long time until finally it started pouring out from the attic through the pipe that it made the pipe fall off, so I knew it had to be replaced. Flow Plumbing had done work for me before, so they got the job once home depot was a no go. Repair men showed up and said they would get the new heater I wanted, install it, and remove the old one for flat fee of $1300 (new 50 gallon Rheem versus old one was 40 gallon). He said it's usually $1800 but because I already had the pan, pipe and stuff, he took that pricing off the bill. whoa! Since I live out of state and my elderly mother lives in my house, I had to just go with it. My stepfather's friend said he'd do it for alot cheaper but I wasn't sure if he was licensed and could guarantee work. The Flow plumbing repairman explained that the city permit people would come by, and they showed up the next morning to inspect the work. So I feel better, but I am wondering about overpaying for labor.

Obtained quotes from HomeDepot, Lowes and Sears. Cost ranged from $1100-$2000 which included installation. Yes you can buy water heater for $350, but you will have additional cost for installation, delivery,disposal and permit.
Through my PSEG worry free contract the price range was $900-$1300. Includes permit/installation/removal of old water heater. If you call before 1 pm they can replace same day.

My 15 year old gas water heater busted a month ago. I've been shopping around for a new one. HD quoted me $982 installed with permit, labor and the tank. A plumber was willing to install the unit and realign the water pipes all for 600. had not permit to do it. i.e. total cost would be 800. rnShould a non-licensed plumber be allowed to install a gas water tan heater? what are the consequences?

a bit steep but, you pay for what you don't know.