How many gallons does this hot water heater have to be?

A quick search shows 40 gal gas water heaters to be under $1500.00. I would walk in to a big box store and ask what they charge to install. I would also call our plumber and ask what he would charge.

^^Yes, check with the big boxes. Lowes, HD, Menards...

That is a we saw you coming from 2 states away, 5th floor walk-up Manhattan price. And probably high end, at that.

We DIY'd ours about 4 years ago...not power vent but 50 gallon for under 1k.

50 gallon heater .

Call other plumbers, or get to a plumbing supply store. We had our 50 gal gas (no fan assist) replaced a few months ago for $1600 in NJ, high cost of living area. People here get zipcoded all the time. The quote you received is outrageous.

My water heater is propane, 40 gallons. It went out shortly after moving here, four years ago. The new one cost $750....electric would have been cheaper, but the old one was gas also. With a little help lifting it in place, my husband, who was terminally ill at the time, hooked it up.

Call more plumbers. And NOT the big companies that advertise a lot. In our area, there's a township FB page for recommendations. We have consistently gotten great service people as recommended by neighbors. And most/all live within the community and live by word-of-mouth recommendations.

The companies that advertise a lot tend to be a lot more expensive.

Echoing the suggestion to check the big box stores - I bought mine from Lowes (electric) and they installed it and took away the old one. That was in the pre-pandemic economy, so I'm sure it's more $$ now - but can't imagine it being $1K just for the installation.

And I know HD has a free referral service that you can use for jobs like that - I'm guessing Lowes or other similar stores do the same - even our local hardware stores usually offer contact info for local people like that.

Home Depot sells the "fan assist" water heaters, 50 gallon for $1500. Link to Home Depots fan assist Hot Water Heater Here in Colorado, they require a permit to install a hot water heater. That's another $100. Then installation is quick, disposal of the old one is quick....maybe another $1000 to make it worth some ones time. $2600 total. I also would go to Home Depot and talk to them about installing it.

Does the location really need a power vent water heater? It could be the result of a prior upsell where a conventional one could suffice. If there's enough vertical rise between the top of the heater and the exhaust opening, it may not be necessary. Only an experienced plumber can tell you.

Installing a water heater is not a plug and play operation. Many are installed incorrectly, lacking building code and safety features that may be required. Use a licensed pro.

I would always want to err on the side of caution when asphyxiation is a possibility.

It would also be a good time to consider an on demand water heater. The fuel savings are significant but they do have some issues.

Neighbor just had one installed with a plumbing company, it was $2000 total. I just had one installed using my BIL, it was $1000 total. It should not cost that high of a price, that seems crazy! Heck, $2000 seemed crazy when my neighbor told me how much. I guess it depends on where you live. I am in NE Ohio.

OH so you would want a plumber to do it since you don't have the handyman husband. My BIL is a licensed plumber, but I was there when they put it in and it was no simple task. I had also seen that Home Depot and Lowe's offer installation.

My experience is that the warranty has a lot to do with the price of the hot water heater, as in the longer the warranty, the more expensive. We've had ones made by Rheem and by Bradford White, both excellent brands.After having one fail (luckily I was at home), we just get a new one every 10 years, no matter what.

When my water heater failed, I purchased a new one from Lowe's and had them install it the next day. It was a basic gas heater, so I don't know anything about what you require, but my installation has been problem free. (and it has been 20 years so perhaps I should be looking at new ones....)

My nephew's FIL installed their replacement gas water heater, bought from one of the big-box stores. He works maintenance at a Samsung manufacturing facility so I'm sure he has the requisite skills. I don't imagine he charged his daughter for doing the job, other than presumably cost of the water heater.

"an on demand water heater. The fuel savings are significant "

Not always. Don't forget much pricier install cost- usually a larger gas pipe is required for the higher BTUs. Also, putting one in in place of a conventional tank will require new exhaust pipes. Plus higher purchase cost of unit and annual servicing if the house has hard water. Replacing like with like is usually cheapest.

Elmer, I said the fuel saving is significant but..... I was writing English. Depending on installation it could be a huge savings or maybe not but it is worth considering. Nothing about any other expense make the fuel saving not be significant. Does it off set other possible issues? Be the judge.

Patriciae, for a house that's occupied with more than a few people, the fuel savings if any of a tankless heater isn't significant. And won't come anywhere near covering the significant cost differences to buy, install, and operate the equipment itself.

You weren't crowing but to isolate on one portion of costs without looking at other pieces paints an incomplete picture. Kinda on a par with how many owners of $90K+ Teslas talk about how much money they're saving with electricity instead of gasoline for operating costs. Something I've heard too many times to count. No free lunches offered either way. Heating water or driving a car, you need to compare total costs before seeing anything meaningful.

Last winter we were having problems with it and we thought at that time that we needed either to get it replaced or maybe just a new theromstat put in. So, I called three different plumbers for estimates. The least expensive was somewhere around $5,000.

We were totaly shocked! And, the thing is that the heater has not gone out........yet, but it is 12 years old and does at time flash an error code and have to be turned off and then turned back on. So I figured just get it done before it goes out. So, we let it go until now.

Seeing as how the three previous estimates were not much different from one another, I fugured just call a local plumber and get it started. But, now the estimated price is rising and rising.

We live in the burbs of DC, in Maryland.

I have read others accounts of being shocked at the cost for service from plumbers and electricians and carpenters and just about any one who comes to your house to do any darned thing. People are paying hundreds of dollars to get a drain unclogged or a new faucet!!

My house is nothing special, a suburban tract house built in the mid 80s, one of the smaller ones, no Mcmansion, for sure.

At the time when we were having estimates done, there were a couple of guys here and while they were here I engaged them to change the cartridge in an old shower fixture in a shower that I had just retiled and redone. I did not want to change it myself because I had seen accounts of these old ones breaking off inside and having to be drillled out. At first I asked if they would install the new faucet that I had righ there in the box, all brand new. They wanted $500 to change the faucet!!! I settled on a couple of hunderd just to change out the cartridge on the old one! I was tired of messing with it and just wanted to get it done. I even had a cartridge puller. But if it got broken off in there, we would have to turn the entire water off and not have any water until it got fixed. There is no seperate shut off for the shower. It there was, I am sure that I would have gone ahead and done it myself. It took him all of five minutes. Ridiculous! There were too many other things going on at the time and i just could not deal with it anymore, so I paid the price.

We do have to have the fan assist on a gas heater because the house was not built for gas service. Gas came into the neighborhood after we moved in and we jumped at the chance to have gas heat. Previously it was a heat pump that left us all miserably cold. So, we went with gas heat, hot water and range. The house doesnt have the vent stack that is required for a gas applicance, so it has to have a blower that vents through the side of the wall.

It was not too many years ago that I would take on the challenge of DIY, but we are both much older now and not as capable as we once were.

Keep in mind that the cost of a plumber most likely includes taking away the old water heater, which can be a a real PITA for someone who tries to DIY.

Sushi’s advice about avoiding the big companies that buy full page ads touting their services is good.

Id just get other quotes. My last water heater was installed by my hvac company, which also does plumbing. I also have a tegular plumber who I trust although I am sure there are some who charge less. Good luck, and dont let anyone take advantage of you!

I think that what I am going to do is to get an electrician in and have them make sure that we still have the 10 guage wire for 240 that used to go to the electric heater that was in there years ago. It looks like we still do . Also, I need to move the outlet that supplies 240 to a range hookup in the kitchen that is just above the breaker box. The outlet is there, but we have moved the placement of the range and now need a new outlet in a new location.

So, I am thinking of coughing up the cost of an electrician to come and do what ever is necessary to prepare for both an electric heater and a new electric range.

We are thinking of going back to electric for those things. The push here is for electric over gas and an electric water heater is so much less complicated and easier to install, especially given the fact that the gas ones needs so much infrastructure with fans and vents, in our situation.

And., with the fan assist heater we did not have the advantage of having hot water if the electriciy was out, since it wont ignite it the fan wont run, and the fan wont fun without electricity.

It is just the two of us and we dont use a dish washer, dont wash clohtes in hot water, so it is just showers and the kitchen sink.

It has become so problematic dealing with the gas. Although I do have a gas range now, it is in serious need of replacing and there is also a problem with having to move the gas cock and they want some where around $2,000 just to move over about four feet. Right now it is not a hook up that conforms to code, although it has been hooked up like it is for over 30 years with no problem. If we were to sell the house, it would have to be changed anyway.

The cost of installlation for gas is more, but the cost of running it is less and gas heat is more responsive. It is all a trade off.

It is the way that things are changing around here. All of the new construction is electric.

Not giving up my gas heat, though! Wil keep that. We had a new gas furnace put in for less than these plumbers are trying to charge for a new water heater, just a couple of years ago!!

No, it is not just me that they are charging such outrageious prices. This is what the area will a bear in cost. So far, I have had four estimates and each one had been in the same range. Just ordinary everyday plumbing service, not high end, just HomeAdvisor Angi stuff.

There is no repair of things done anymore. NOt a one of the plumbers offered to replace the thermostat. But it is 12 years old anyway. It most likely is the part that is at fault, as per the flashing error code. But, I just want a new heater.

Our son in Florida has an on demand gas heater and it works very well for them. I dont think I want to go that way, though.. If we were younger and making more of an investment it would be different. Just trying to keep going right now.

All of these tradesmen around here are outrageous.

It cost around $80 just to have them come out and give an estimate. We spent hundreds on estimates already and have recieved nothing in return for it.

I am going to go to Home Depot or Lowes and check them out. Indeed, these heaters dont cost near the $3,500 that this most recent estimate has for one, and a pretty ordinary one from State brand, which seems to be a popular one for plumbing companies to use.

A handyman can replace a normal electric heater. But I am not that handy anymore.

I wonder what do most people do?

who can install new water heater ?

If it were electric I could, those are easy work, but for gas it's best to hire a professional although $7,000 seems like a rip off. Gas hook ups can be tricky and dangerous (gas leaks/CO poisoning) if not installed right.

I would caution you to be very particular about the installer. I live in a building with 9 apartment-style condos. One of the neighbors had Home Depot deliver and install a gas dryer, and the idiots cracked the gas pipe. Luckily, I have the nose of a bloodhound and called the fire department.

I just paid $2000 for an electric one. A plumber put mine in. I got a quote from one company to replace the insulation under my floor: $3800!! My house is a little over 1400 sq ft. Thinking of going to Lowes and buying the stuff myself and paying my daughter a little to install it.

I know my limits and would not consider doing any of this myself. In the past I have tackeled many a job but not this and not at my age.

We had a bad experience hiring a company to do deck work a few years ago . I have hired very few companies to do very littel of anything. This guy ended up with personal problems and left us with a badly botched job. So very few times have I hired anyone and that was a very bad experience.

Long story....I dont think that was the first time that I had encountered this man. He lives on the other side of my neighborhood and I think that he was one who we actually had to ask him to leave our house after he threatened us. We had asked for a sales man to come and give us as estimate for a retractable awning. This company called us up the next day to ask us if we had a problem with him and to apologize. Apprently this was his brother in law and they were trying to give him a job. We were not the first or only ones he threatened. I honestly still wonder if this was the same guy, now doing his own business.

Who needs all that?

There were mixed reviews of this guy's business that I saw after we had hired him. It looks like he may have been wonderful to some and a complete loss for others, as if different customers were talking about a different person. Maybe that was part of the psychological problems that he had, as indicated by his foreman who came back to try to take care of things.

It is so difficult to hire people and this business of over priced estimates has got me in a tizzy. That is way too high a price for a simple water heater replacement, when it is of the same kind and no configuration is needed. I think that is price goughing.

I am reading of local people who have paid hundreds of dollars to unclog a kitchen sink or replace a bathroom faucet.

But now I think that I will make some changes and do something different.

Wow - that does seem like a very bad experience, claudia!

I think a lot can depend on where a person lives. Some areas can have very limited options for stuff like this.

We called a plumber. Completely installed, brought up to code and took old one away. $2400

Do you need a 50-gal water heater?

A tank can fail at any age, even top-rated brands.

We have two tanks and an electric recirculating pump. We've never been without hot water, and have hot water at every faucet in the house in eight seconds. In 23 years, we've needed three replacements.

Have you read your local yelp and nextdoor reviews? They can be helpful. The last time we had one put in I decided we’d have the best quality water heater we could read about— Bradford-White at the time. I believe I used yelp to find the installer who had perfect reviews and was licensed. He also pulled the permit. I don’t remember the price but feel like it was just under 2,000, 6-ish years ago. I live in the Bay Area as well, where everything is more expensive than in the rest of the country!

I think 6 years ago not everybody had yet figured out how to game the review system. Now, online reviews can be helpful, but not always reliable.

sjerin, I had two similar experiences in the same time window. Both Brandford White units. One a bit over $1500 in lower cost SoCal. One a bit over $2K in the higher cost Bay Area. Both licensed plumbers, both did the work in compliance with code requirements.

The one up north was a larger company I'd used before, the one in SoCal I found through Yelp. Nothing but 5 star evals and many sincere and obviously unsolicited personal comments. He's a one-man operation, specializing in residential repair and equipment replacement. His mother staffs the "office" and handles dispatching and the phone, as she did for his father for many years. He's since done much more work for me. I called him once for a clogged toilet - he couldn't clear it so there was no charge and a referral to plumber with more drain clearing equipment.

Top notch tradespeople with integrity are out there, it's too bad it can be hard to find them.

So true! I wish your LA guy were up here. :)

South of LA in a beachy SoCal locale but the same idea.

I wanted to replace the 3 toilets in a newly purchased house. He suggested I buy them and he'd pick them up and install them. One Toto model was shipped directly to us and arrived quite broken. He said he would return it to Ferguson for me (it was a heavy and not small box) and pick up a replacement. No charge.

I wish I had him up North too!

Bradford White is the brand that my plumber BIL told me to get. Elmer, sounds like you have found some great companies where you live. I cannot imagine a hot water heater would cost $7000 to install! I know that the cost of living in DC is high, but so is Cali!

I have been reviewing them on Yelp and I have heard so many others with stories of the extraordinary high prices. The last time I had it replaced was 12 years ago and guy came all by himself and put it in and I know that it did not cost this much. But of course everything is more expensive now.

A friend of mine told me that she got an estimate to replace two toilets and the labor alone was over $1,000! That did not include the actual toilet! And, that was precovid.

They charge what they get away with charging. This is a fairly expensive place to live but not all are wealthy, by any means.

Just to hire someone for a simple job can be so dammed hard to do!

You dont know if they are reliable or worth the high price.

We do have an HVAC service that we deal with and trust. It is so nice to have a relationship with a service that you know just exactly who to call when you need them.

M.E. Flow has a very good reputation in the DC burbs. We have used them for 30 years. They do plumbing and HVAC. They won't be the cheapest, but they'll do a very good job and won't be outrageously priced.

Claudia, call your HVAC company and ask if they by any chance could do the job and if not, ask them if they could recommend someone.

Here is an update just in case anyone is hanging on the next move.

I called an electrician who came yesterday and did the required work to establish the wiring and also did the work to rewire for me to get an electric stove. So I got both things done that needed to be done by an electrican.

I went to Home Depot and started the process to buy and have installed an electric one. All total with teh extra services of the electrician will be around $2,600. That is about half the price of any of the four plumbers that I got estimates from. But, now I have an upgraded wire for a new heater and I also have upgraded wiring for a new stove.

I have labored over the choice between electric and gas for a new stove and have decided to go electric. This is not a choice that I would have made some years ago, but I have decided that electric is the way I want to go now. We will see. I have always hated electric in the past, but this is a new world now. If I had chosen gas, I would have had to have the gas cock relocated in order to bring that up to code and that was going to have a price to it, also.. It is goint to be a change cookiing with electric. Have not decided between coils or induction, yet.

i had to buy Romex wire yesterday and I was shocked, shocked at how expensive it is! HD has it locked up behind a wire cage. Wow, just Wow! Sticker shock and then some!!! It is my understanding that the high price is due to the copper in it.

So we expect to get a new heater on Monday.

My son made the fatal mistake of doing what his home inspector suggested and flushed his hot water heater. The gunk ended up messing up the thermostat so all he was getting was SCALDING water. He called around. It didn't matter if a big box store was doing the work or a local plumber it was going to be over a thousand just for the install. He did what red blooded Electrical engineers with a masters in Statistics do--he installed it himself. Self reliance is a good thing!