Hot Water Heater Replacement (Bedford: rental, houses, buy)

[new2aus]

Our house has two hot water heaters. One was replaced by the previous owners but the other is original to the home, so I would like to proactively replace it before it goes out.

Can anyone give any recommendations on companies or even brands of water heaters that you've had good experience with? I know Home Depot and Lowes have this service but wasn't sure if it was the right way to go vs. a plumber. Also, I know tankless is the new thing, but I don't believe the cost for us is worth it over the conventional gas version.

I have a 40 gallon gas heater in the 2nd story attic (so I think most installations would consider this a 3rd floor). If anyone can share any experience on cost for a similar scenario it would be greatlyappreciated.

Finally, do most cities require the plumber to get a permit?

[Squirl]

Where I live it is required that new installs on conventional water heaters have a bottom pan and a drain directly outside. It would cost thousands to change the location of some water heaters in old houses on slab foundations and they might have to placed so far from the rest of the house that there would be additional problems getting hot water to faucets in a timely way. Solutions? Tankless is probably the best. But they have to be installed on outside walls and need electrical work, too. If the house has no basement and a very shallow attic, more problems! So replacing the water heater and installing an automatic shut off value on the water heater plus placing an alarm in the closet with it is a solution. I have used plumbers and also handyman to replace water heaters. I've bought them at Sears, Lowes and from local plumbing supply houses. I simply cannot tell much difference between them. We don't require a permit where I live but my experience was that using Lowes v. my own contractors was much more expensive. For my rental properties, I have spent about $500-800 for 50 gallon water heaters (gas and electric) plus installation using my own people. Lowes charged me $1600 for heater & installation about 5 years ago (before I started aggressively pricing things) for a 40 gal gas water heater. Wit that, they also drilled a hole through the floor of my pier and beam house for the drainage pipe....which is fine but it was simply cutting a hole in the wood floor and sending a pvc pipe down; not anything involved.

[Squirl]

I mean $500-800 INCLUDING installation (whole job cost) was what I have paid. I've had 3 water heaters installed during 2010 in different properties.

[ChristieP]

We switched from conventional to tankless two years ago. It cost about $2500 for the unit and installation. No additional electrical work was needed (or if it was, it was so simple that my plumber did it because he didn't call an electrician). Ours was already on an outside wall in our garage, so no problem there. We have already noticed an appreciable drop in our gas bills, especially in the summer months when we are not using the gas heat. We love it when we have guests over, or there are additional people using the showers, and we never run out of hot water! To me, that was the biggest value-added of the tankless! Also, you never have to worry about the tank bursting and doing all sorts of water damage to your house.

If you are working with gas lines, you will need a licensed plumber. It is not a DIY job. No permit was required for this work.

[loves2read]

we consider going tankless when we replaced a water heater in our garage but there would have had to be a new GAS INTAKE LINE for the flow to heat the water--
that would have been a significant part of the additional expense==
Most gas water heaters are not set up for the gas line that a tankless needs for its burst of heat

Check with your city code dept--probably can do it online--would think you will also need a city permit because this has to be inspected after the install and certified by city inspector for safety--and don't ignore that--
if you do it yourself I think you can escape that but think ALL cities require it for replacing by 3rd party...this is what is on the City of Bedford's web site
Do I need a permit to install a Water Heater?
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Installation of a water heater requires a permit. If installed in the garage, it must be elevated 18”. If anyone other than homeowner does the work, they must be a licensed plumber by the State of Texas and be registered with the City.


you need to have someone who has experience with TANKLESS heaters look at your system and decide how this heater functions in your house --if this water heater will see use fairly often and for large volumes of water then a tankless might not be as efficient as a very efficient conventional gas water heater--

replacing a water heater will mean bringing the replacement up to city code--depending on how long it has been there you could be looking at several changes that have to be implimented above the heater itself--
we had to have the line venting the heater enlarged--part of the plumbing had to be changed to copper--the size of the overflow pan had to be changed which meant having one built to conform to the size of the closet the heater was stored in because we wanted to be able to still close the door and not leave it exposed in the garage...

so without knowing some specific info about your unit replacement it is difficult to give a price with certainty...

and having a walk-out attic or attic with a water heater does not qualify a house here as a 3 story residence---only if there is HVAC space on the 3rd floor--a real room--would it be a 3 story house

[Moorhen3]

Originally Posted by Squirl

I mean $500-800 INCLUDING installation (whole job cost) was what I have paid. I've had 3 water heaters installed during 2010 in different properties.

We need to replace ours soon too. Where did you buy your water heater (ours is all electrical) for a cost of $500-$800 including installation? I think I've seen the prices go like $800 and up at Lowe's just for the heater itself.

[Squirl]

Just sent you a dm with appliance store where you can get the water heater and my personal plumber's contact information.

[richard88]

How do you judge that it is about time to change a new heater ? Mine is 12 yrs and probably it is time.
My heater is 50 gallon conventional gas water heater stored in the attic. Is it going to cost more to replace a new one ? Or I can expect $1k for parts and labor ?

Thanks !

[Spree]

We replaced our attic water heater (gas) a couple of years ago. We had to bring it up through a pull down attic stairs, it was very heavy! Also, there is a switch or something in the new one that when the attic gets too hot in the summer, the pilot light goes off. We had a plumber come the first summer to look at it and he said there was a factory setting he adjusted and it worked fine the rest of the summer. But now last summer, we were having the same issue with the pilot light turning off because of the summer heat in the attic. Hubby called the manufacturer and they stated it was the default setting or something. We might have to call the plumber back out this summer (although we are getting a radiant barrier in the attic, maybe that will keep the heat down?) Just be aware of the possibility.

[loves2read]

frankly changing out a water heater when you are not doing major renovations or having problems with it is foolish to me---it is an expensive undertaking and changing one in an attempt to "save" energy costs is just rushing it--

check the heater--if it shows no signs of water leaking around the intake/outtake valves--if there is nothing in the pan--if there is hot water coming from it when you need it--WHY replace it before necessary--

and most plumbers would say if you have not been draining it on regular basis in the past don't start now in attempt to prolong its life/usefulness--cause that will like shake sediment loose and CAUSE problems...

if you are not sure if you are seeing problems you can certainly GOOGLE for info/photos of what water heaters with problems look/act like before you call a plumber...