What should a water heater replacement cost?

[VortecJeep]

40-gallon gas water heater. Started pouring water out of it late this afternoon. It's in the garage, I shut off the gas and the water to the tank.
What should it cost to have a plumber replace it?
I called 1 company today, they can come out tomorrow. I asked for a ballpark price on the phone and I swear she said $2500! But she said the technician would give me a firm quote when he comes out. So I went to Lowes and they can't tell me the installation price until someone comes out and looks at it. And Lowes said they won't have anyone to call me to schedule it until Monday.
If anyone has a plumber to recommend in the Concord/Harrisburg, that would be great too!

 

[karatejosh]

I have never done gas one but did my electric water heater in a bout an hour it was very easy those shark bite fittings are the shit you just push them on no welding

 

[VortecJeep]

If it were electric, I'd already have changed it out myself. Don't want to mess with the gas line though.

 

[rockcity]

Gas will run about $2500 to swap out. Electric about $400.

 

[VortecJeep]

Gas will run about $2500 to swap out. Electric about $400.

seriously? The gas water heater itself is less than $500 at Lowes, and that is the one with the longest warranty.

 

[rodney eppes]

Yea! Seriously? I helped a friend change out his gas heater. He introduced me to the new Shark bite fittings. Wow! Made a return trip to Lowe's to get longer lines, cause we didn't measure.
I don't recall anything Hard, about it. He drank the beer, & I turned the wrenches. It's been working right for 2 years, so I guess we got it right.

 

[Pinkston]

I have a gas hot water heater. Swapped it out in about an hour with the help from a buddy. Neither of us knew anything about gas water heaters. There was a shut off on the gas line and I bought a flexible replacement gas line to put in and flexible water lines. Set it in place, put the lines on, fired it up... been going good for 5 or 6 years

 

[shawn]

The gas water heater itself is less than $500 at Lowes, and that is the one with the longest warranty.

I know what you're doing tomorrow.

 

[Paul]

Gas will run about $2500 to swap out. Electric about $400.

What kinda dope you smoking there hero?
Flame away (as you will) and fucking prove it!

 

[rockcity]

I've had the same quotes from multiple contractors for gas and electric. His numbers are not any different than what I've been quoted multiple times.

 

[rockcity]

Oh, an I just had a co-worker get a $2600 quote for a gas water heater replacement in Raleigh area for a 1300 sq ft rental house with what I would guess is about a 40 gallon unit.

Remember, you are 'supposed' to have a license to work on gas lines, etc and not everyone has that qualification.

 

[drkelly]

Since you have gas, step into modern times and replace it with a Rinnai tankless water heater.

#1 Tankless Water Heater Buyer's Guide | Rinnai

 

[GotWood]

That's crazy. I'll gladly come over and change it out for $300 cash. And I'll be making a killing!

 

[rockcity]

I think it's crazy too. That's why I do it all myself

 

[shawn]

I'm from the internet, and I'm here to help.

 

[Blaze]

I had my gas mater heater replaced in my old house and it ran me $1200.

 

[sammi_davis]

They are easy to change, there's no way I would pay that kind of money.

 

[Fabrik8]

Since you have gas, step into modern times and replace it with a Rinnai tankless water heater.

#1 Tankless Water Heater Buyer's Guide | Rinnai

Add Noritz and Takagi to the list too. With any tankless unit, the gas line may have to be increased in size from the meter/regulator for the extra gas flow.

 

[TARider]

I had my gas mater heater replaced in my old house and it ran me $1200.

That's a lot just to heat maters. I prefer mine at room temperature on white bread with mayo.

 

[Ron]

1- Rinnai is great at marketing and makes at least the 8th or 9th best tankless heater on the market.
2- If you can't/wont change it yourself I can recommend a local plumber who will do it for half ...do not call the national guys like Ben Franklin. A buddy used to work there. They had a price list with a min price and everything extra they charged you they got to keep 30%. He tells stories about $4,000 water softner installations and shit. Then he went into business for himself and cant figure out why he can't get work.

 

[Mac5005]

Most tannkless instant heaters will never payoff in the long run compared to a high efficiency tanked gas water heater.

The cost to purchase and install is higher, use more gas, and because the efficiency isn't much higher than a good gas tank unit, there is very little, if ever any return on investment.

 

[zuke]

Welcome to our litigious society... If a professional f*cks up your gas water heater install and your house burns down, are you gonna sue him? Of course you are... It's an easy job, but one tiny mistake costs a lot of money, when you pay someone to install a gas powered appliance you're also paying for the 1 in 100 times that small mistake is made. 1 burned down house out of 100 = $1000 extra in installation costs per install. I would install one myself in my house, but I'm not gonna install one in your house for less than the value of your house

 

[98_tj]

Since you have gas, step into modern times and replace it with a Rinnai tankless water heater.

#1 Tankless Water Heater Buyer's Guide | Rinnai

That is what we did when out water heater went out, well worth the money. The hardest part is the install, you have to run a dedicated gas line to it. we got ours installed for $700.

 

[rockcity]

Welcome to our litigious society... If a professional f*cks up your gas water heater install and your house burns down, are you gonna sue him? Of course you are... It's an easy job, but one tiny mistake costs a lot of money, when you pay someone to install a gas powered appliance you're also paying for the 1 in 100 times that small mistake is made. 1 burned down house out of 100 = $1000 extra in installation costs per install. I would install one myself in my house, but I'm not gonna install one in your house for less than the value of your house

And if you do it yourself without permits and proper qualifications and the very slim chance your house burns down because of your mistake, you can bet your ass the insurance company won't pay and you'll be on the hook 100%.

Is it easy? Sure. But someone has to be liable if something ever goes wrong.

Remember when ConAgra blew up a few years ago? It was because of a simple mistake (by a very qualified contractor) when installing a gas water heater.

 

[VortecJeep]

I'm going to install the water heater today myself, and then call the gas company to come hook up the gas line.