← Water heater replacement bid calculator
Homeowners search "how much to replace a water heater" and get back one number. A same-day 50-gallon electric tank swap in a garage is not a condensing tankless install on a 3/4-inch gas upsize with a sidewall vent and an attic carry — and a flat installed price cannot see which job it's quoting. Price the heater type, the location, the vent, and the gas or electrical path instead.
Open the free water heater bid calculator
Tank vs. tankless vs. heat pump. Each has its own equipment cost, install hours, and venting requirement. A straight tank swap and a tankless conversion are different jobs, not different price tiers of the same job.
Access. An attic or crawl-space carry adds real labor a closet or garage swap never sees.
Venting. B-vent and concentric sidewall venting are different materials and different labor, and a tankless conversion frequently needs a vent change the old tank never had.
Gas and electrical upsizes. A tankless unit's higher BTU input can require a 3/4-inch gas line upsize; some units need dedicated 240 V circuits and panel work. Neither shows up in a "swap the tank" price.
The calculator does that arithmetic in your browser. Capacity hints are starting points, not a first-hour rating, fuel-gas table, or manufacturer clearance you can stamp or submit — confirm sizing and code compliance with a licensed plumber or electrician.
A same-day 50-gallon electric tank swap in a garage, no venting to change and no access penalty, is a straightforward, comparatively quick job. A condensing tankless conversion in the same house, on a 3/4-inch gas-line upsize, a new sidewall vent, and an attic carry to reach the old unit, is several times the labor and material — before either quote has priced dollars per gallon of capacity delivered. The calculator prices both from the same inputs so "how much to replace a water heater" never has to guess which swap it's quoting.
There is no flat installed price. A same-day 50-gallon electric tank in a garage is a different job from a condensing tankless on a 3/4-inch gas upsize with a sidewall vent and an attic carry. This calculator prices the heater type, the location, the vent, and the gas or electrical path from your own wage and material inputs.
No. Outputs are arithmetic on the numbers you enter. Capacity hints are starting points, not a first-hour rating, fuel-gas table, or manufacturer clearance you can stamp or submit.