- Response
- Same day
- From
- $140
- Typical time
- How long it takes
- Warranty
- 12 months, in writing
No hot water is not an emergency in the sense that a burst pipe is, but try telling that to a house with three kids in it on a Sunday. We treat it as same-day work, seven days.
The honest conversation is repair against replace. A thermostat or an element on a unit that is eight years old is worth fixing. The same fault on a unit that is seventeen years old is money spent on something that will fail again before winter, and we will say so.
Same day for no hot water, including weekends
The signs, in the words people actually use
If two or more of these sound familiar, you have almost certainly got this one.
- No hot water at all, or hot water that runs out in three minutes
- Water coming through discoloured or rusty
- A pool of water under the unit, or rust streaks down the casing
- The pilot light going out repeatedly on an older gas unit
- Banging or rumbling from the tank when it heats
What it turns out to be, most common first
Written in frequencies rather than percentages, because a made-up percentage is worse than an honest 'most of the time'.
- 1
A failed element or thermostat
The most common electric storage fault and a genuine repair — parts are cheap and the unit is otherwise fine.
- 2
A perished anode and a rusted tank
The anode is a sacrificial rod that protects the tank. Once it is gone the tank corrodes, and a leaking tank is not repairable at any price.
- 3
A failed gas valve or ignition
Repairable on a newer unit. On an older one the part often costs more than half a new system, which changes the answer.
- 4
Sediment build-up
The rumbling noise. It insulates the bottom of the tank so the burner works harder, and it shortens the life of everything above it.
What actually happens, stage by stage
No mystery, and nothing that happens out of sight. If there is a camera going down a drain, the screen gets turned around.
- Stage 01
Diagnose before quoting
We test the element, thermostat, valve and relief valve and check the anode where we can get to it. That takes about half an hour and it is what the repair-or-replace answer rests on.
- Stage 02
Give you both numbers
The cost to repair, and the cost to replace, side by side — with how long we would expect the repaired unit to last. Then you choose. We do not condemn a unit that has years left in it.
- Stage 03
Replace same day where we can
We carry the common sizes in gas, electric and continuous flow. Most replacements are removed, installed, commissioned and running the same visit, and the old unit goes with us.
- Stage 04
Sort the paperwork
Compliance certificate lodged, gas work certified, and the rebate paperwork for a heat pump or solar unit filled in and handed over rather than left for you to work out.
Published, with the reasoning attached
Repairs are priced as a job. Replacements are priced complete — the unit, the removal, the install, the valves, the certificate and the disposal, with nothing added at the end.
Diagnostic call-out
$140
Waived entirely if you go ahead with the repair or the replacement on the same visit.
Element or thermostat replacement
$280 – $460
Parts and labour, tested. Common on electric storage units under about twelve years old.
Gas storage unit replaced — supply and install
$1,650 – $2,400
Complete, including removal, new valves, certificate and disposal. The range is tank size and how awkward the location is.
Continuous flow gas — supply and install
$1,900 – $2,900
Includes any gas line upsizing the unit needs, which is the cost most quotes leave out until the day.
Heat pump — supply and install
From $3,200 before rebates
Rebates change the real figure substantially and we work it out with you before you commit.
If your unit is under warranty we will tell you and help you claim it, even though it earns us nothing.
How long it takes
A diagnosis is half an hour. A repair is usually done within the same visit. A like-for-like replacement is two to four hours. Changing type — storage to continuous flow, or gas to heat pump — is most of a day, because the gas line, the electrics or the mounting usually need work.
Getting more years out of it
A hot water unit is the one appliance in the house nobody looks at until it fails. Twenty minutes a year roughly doubles its life.
- Lift the lever on the temperature and pressure relief valve once every six months and let it run for a few seconds. If it drips afterwards, ring us — a stuck relief valve is how tanks fail badly.
- Have the anode checked at about five years. Replacing a $90 rod is what stops you replacing a $2,000 tank.
- If it is over ten years old, plan the replacement rather than being surprised by it. Failures are never convenient, and an emergency swap costs more than a booked one.
A job of exactly this kind, with the invoice
What it was quoted at before it started, what each line cost, and whether the two numbers matched.
- 02Canning ValeJanuary 2026
Hot water gone on a Sunday, replaced by mid-afternoon
A seventeen-year-old gas storage unit with a rusted-through tank, on the one weekend the house was full. Diagnosed, replaced and certified the same day.
Invoiced$1,750against $1,890 quoted
What people ask about hot water systems
My unit is leaking. Can you just fix it?
If it is a valve or a fitting, yes. If it is the tank itself, no — a corroded tank cannot be repaired safely by anyone, at any price, and anybody who offers to is selling you a few weeks.
Gas, electric or heat pump?
If you already have gas and use a fair bit of hot water, continuous flow gas is usually the cheapest to run and never runs out. If you have solar panels and a decent roof, a heat pump on a daytime timer is hard to beat once the rebate is counted. We will run the numbers for your house rather than quoting the one we happen to have on the van.
Do you take the old one away?
Yes, and it is in the price. It goes to a metal recycler, not to your verge.
Ring us about hot water systems
24 hours, 7 days — including public holidays. You get the price before anything comes out of the van, and you are free to say no to it.
Plumbing Contractor PL 7742 · Gas Fitting GF 3318 · 12 months on workmanship, in writing on every invoice