Tank or tankless
Tankless units cost more to buy and considerably more to install, because venting and gas supply usually both need changing.
Water heaters
Repaired if it's worth repairing. Replaced if it isn't.
A failed thermocouple is a repair. A tank that's rusted through is not, at any price. We'll tell you which one you've got — including when the answer is the cheap one.
What the job actually involves
First, finding out what failed. On a gas tank that's usually the thermocouple, the igniter or the gas control valve. On electric it's a heating element or a thermostat. All of those are repairs, and generally not expensive ones.
What can't be repaired is the tank itself. A water heater is a steel vessel with a glass lining and a sacrificial anode rod protecting it. When the lining fails and the anode is spent, the steel corrodes from the inside and eventually perforates. There's no fix for that — and it's why age matters so much with these units.
If you're replacing, the decision that actually affects your life is sizing. We size to your peak demand: the busiest half hour of your day, how many showers run back to back, whether laundry overlaps with them. Not to your square footage. Oversizing isn't the safe option — you pay for standby heat loss every month for the next twelve years.
We install tank and tankless, gas and electric, and we'll be straight about which suits you. Tankless is excellent in the right house and an expensive mistake in the wrong one.
Signs you need this
- Any water around the baseThis is the one that isn't a "keep an eye on it". A weeping tank is a tank that's already failed; it just hasn't finished yet. Deal with it before it empties onto your floor.
- Hot water running out faster than it used toSediment takes up volume that used to hold water, so the tank effectively shrinks as it ages.
- Rumbling or popping while it heatsWater boiling underneath a hardened sediment layer. The unit is working harder than it should be and heating the steel unevenly.
- Twelve years or more on the clockNot urgent by itself. But a twelve-year-old tank sitting on a finished basement floor is a different risk from one in an unfinished utility room with a drain.
No hot water at all, in winter? That's worth treating as urgent. Call 437-972-3137 — we answer 24/7.
Cost
What moves the price
Replacement cost varies more than people expect, and almost none of it is the unit itself.
Capacity and fuel
Bigger tanks cost more. Gas and electric aren't interchangeable — switching fuel type is a much larger job than swapping a unit.
Whether it's like-for-like
Same size, same fuel, same venting is the cheapest version. Any change to venting or gas line adds real work.
Getting it in and out
A tight utility room, a turn at the bottom of the stairs, or a finished basement built around the old tank all add time.
Rental buyout
If your current unit is rented, there may be a buyout or removal process with the rental company before we can install.
Repair vs replace
A thermocouple or element is a fraction of a replacement. We'd rather do the small job when the small job is the right one.
We diagnose first and give you the number before any work starts. Parts and the unit itself are itemised separately from labour on your invoice.
Where we do this
Water heaters across the areas we cover
Whole neighbourhoods hit replacement age within a year or two of each other. These are the ones getting there now.
Maple
Subdivision stock from the 1990s and 2000s, now on its second or third unit.
King City
Large homes where the real question is capacity — one properly sized unit, or genuinely two.
Richmond Hill
Oak Ridges and Jefferson builds arriving at the twelve-to-fifteen year mark together.
Questions
About water heaters
Should I repair or replace my water heater?
It comes down to which part failed. A thermocouple, igniter, thermostat or element is a repair, usually a cheap one. A tank that has rusted through is not repairable at any price. Under about 8 years with a sound tank, repair it. Past 12 with anything significant, replace it.
What size water heater do I need?
Size to peak demand, not to the house. What matters is the busiest thirty minutes of your day — how many showers run back to back, whether laundry overlaps with them. Oversizing costs you every month in standby heat loss, so bigger is not automatically safer.
Why is my water heater making a rumbling or popping noise?
That is sediment. Minerals settle on the bottom of the tank and the burner has to heat through it. The noise is water trapped underneath boiling its way out. It means the unit is working harder and heating the steel unevenly. Draining helps if it is caught early.
Should I rent or own my water heater?
Renting is common in Ontario and convenient — repairs covered, nothing upfront. What it is not is cheap. Rental fees over the life of a tank routinely total several times what buying outright would have cost, and the meter never stops. If you are staying put, owning almost always wins.
How long does a water heater replacement take?
A like-for-like tank swap is usually a few hours, including draining the old unit and taking it away. Longer when the new one does not match — different venting, a gas line needing alteration, or a tank that will not fit through the space. Tank to tankless is normally a full day.
Why does my hot water smell like rotten eggs?
That sulphur smell on the hot side only is a reaction between bacteria in the tank and the anode rod. Not dangerous, but unpleasant, and it usually clears with a flush and an anode change. If it is on both hot and cold, the tank is not the source.
Get a straight answer on your water heater
Call for anything urgent, or book online and we'll confirm a window.