Hi all,

Did not want to hijack another thread entirely. First quote:

80 gallon unit, 8 year warranty plus 10 feet of exhaust pipe to get to code, quoted at $4500, inclusive of labor, equipment and warranty.

My question is, is this reasonable??

I was expecting ~3000

$3k would be reasonable in NC, and that is, precisely, what I paid last summer in NC for all inclusive installation of a 50gal HE gas water heater with a new flue installed through the wall. I suspect that $4.5k may be the "market rate" in Boston, MA for an 80gal water heater. .... Are you replacing an 80gal heater? Unless your home has 5+ bedrooms, I would say that 50gal would be the usual choice - modern water heaters have a fairly high recovery rate, so in many respects the number of bathrooms (the peak demand in a short time frame) is more relevant than the number of bedrooms or people living in a home.

I did an electric one a year ago, brought a 50 Gallon Rheem Smart Water Heater for about $634 + Tax. Pickup from HD, and install including plumbing and taking away old one was $700. This is a pretty simple task, I could probably do it myself with another strong person if I had it delivered.

Now if your talking about gas it gets way more expensive, my boiler and water heater replacement was $12k+ back in 2015 in Lower FFC CT, so likely more now. How much is the unit, is it more or less than 50% of the quote?

He is talking about gas, unless you can think of a reason why an electric water heater would require (per post #1) "... 10 feet of exhaust pipe to get to code".

Yes, correct! Gas!

I paid $1500 for a 40 Gallon tank in 2015. The tank is in my garage though so that reduces the labor cost somewhat. Here is NC we have quite alot of houses that have their tank in the attic and that pushes labor cost up quite a bit.

maybe on a electric heat pump water heater, not sure either way unless the OP gives details of what he is quoted on no one can really compact to costs paid.

I wanted to go with one of these but they are take than the space I have in the existing space :



https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rheem-Pe...45U0/312742081

Limited info on the quote (getting a second one also). Gas water heater, 78 gallons, 8 year warranty and ten feet of exhaust pipe to get to code. That is it (inc labor).

Do they mention the brand and model of the water heater? With some of them the warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on. Not to mention they vary wildly in price.

my guy always gives me 2 or 3 different options and all the model numbers so I can research and when applicable rebates that apply.

If you buy a reputable brand you'd have to be very unlucky for a basic water heater to not last at least 3-4 times the standard 6 year warranty* on most water heaters. There are few or no moving parts in a water heate, and other than the thermocouple on a gas heater there isn't much that could go wrong with them. .... Eventually they rust through somewhere and start leaking.

* A warranty is just a bet by the manufacturer that their product will last that long, and they're unlikely to offer to make that bet if they don't expect to win it. Even without replacing the anode rod, round here (NC) water heaters seem to typically last around 25 years. On the broader issue of domestic appliances, I have only ever had one, a washing machine, fail within the five year extended warranty period, which confirms my strategy of never buying an extended warranty on a domestic appliance . Even after unexpectedly having to buy another washing machine, I believe I am still "up" by somewhere around $4k-$5k by not buying extended warranties.

Why 80 gallons? Just curious.

How many bathrooms and people living in house. 80 gallons is Huge.

Stored water heater as opposed to tankless??

Stored, 2nd quote coming on Friday, have a better feel about them, more upfront about costs. Will update then as well!

Our zip code doesnt help either