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Lebanon Plumbers, home

Water Heaters

Water Heater Installation and Replacement

A replacement is a chance to fix what was wrong with the original installation, not just to put the same thing back in the same place.

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What is included

Water heaters replaced: gas, electric and tankless

  • Removing and disposing of the old unit
  • Gas, electric and propane tank installation
  • Conversion between fuel types where the services allow it
  • Thermal expansion tanks on closed systems
  • Correct temperature and pressure relief discharge piping
  • Venting checked and corrected on gas installations
  • Drain pans, shutoffs and isolation valves
  • Commercial water heater replacement

Signs to look for

How do you know a water heater is done?

  • Water pooling under the tank with everything above it dry
  • A unit past ten or twelve years old needing another repair
  • Never enough hot water for the household as it is now
  • Rusty hot water that flushing has not resolved
  • Repairs piling up on an aging tank
  • Wanting the floor space back or a different fuel

Why it happens

Why do water heaters fail early here?

01

The tank has corroded through

Once the anode rod is spent, the steel tank starts corroding. A leak from the body is the end of that process and there is no repair for it, only replacement.

02

Sediment has taken the capacity

Where the supply carries dissolved mineral, a tank that has never been flushed loses usable volume to sediment on the floor of the tank, and the burner is insulated from what is left. It behaves like a smaller, slower heater long before it leaks.

03

It was undersized from the start

The original was chosen for whoever lived there when it was installed. Households change, bathrooms get added, and a tank that was adequate in 2004 may simply not be enough now.

04

The installation was never right

Missing expansion tank on a closed system, relief valve discharge piped incorrectly, or poor venting. These get inherited from one replacement to the next unless someone stops and corrects them.

Our approach

How a water heater replacement goes

  1. 01

    Size it for the household you have

    How many people draw hot water in the morning and over what window, whether there is a large tub, and whether another bathroom is likely. Copying the old capacity is the default, not the right answer.

  2. 02

    Check the fuel question honestly

    If the existing unit is electric and gas is already at the property, comparing the two fuels is worth doing. If it is not, we will say so rather than sell a conversion that does not make sense.

  3. 03

    Correct what the old install got wrong

    Closed systems need a thermal expansion tank, and older installations frequently lack one. Relief valve discharge needs to be piped correctly. Gas venting gets checked properly rather than reconnected.

  4. 04

    Remove, install, test and take the old one away

    The old unit leaves with the plumber. The new one is filled, purged, tested under load and set to a sensible temperature before anyone leaves.

No hot water? What it usually is

Most water heater calls start one of three ways: no hot water at all, hot water that runs out far sooner than it used to, or hot water everywhere except one fixture. They point in different directions, so it is worth saying which one you have when you call.

Nothing hot anywhere. On a gas tank, the pilot or the igniter is the first thing to look at. On an electric one it is usually the upper element or the high-limit cutout, which trips on purpose and has to be reset by hand. A tank that has stopped completely is not automatically a tank that needs replacing, and it is worth knowing that before anyone recommends a new one.

Hot water that runs out early. Almost always sediment in the bottom of the tank or a dead lower element. The heater still works, it just has less water in it to heat, because the bottom of the tank is full of scale.

Hot at every faucet but one. If the rest of the house is fine, the heater is fine. That is a failed mixing cartridge at the fixture, which is a fixture repair rather than a water heater job.

Heat still working, but no hot water. On a combination boiler that narrows it to the domestic hot water side rather than the boiler itself, which is a much smaller piece of work.

Tell us which of those matches, plus the rough age of the unit and whether it is gas or electric. It changes what turns up on the van.

A 50 gallon residential hot water tank being flushed and serviced

A replacement is a chance to fix the original mistakes

Most water heaters get swapped like for like. Same capacity, same fuel, same pipework, same faults carried forward. That is the fast way to do it and it is why some houses have had the same underlying problem through three units.

Two things are worth stopping for.

Thermal expansion. If there is a pressure reducing valve or a backflow preventer on your incoming supply, your plumbing is a closed system. Heated water expands and, with nowhere to go, drives pressure up on every cycle. That stresses the new tank, the relief valve and every fitting in the house. The fix is an expansion tank, and plenty of older installations here do not have one.

Relief valve discharge. The temperature and pressure relief valve needs its discharge pipe run correctly, terminating where a discharge would be noticed and would not scald anyone. It is one of the most commonly wrong details found on existing installations.

Sizing, rather than copying

The old unit was sized for whoever lived in the house when it went in. If your household has grown, if a bathroom has been added, or if you have simply been living with running out of hot water on a Sunday morning, matching the old capacity just buys the same problem again.

The measure that matters is peak demand: how much hot water gets drawn in the same hour, not how big the house is.

The sacrificial anode rod being drawn out of the top of a water heater tank

Sediment and the anode rod

The county’s limestone geology means mineral-heavy water, and that is what determines how long a tank lasts here. Sediment on the tank floor insulates the burner and takes up volume; scale on an electric element is what burns it out.

Annual flushing and timely anode rod replacement are genuinely the difference between eight years and fifteen. The new unit gets set up so both are straightforward to do rather than awkward.

Questions

Water heater questions

General FAQ
Should I repair my water heater or replace it?
It comes down to what has failed, the age and condition of the tank, and whether it is still in warranty. A thermostat, an element, a thermocouple or a gas valve are all repairs on an otherwise sound tank. A tank leaking from the body itself is not repairable at all, because the steel has gone. Between those, the question is whether the repair is worth putting into a unit near the end of its life. There is no age at which a working heater automatically needs replacing, and we will say which case yours is.
Water is dripping from the relief valve. Is the heater finished?
Not necessarily, and it needs looking at rather than ignoring. A temperature and pressure relief valve discharges for a reason: excessive pressure, excessive temperature, or a valve that has failed to reseat. Thermal expansion in a closed system is a common cause and is fixed with an expansion tank, not a new heater. Never cap, plug or disable that valve. It is the safety device that stops the tank becoming dangerous, and a blocked discharge is far worse than a drip.
My water heater makes a popping or rumbling noise. What causes that?
Sediment on the bottom of the tank. Water gets trapped underneath the layer, boils against the hot steel and forces its way out, and the noise is that happening repeatedly. It is a sign the tank has built up scale, which it will do faster on mineral-heavy water. It also wastes fuel, because the burner is heating sediment before it heats water, and the overheated steel at the base is what shortens the tank's life. Annual flushing is what prevents it.
What size water heater do I actually need?
It depends on how much hot water your household draws at once, not on how many bedrooms you have. The useful measure is peak demand: how many showers run in the same hour, whether a large tub gets filled, whether laundry and showers overlap. A household that consistently runs out is usually undersized or has a recovery rate problem rather than needing the biggest tank available. We would rather ask a few questions than default to matching whatever was there.
Should I switch to tankless while I am replacing it?
Sometimes, and it depends on the property more than the technology. Tankless saves standby energy, frees the floor space and does not run out during long demand, but installation is a bigger job and often needs a gas line upgrade, new venting or significant electrical work. If you regularly run out of hot water or want the space back, it can be a good fit. For a straight like for like swap on a budget, a tank is usually the sensible choice. The tankless page goes into it properly.
Does replacing a water heater need a permit here?
It depends on the municipality rather than the county, because each one administers the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code itself. Some require a permit and an inspection for a water heater swap, some do not, and the answer can differ between two neighboring townships. We find out what applies at your address before the work is scheduled rather than after.
How long does a water heater replacement take?
A straightforward like for like tank swap is typically half a day. It takes longer where the venting needs correcting, an expansion tank has to be added, gas or electrical work is involved, or the unit is in an awkward space such as a tight basement stairway or a crawl space. A fuel conversion or a first tankless installation is a bigger job again, and we will tell you which category yours is before it is booked.
What is a thermal expansion tank and do I need one?
When water heats it expands. In an open system that expansion pushes back into the main. If your property has a pressure reducing valve or a backflow preventer on the incoming supply, the system is closed and the expansion has nowhere to go, so pressure climbs every heating cycle. That stresses the tank, the relief valve and every fitting in the house. An expansion tank absorbs it. Plenty of older installations here are closed systems without one, and a replacement is the right moment to fix that.
Can you replace a water heater in a tight basement or crawl space?
Usually, and it is worth mentioning when you call. Older Lebanon city rowhomes in particular often have narrow basement stairs, low headroom or a doorway that the original tank clearly predates. There are shorter and narrower tank formats that solve most access problems, and knowing about the constraint before the plumber arrives means bringing the right unit rather than discovering it at the door.
Do you take the old water heater away?
Yes, removal and disposal are part of the job. You should not be left with a corroded tank full of sediment sitting in your basement or at the curb.
Will a new water heater lower my bills?
Modestly, and be skeptical of anyone promising dramatic savings. A new unit is not fighting a sediment layer and has better insulation, so it does use less energy than a neglected twelve year old tank. The larger savings come from changing fuel where that makes sense, or from tankless removing standby losses in a household with intermittent use. A like for like tank swap is mostly about reliability rather than big energy savings.
How long should a new one last here?
A conventional tank typically runs eight to twelve years, and mineral content in the supply shortens that. What genuinely extends it is annual flushing and replacing the anode rod before it is fully consumed. Those two habits are the difference between the low end of that range and the high end, and neither is a big job.

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