How long should a hot water system last?

A storage tank, gas or electric, gives eight to twelve years in Melbourne water, and longer if the sacrificial anode is replaced around the five-year mark. A continuous flow unit fifteen to twenty. If yours is over ten and the repair is a significant fraction of a replacement, we will tell you the honest numbers and let you choose.

Can I buy the unit myself and just pay you to install it?

Yes, and we will still do a compliant install with a new tempering valve and relief valves. Two warnings. Most manufacturers handle warranty differently for units bought outside their trade channel, so check before you order. And we cannot install a second-hand unit or anything not approved for sale here, because we sign the compliance paperwork.

Why is my hot water lukewarm instead of hot?

Three usual causes. A tempering valve drifting or failing, which limits everything from that outlet regardless of tank temperature. A failed lower element, so the cylinder only heats part-way. Or a crossed connection at a worn mixer tap letting cold bleed into the hot line, which typically shows up at one fixture rather than the whole house.

Hot water repairs and replacement

What does hot water repairs and replacement involve?

No hot water is more often a failed element, thermostat or ignition than a dead unit, so we diagnose before quoting a replacement. The common parts ride on the van, which means most repairs finish on the first visit. When a cylinder genuinely is finished, we can usually supply and install the replacement the same day.

At a glance

Types we work on: Electric and gas storage, continuous flow, solar-boosted and heat pump
Same-day replacement: Available for common sizes if you ring before about 1pm
Diagnosis fee: Standard callout, credited against the repair if you go ahead
Tempering valve: Fitted and set on every replacement so bathroom outlets stay at 50 degrees
Old unit removal: Included, and taken away for scrap metal recycling
Warranty: Manufacturer warranty on the unit, 6 years on our installation work

Repair or replace

A storage unit that has stopped making hot water is not automatically finished. On an electric tank the usual suspects are the element, the thermostat, or a safety cut-out that has tripped behind the cover plate, and all three are a parts-and-labour job rather than a new unit. On a gas tank it is more often the thermocouple, the ignition or a fouled burner. What does end a tank's life is the cylinder: once the sacrificial anode has been consumed the steel starts to go, and a tank weeping from a seam or rusting out at the base is a replacement.

Two symptoms people regularly misread. Water trickling from a valve on the wall is usually the temperature-pressure relief valve doing exactly its job, or an aged expansion control valve, not a split tank. And hot water that runs out much faster than it used to is frequently a failed lower element on a twin-element tank, so only the top third of the cylinder is heating.

Storage versus continuous flow

A storage tank heats a fixed volume and holds it hot, which suits a household running on off-peak electricity or wanting a simple, cheap-to-replace unit — but when it is empty, you wait. A continuous flow gas unit heats only what you draw, never runs out, and takes far less space, which is why it wins on small inner-north blocks. The trade-off is flow rate: a 26 litre-per-minute unit will run roughly two winter showers at once, and more than that wants a larger unit or two in tandem. It also needs a gas supply that can feed it, so we check meter capacity and line size before quoting. A big continuous flow unit on an undersized run is how you end up with a shower that goes cold the moment the heater fires.

Heat pumps are the third option and genuinely efficient in Melbourne's climate, but they need outdoor space, a condensate drain and somewhere to sit where the compressor will not sit under a neighbour's bedroom window three metres away. On the right house they are excellent. On a terrace with no side access they are not.

Tempering valves and the paperwork

Any new or replacement unit serving a bathroom has to deliver no more than 50 degrees at that outlet, which means a tempering valve on the hot outlet, set and commissioned. It is a scald-prevention rule, and it is one of the reasons a bargain unit fitted by an unlicensed mate is a liability rather than a saving. We fit and set the valve, renew the relief and expansion valves with the unit instead of reusing tired ones, take the old tank away, and issue the compliance paperwork for the installation.