Tank, tankless, or heat-pump — sized to your home, installed to current code, old unit hauled away. Same-day in most cases for common tank sizes.
Replacement is the right call when the tank itself is leaking from the body, when a unit is old enough that further repairs stop making financial sense, or when you're simply ready to upgrade — to tankless for endless hot water, or to a heat-pump unit for lower operating cost. We size the new unit to your household's actual fixture count and usage pattern, not a generic rule of thumb, and lay out tank, tankless, and heat-pump options with real numbers so the choice is informed rather than whichever is easiest to sell.
We carry common 40- and 50-gallon tanks for same-day swaps, install to the 2023 Oregon Plumbing Specialty Code (T&P relief valve, thermal-expansion tank, two-point seismic strapping), pull the required Portland permit, and haul the old unit away. Tankless and heat-pump installs are typically scheduled next-day once the correct unit and any needed gas-line, venting, or electrical work is confirmed.
Call (971) 293-4200All three are legitimate choices — the right one depends on your household, your gas line, and your budget.
Lower upfront cost, simplest install, and we stock common sizes for a same-day swap. Standby heat loss makes it slightly less efficient over the unit's life.
Endless hot water and a much smaller footprint, but higher upfront cost, and older homes often need a gas-line or venting upgrade to support one.
The most efficient option on an electric utility bill, and often the best Energy Trust of Oregon rebate — needs adequate space and airflow around the unit to work well.
Undersized units run out of hot water; oversized ones waste money. We size to your household's actual fixture count and usage, not a rule of thumb.
Our most common tank install — reliable, widely stocked in common sizes for same-day swaps.
Common tank alternatives with strong warranty support and broad parts availability.
Tank and tankless lines both installed regularly — a solid mid-to-upper tier option.
Our primary tankless brands — reliable performance and strong parts and service support in the Portland market.
No call-center runaround — live answer, on-site sizing, written quote, install.
A real dispatcher confirms your address and situation; we ask about household size and current unit to start sizing the right replacement before we even arrive.
We inspect the install location, existing gas/electric/venting, and confirm tank, tankless, or heat-pump fits — then give a written estimate for each viable option.
Installed to current Oregon code, permit pulled and inspection coordinated, old unit hauled away same visit for standard tank swaps.
A water-heater replacement always requires a plumbing permit in Portland — there is no minor-repair exemption for a swap — filed through Oregon ePermitting under the 2023 Oregon Plumbing Specialty Code. Code requires a properly discharged temperature-and-pressure (T&P) relief valve, a thermal-expansion tank on closed systems, and seismic strapping in two places. An unpermitted water heater becomes a disclosure problem when you sell, so we pull the permit, install to code, and coordinate the inspection on every job — not as an optional upcharge.
Energy Trust of Oregon periodically offers rebates on qualifying heat-pump and high-efficiency gas water heaters. Program terms and rebate amounts change over time, so rather than advertise a specific number that may already be out of date, we confirm current eligibility for your specific replacement at the time of the job and factor it into the quote you actually see.
Moving from a tank to a tankless unit is more than swapping the appliance. Tankless units draw more gas volume during operation than a tank does, which sometimes means upsizing the gas line from the meter or manifold. Venting requirements differ too — most tankless units need dedicated PVC or stainless venting rather than sharing an existing tank's flue. We assess both during the on-site visit and include any needed upgrade in the written estimate, rather than discovering it mid-install and adding a surprise line item.
The most common sizing mistake is matching the new unit to the old one's capacity without checking whether the old one was ever sized correctly in the first place. We size to your household's actual fixture count, simultaneous-use pattern (does everyone shower in the same 30-minute window?), and, for tankless, the flow rate needed across your fixtures at once. An undersized tankless unit under-delivers exactly when you need it most — multiple showers running at once — while an oversized tank wastes money on standby heat loss every day it sits idle.
Not sure which applies to you? Our repair & diagnosis page covers the failures that are usually worth fixing instead.
Four things determine the price on a water heater install: the unit type (tank, tankless, or heat-pump), the size needed for your household, whether the existing gas line, venting, or electrical service can support the new unit as-is, and access — a straightforward closet swap costs less than a unit in a tight crawlspace or requiring a new venting run. A same-size, same-type tank swap with no code corrections needed is the least expensive scenario; a tank-to-tankless conversion requiring a gas-line upsizing and new venting is the most involved. We inspect the actual install location and existing connections before quoting, so the number you see reflects your specific job rather than a generic average that either overcharges the easy swaps or loses money on the complex ones.
Whatever brought you to this page, here's the short answer.
Common 40- and 50-gallon tanks stocked for same-day swaps; tankless and heat-pump replacements typically next-day once sourced.
Cost depends on unit type, size, and whether venting or gas-line work is needed. We give a specific written number on-site, not a vague phone range.
Dispatched across every Portland quadrant plus the wider metro for sizing visits and installs — give us your address for a real ETA.
Heat-pump and high-efficiency gas units, sized correctly and checked against current Energy Trust of Oregon rebate eligibility.
Anonymized case study from a recent dispatch.
A homeowner in a 1930s Hawthorne bungalow was ready to convert from an aging 40-gallon tank to a tankless unit for the space savings. On assessment, the existing 1/2-inch gas line wasn't large enough to feed the tankless unit's peak demand. Rather than install it under-fed and risk poor performance, we quoted the gas-line upsizing alongside the tankless unit itself as a single project, pulled both the plumbing and gas permits, and completed the conversion over two visits — the homeowner had the real cost upfront instead of a surprise mid-install change order.
Licensed Oregon plumbers, fully insured with workers’ comp on every job.
General liability and workers' comp with property-damage coverage on every job. COI on file for landlords.
Pricing on-site before any work. If the scope changes, we stop and re-quote.
Removal and disposal included — nothing left behind for you to deal with.
We quote tank, tankless, and heat-pump options with real numbers — live dispatch 24/7 with an upfront written estimate.
(971) 293-4200 Get a Replacement Quote