Ralph Mowery wrote:

I did get a local plummer and he told me the labor he charged was
$ 100 an hour which seems reasonable to me. Just talking to him
on the phone he said probably around $ 800 to $ 900.

8 or 9 hours for labor to swap an electric water heater?

Does that come with KY jelly?

I replaced my gas water heater about 10 years ago. Bought the
replacement from Home Depot for about $400. I think it's 50 or 60
gallon. Disconnected the old one, lifted it out of the basement up the
stairs, bought the new one at HD, put it on a cart and did all the
lifting from the store to my pickup to home and down into the basement.

The gas supply lined right up with the old one - didn't need to rejig or
re-plumb the supply line.

I replaced the cold water intake valve and added a hot water shut off
valve.