On Tue, 24 Sep 2019 20:20:55 -0400, Home Guy wrote:

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.
Here a good 40 gallon (50 gallon US) gas heater is just shy of $900.
An electric is about $600 with 9 year warranty.

If I have to replace my gas heater, as long as I buy the same model it
is less than a half hour to change it - not counting hauling the old
one out and the new one in. No soldering required.
And none of that hokey flex line crap.

Replacing an electric is about the same - and adding a "disconnect" if
required might add 20 minutes - not counting the 5 minute drive to
Home Despot or the localhardware store to pick it up.

It almost takes longer to get a water heater out of it's box than it
does to install it.

Now, if you are replacing with a different brand and the connections
don't line up - - - - - - well it can turn into an all day job in a
hurry - - - - - - .