Damn! I'd call that high! Near as I can tell the standard
HD installation fee is about what it would cost for a new
gas heater installation when replacing an electric water
heater. That's about what I paid for the water heater part
for a replacement package--electric to gas furnace and water
heater which include gas installation from the curb. If you
already have a gas heater installed, a replacement
installation should be (but apparently isn't) a lot less.
Was your upgraded flue due to purchase of a higher
efficiency heater? If so, maybe you should have bought the
cheaper water heater. My gas water heater, installed about
2 years ago, uses 3 inch flue and my furnace uses a 3-1/2
inch flue. And why would you need a plumbing permit for a
replacement? I sure wouldn't get a building permit for
anything I was just replacing. Do you guys need a building
permit to replace carpet, a stove, a garbage disposal, a
light fixture?

Every place is different and has different rules but I'm
glad I don't live on the east coast. Disposal fees here are
low or non existent (a Goodwill type store picked up my
electric one as a donation--5 years old with a 10 year
guarantee and worked perfectly).

I replaced my original electric water heater after being in
the house for 20 years (the one mentioned above) and changed
only the flexible connectors for a cost of about $20. And,
it only took about 1 hour for me to go buy the heater, put
in in my pickup and bring it home. After draining the old
heater it took about 1 hour to install and that included
moving the washing machine out of the way, cleaning the
floor, etc. A neighbor was taking a load to the dump so he
just took my old electric heater too because it wouldn't
increase his dump fee any. If I ever replace my current gas
water heater, I doubt that it would cost me more than $35
and take more than 2 hours including buying and bring the
new heater home and installing it. Thank God, I don't live
on the east coast!

Intrigued wrote:

Easy as it might be, I don't do gas repairs, so I gave the job to Home
Depot. My heater was installed in April 2003, so based on your post, it
sounds like prices have changed since then.

Here's what the charges we

50 Gallon Rheem Water Heater (best heater sold by Home Depot) (12 year
warranty 40K BTU) $298.00
Basic installation (includes delivery of new heater and disposal of old
heater and draining of old heater if needed) $169.00
New inlet valve (it definitely needed replacing) - this was paid
directly to plumber and the price is set by the plumber but quoted in advanc
$45 (parts and labor)
Upgrade flue to 4" as required by code - this was paid directly to plumber
and the price is set by the plumber but quoted in advance $150 (parts and
labor)
Plumbing permit (paid directly to local gov't) $30

It took the plumber and his assistant 90 minutes to remove the old water
heater and install and activate the new water heater. The plumber then
left and had 2 sheet metal guys come the next day to install the new flue,
which took another hour.

The plumber probably spent another hour picking up the new water heater,
disposing of the old water heater, and driving to my house.

The plumbing inspector came a couple of days after installation and approved
the installation. (The water heater was operational immediately after
installation, of course.)

In the somewhat expensive east coast urban area where I live, I consider
this a bargain. The workmanship, by the way, was top notch, although
there's no guarantee that another plumber subcontracted by Home Depot would
do as good of a job.

"Walleye" wrote in message
.net...
Why does it seem so expensive to install a gas hot water heater?
I priced them at Home Depot (GE models) and they want $255 for
installation
no matter what the size of water heater. Some of the models cost less
than
the installation charge!
I'm just wondering what is involved with the typical installation - at
least
for Home Depot.

I still want to price some at Sears but I assume the installation would be
comparable.
Too bad I can't install these myself....

Walter