How much should you pay to repair your water heater?

You may seem nervous about the price of your heater repair. Whether you purchase a low-cost gas-heater or a top rated furnace from a leading brand, you can be sure that at some point, it will need repair. Here is a brief idea about how much your heater repair would cost.

On average heater repair costs $268 nationally per service call, with most homeowners spending between $135 – $422 (data based on actual project costs).

If you are aware that your heater requires attention and repair, you can get an estimate from your local service provider. The estimate can be used for preliminary planning. Reputed professions can provide you accurate assessment of work required and costs for the project, before you make a decision or commitment. Basically, the repair cost of a heater depends on any of the following factor:

• Cost for local equipment or material delivery, service provider transportation to and from the job site.
• Costs to prepare worksite for hot water heater repair, includes costs to protect existing structure, materials, finishes and components.
• Cost for job clean up and debris removal at project completion.
• Mobilization time, labour set up time and minimum hourly charges that are normally included for small hot water heater repair jobs.
• Costs for relocating, repairing, modifying and removing existing framing, electrical, surfacing and plumbing services or bringing those systems into compliance with current building codes.
• Costs for remediation and testing of hazardous materials like lead and asbestos.
• General contractor overhead and mark up for supervising and organizing hot water heater repair. You need to add 15%-3% to the total cost above if a general contractor supervises the project.
• Sales tax or other taxes on supplies and materials
• Permit or inspection fees required by local building department for your overall project.

Whether you call a heating company to replace the heater filters, troubleshoot and diagnose a more expensive heater repair, they are bound to charge you a service call fee for the visit.

• Typical service all charge – approximately $49-$200
• Some companies do offer no charge estimates for things like second opinion or if you agree on completing the repair during the same visit.
• The price of heater repair can rise during periods like first freeze or extended periods of cold weather.
• You can enquire about the best price, current coupons or special instant discounts. In case your heater is replaced ask for incentives and rebates.
• A $89-$129 are usually charged as inspection fee for a basic heating inspection.

Approximate rates 

(The prices shown below are subject to change depending on the contractor, place and kind of repair)

• $75 -$150 – Hourly repair rates
• $29-$150 – Replacement of carbon monoxide detector
• $29-$100 – Replacement of standard thermostat
• $80-$450 – Replacement of programmable thermostat
• $40-$200 – Replacing a faulty circuit breaker or fuses
• $200-$400 – Replacement of gas burners
• $250-$500 – squirrel cage fan with motor
• $150-$350 – Blower motor replacement.

You can land up paying a higher amount for a bonded, insured contractor depending on the complexity and urgency in the completion of the project. It is always better to verify the credentials and quality of work before hiring a contractor.