Water heater repair and replacement in Alexandria.
Water heaters in the City of Alexandria and the Fairfax County side, repaired or replaced with the permit already in the price.
- Permit and expansion tank included
- Tank or tankless
- Dedicated plumbing team
Get your water heater priced
Two water companies and two permit rules in one Alexandria.
The city line splits the water. The City of Alexandria is on Virginia American Water, which buys from Fairfax Water and reported 4.6 to 11.2 grains per gallon in 2025; the Fairfax County side takes Fairfax Water directly, 3 to 10.8. Hard enough, on either side, to leave sediment in a tank year after year.
It splits the paperwork too. On the Fairfax County side a gas water heater needs a permit and a chimney vent certification even when it’s a straight swap. Inside the City the state rule applies: gas takes a permit, a like-for-like electric tank doesn’t. And in the older City houses, a furnace that’s gone high-efficiency and vents out the wall can strand the water heater on a chimney that’s now too big for it.
On the county side, Franconia and Woodlawn lean electric, so their water heaters usually do too, which makes a replacement there the simpler kind: no flue, no gas line. Rose Hill and Fort Hunt lean gas, back to the chimney question.
What’s heating the water across Alexandria.
Census figures for the owner-occupied homes in each place, and the water heater that usually goes with them.
| Place | Median home built | Most homes are | Heated with | The water heater you usually find |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Alexandria | 1970 | condo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | Condo closets: mostly electric tanks. |
| Rose Hill | 1969 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Gas tanks, often sharing a chimney with the furnace. |
| Franconia | 1986 | townhouses, about 5 in 10 | electricity, about 6 in 10 | Mostly electric tanks, no flue. |
| Fort Hunt | 1963 | single-family houses, nearly all | gas, about 8 in 10 | Gas tanks, often sharing a chimney with the furnace. |
| Kingstowne | 1994 | townhouses, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Tanks in closets and upstairs rooms: the pan matters. |
| Woodlawn | 1976 | townhouses, about 4 in 10 | electricity, about 6 in 10 | Mostly electric tanks, no flue. |
| Lincolnia | 1982 | single-family houses, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Gas tanks on their second or third replacement. |
| Mount Vernon | 1967 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Gas tanks, often sharing a chimney with the furnace. |
Alexandria houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey, owner-occupied homes unless it says otherwise.
The City of Alexandria
- Median home built1970 Census
- Built before 1980about 6 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes arecondo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 6 in 10 Census
- Where the heat is electric the water heater usually is too, and that’s the simpler swap: no flue and no gas line to deal with.
- In older houses the gas water heater often shares a chimney with the furnace, and a new high-efficiency furnace can leave it alone on a flue that’s too big.
The Fairfax County side
- Built before 1980about 5 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 1 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 4 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 3 in 10 Census
- Most houses here heat with gas, so most water heaters are gas tanks, and replacing one takes a permit even like for like.
What a new water heater costs in Alexandria.
Installed, from our water heater estimator, which is the price book. Everything is in the number: the permit and the inspection, the expansion tank, the drain pan, hauling the old one away, and the labor.
- Electric tank, installed$2,757 to $5,493
- Gas or propane tank, installed$3,379 to $5,485
- Power vent tank, installed$5,957 to $7,494
- Tankless, installed$8,886 to $10,486
How the house vents picks the row; where you land inside it is the tank size and the warranty. A hybrid heat pump water heater is quoted at the visit, never from a page.
Keeping the one you have? A yearly flush slows the sediment down; our water heater flush page has the details for your water.
What a failing water heater in Alexandria usually does.
A stain on the ceiling below
In a City condo, a water heater leak usually shows up on the neighbor’s ceiling before you see it. The drain pan under the tank and the line out of it are what catch it.
The pilot won’t stay lit
On a gas tank that’s usually the thermocouple or the gas valve, both repairs. A burner that lights but smells of exhaust is different: shut it off and call.
Warm, never hot, on an electric tank
An electric tank has two elements. When one fails the water still warms, just never all the way; it’s a common, fixable part.
Who signs off on a new water heater in Alexandria.
Fairfax County
Virginia lets emergency replacement work start first, with the permit application in by the end of the next working day. Source.
Fairfax Water promises 20 psi at the main and no uniform pressure, and the pressure reducing valve on your side of the meter is yours to buy and keep up. Over 80 psi, the Virginia Residential Code calls for one, and an expansion tank with it. Source.
How to pick the best water heater installer in Alexandria.
Questions worth asking anybody who quotes you, us included.
Do they check the flue when the furnace was replaced?
In an older Alexandria house the water heater may be venting up a chimney that used to carry the furnace too. A new tank on that flue needs a look at the chimney, not just a connection.
Is the permit in the price?
Replacing a water heater is permitted work here, and skipping the permit tends to surface when the house is sold. Ask whether the quote includes it and the inspection.
Is there an expansion tank in the quote?
Most houses here have a check valve or a pressure reducer on the incoming line, so the heated water has nowhere to go. An expansion tank gives it somewhere, and leaving it out is how quotes come in low.
Will they tell you when a repair will do?
A thermocouple, an element or a valve is a repair, not a new heater. A good plumber says so, and saves the replacement talk for a leaking tank.
What our customers say.
Hard to find service like this in Alexandria.
…we had swift and professional responses for multiple plumbing and HVAC needs in our Rosemont Alexandria condo
I would gladly recommend them to anyone in the greater Fairfax/Alexandria area without reservation.
5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Water heater questions from Alexandria.
Do I need a permit to replace a water heater in Alexandria?
Depends which side of the city line you’re on. On the Fairfax County side, a gas water heater always does, plus a chimney vent certification. In the City, gas does and a like-for-like electric tank doesn’t. Ours include the permit either way.
Can you replace the water heater in a City condo?
Yes. Most condo water heaters are electric tanks in a closet, and the drain pan under one is what protects the unit below. Some buildings want notice or have their own rules, so tell us the building when you book.
Is Alexandria’s water hard enough to matter for a water heater?
It’s moderately hard to hard on both sides of the line: 4.6 to 11.2 grains per gallon in the City in 2025 and 3 to 10.8 on the county side. That builds sediment in a tank every year, which is what the yearly flush is for.
How much is a new water heater in Alexandria?
Installed, with the permit, the expansion tank, the pan and the haul-away: an electric tank $2,757 to $5,493, a gas or propane tank on the flue you have $3,379 to $5,485, a power vent tank $5,957 to $7,494, and a tankless unit $8,886 to $10,486. The estimator gives your exact number in about a minute.
Water heaters in the towns next door.
More from SwiftPro in Alexandria
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