Water heater repair and replacement in Lorton.
Water heaters in Lorton, gas or electric, tank or tankless, repaired or replaced at published prices that already cover the permit and expansion tank.
A new water heater installed with the permit runs $2,757 to $5,493 for an electric tank, $3,379 to $5,485 for gas or propane and $8,886 to $10,486 for tankless. The water heater estimator gives your exact number.
- Permit and expansion tank included
- Tank or tankless
- Dedicated plumbing team
Get your water heater priced
Gas tanks in Laurel Hill, electric ones in Newington: Lorton’s water heater split.
Better than eight in ten Laurel Hill owners heat with gas, and the median house there went up in 2002. A tank water heater tends to last about a decade, give or take a few years, so a Laurel Hill house is usually on its second gas tank by now, or getting by on the first. The label on the side tells you: most brands work the year of manufacture into the serial number, and if yours dates from the house’s first year, price the next one before it picks the day for you.
A gas house is also where tankless comes up. Trading a tank for a gas tankless means a new vent out the side of the house and, often, a bigger gas line than the builder ran for a 40 or 50 gallon tank. Both are usually doable in a single-family house and tighter in a townhouse closet. Installed, tankless runs $8,886 to $10,486, against $3,379 to $5,485 for another gas tank on the flue you have.
Newington, on the north edge of town, goes the other way: median home 1981, more than half townhouses, close to six in ten owners on electric heat. Its water heaters are mostly electric tanks in closets and utility rooms, which makes the swap simpler, with no flue and no gas line, at $2,757 to $5,493 installed. Inside an electric tank sit an upper and a lower heating element, and when the lower one burns out you get water that’s warm but never hot. That’s a repair, not a new heater.
The Lorton Census place, between the two, has a quarter of its homes in condo and apartment buildings and more than a third of them rented. In a condo the heater tends to be an electric tank in a utility closet with a neighbor’s ceiling under it, so the pan, its drain line and an automatic shutoff matter more than the brand, and some associations also set rules on who replaces it and when. In a rental the owner makes the call, and the age on the label is worth raising before the tank fails mid-lease.
What’s heating the water across Lorton.
Census figures for each place, and the water heater that usually goes with its houses. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
| Place | Median home built | Most homes are | Heated with | The water heater you usually find |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lorton | 2001 | single-family houses, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Original 2000s tanks, many past their years. |
| Newington | 1981 | townhouses, about 6 in 10 | electricity, about 6 in 10 | Mostly electric tanks, no flue. |
| Laurel Hill | 2002 | single-family houses, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 8 in 10 | Original 2000s tanks, many past their years. |
| Mason Neck | 1973 | single-family houses, nearly all | electricity, about 6 in 10 | Mostly electric tanks, no flue. |
Lorton houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
Lorton
ZIP 22079 as a whole: every Lorton address. Most of Newington, in the table, has Springfield mail.
- Median home built1997 Census
- Built before 1980about 2 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 4 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 4 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 2 in 10 Census
- Townhouse water heaters often sit in a closet or an upstairs utility room, where the drain pan and its line are what keep a leak off the ceiling below.
What a new water heater costs in Lorton.
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 water heater flush slows the sediment down: $99 right now, normally $199. A tankless descale is $300, regularly $350. Or get the flush every year with Comfort+ membership, $199 a year, along with a dryer vent cleaning, a sewer camera inspection and heating and cooling maintenance visits.
What a failing water heater in Lorton usually does.
The water heater is as old as the house
If the label shows the same year your Laurel Hill house was built, the tank has outlived most of its kind. Price the replacement while it’s still your choice, not a puddle on the utility room floor.
Water on the floor around it
A drip from a valve can be fixed. Water from the tank itself can’t; once the lining goes, the only fix is a new heater, and sooner beats later.
Rumbling or popping when it heats
That’s sediment on the bottom of the tank boiling as the burner or element heats under it. It’s the sound of a tank working harder every year.
After a storm in Lorton, check the water heater.
A water heater usually sits on the lowest floor of the house, so it’s one of the first things standing water reaches. Three checks, then call us.
Water reached the burner or the gas controls
Leave it off and don’t relight it. The warning label on a gas water heater says not to use it if any part has been under water, and to have a service technician replace the gas control.
An electric tank sat in water
Shut its breaker off at the panel, but only from somewhere dry. The elements and the thermostats get checked before it heats again.
Water around it after the rain stopped
Mop it up and look again in an hour. Water that comes back with no rain is the tank or a valve, not the storm.
Call us after a storm and we’ll check it: the gas control or the elements, the burner, the venting and the drain pan. If it has to be replaced, you get the price in writing before anything comes out.
Who signs off on a new water heater in Lorton.
Fairfax County
Fairfax County requires a permit to replace any gas appliance, even like for like: a gas water heater, furnace or boiler. Replacing a fuel-burning appliance also needs a chimney vent certification. Source.
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 Lorton.
Questions worth asking anybody who quotes you, us included.
Will they check the gas line before selling you a tankless?
A gas tankless can burn several times the gas a tank’s burner does. A Laurel Hill house piped for a furnace, a range and a tank may need a bigger line from the meter, and an installer who skips that check sells you a heater that runs short when two showers are going.
Is the permit in the price?
A gas water heater always needs a permit, an electric one often does, and skipping it tends to surface when the house sells. 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.
I had a really pleasant personal experience with Swiftpro when my water heater went out. The pricing was very reasonable compared to the many other HVAC companies I sought quotes from. I highly recommend them
5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Water heater questions from Lorton.
How long does a water heater last in a Laurel Hill house?
About a decade for most tanks, a little more with a yearly flush on Lorton’s moderately hard water and less without one. Laurel Hill went up mostly in the early 2000s, so a tank that’s never been changed is overdue, and one replaced around 2012 is getting close. A gas tank on the existing flue is $3,379 to $5,485 installed.
Could a Newington townhouse switch to a heat pump water heater?
Sometimes. A heat pump water heater needs air around it, cools the room it stands in, and needs a drain for its condensate, and a small townhouse closet often can’t give it all three. We look at the space first and price a hybrid at the house, never off a web page.
Do you replace water heaters out on Mason Neck and in Gunston?
Yes, everywhere in 22079, at the same prices as Laurel Hill. A photo of the label and the vent pipe when you book helps the plumber show up with the right tank, and the estimator gives you the installed range before anyone comes out.
How much is a new water heater in Lorton?
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.
- Water heaters in Fort Belvoir
- Water heaters in Springfield
- Water heaters in Woodbridge
- Water heaters in Fairfax Station
- Water heaters in Burke
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Tell us how old yours is.
Call, or book online and pick a window. The age on the label and what it’s doing tell us most of what we need, and you get the price before anything comes out.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is a licensed, BBB Accredited (A rating), independently owned heating, cooling and plumbing company in Chantilly, serving Lorton and the rest of Northern Virginia. Virginia contractor license #2705192276. 5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. SwiftPro maintains a dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, 4230 Lafayette Center Dr, Suite N, Chantilly, VA 20151, (703) 997-9757. Book online, read our reviews, or see every town we serve.