Water heater repair and replacement in Arlington.
Water heaters across Arlington, from basement gas tanks to condo closet electrics, replaced from a published price book with the permit in the number.
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
Arlington’s water heater permit turns on gas, and on who owns the place.
Two kinds of water heater cover most of Arlington. In the houses, six in ten owners heat with gas, and the water heater is usually a gas tank in the basement on a flue it may share with the furnace. That spot puts it first in line when a cloudburst floods a basement, and the County says that’s how most of Arlington’s recent flood damage has happened: more rain than the ground and the storm drains could take, outside the mapped floodplains. In the condo and apartment buildings, which hold more than half the county’s homes, it’s usually an electric tank behind a closet door.
That split is the whole permit question here. Arlington wants a plumbing and gas permit, with inspections, for anything fueled by gas, so a basement gas tank always gets one, even swapped like for like. An electric tank replaced with the same type, size and location needs none, and the price book carries the permit and inspection wherever one is due.
Arlington is a renter’s county, close to six in ten occupied homes, and that changes who can hold the permit. The County lets an owner hold a residential permit on one address every two years, won’t issue one to an LLC owner unless the home is an existing rental with proof, and wants a letter from the owner, not the property manager, when a tenant applies. A landlord with several units is better off leaving it to the contractor.
Arlington houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
Arlington
- Median home built1960 Census
- Built before 1980about 5 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 3 in 10 Census
- Most homes arecondo and apartment buildings, about 6 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 6 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.
- 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.
What a new water heater costs in Arlington.
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 Arlington usually does.
Rusty water from the hot side only
Every spring Arlington flushes its hydrants, and tap water can run discolored for a while. If the cold runs clear and only the hot tap is rusty, that isn’t the County. It’s usually the inside of the tank giving out, and the date on the label tells you how worried to be.
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.
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.
After a storm in Arlington, 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 Arlington.
Arlington County
Arlington County wants a plumbing and gas permit, with inspections, to replace anything fueled by gas, a gas water heater included. Off gas, swapping in the same type, size and location needs no permit. Source.
Virginia’s building code lets an emergency replacement, like a burst water heater, go in before the paperwork, as long as the permit application reaches Arlington County by the end of the next working day. Source.
How to pick the best water heater installer in Arlington.
Questions worth asking anybody who quotes you, us included.
Whose name will be on the permit?
In Arlington it should be the contractor’s. The County strongly suggests it, and says a contractor who won’t get the permit may not be properly licensed. Ask before you book, not when the old tank is already on the curb.
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.
SwiftPro delivered and installed a 75 gallon AO Smith water heater. Zabi was very professional in his communication, plumbing, testing, and cleanup. Good crew to move new heater to basement utility room and take out the old heater.
5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Water heater questions from Arlington.
Can you replace the water heater in an Arlington high-rise condo?
Yes. It’s usually an electric tank in a closet, and a same-spot electric swap needs no County permit. The building is the part to plan for: a management office may set contractor hours or want notice before a new tank comes up the freight elevator, so tell us the building when you book.
Can an old Arlington basement take a tankless water heater?
Often, with two checks first. A gas tankless needs a bigger gas line than the tank it replaces, and it usually wants its own vent out the wall or roof rather than the old chimney. A tank runs $2,757 to $7,494 installed and tankless $8,886 to $10,486; we’ll tell you whether your basement can take one before you weigh those numbers.
How hard is Arlington’s water on a water heater?
The County’s 2025 average was 142 milligrams per liter, about 8.3 grains per gallon. That’s hard water, enough to lay sediment on the bottom of a tank every year. A yearly flush keeps it down; a tank that’s already rumbling is telling you it’s behind.
How much is a new water heater in Arlington?
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 Falls Church
- Water heaters in Alexandria
- Water heaters in Dunn Loring
- Water heaters in Annandale
- Water heaters in McLean
More from SwiftPro in Arlington
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 Arlington 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.