Water heater repair and replacement in Annandale.
Water heaters in Annandale, 22003, repaired or replaced from a published price book, with the permit and the expansion tank already 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
The typical Annandale house is older than the county’s 1972 pressure valve rule.
Fairfax Water’s rules put a date on it: December 4, 1972, when the Fairfax County plumbing code was amended to require pressure reducing valves. By the Census median, half of Annandale’s owner homes were built in 1967 or earlier, so more than half are older than that rule, and some may still have no valve on the line. If one of those sees more than 80 psi, Fairfax Water will supply the valve; putting it in and keeping it up is on the owner.
Why a water heater cares: high pressure works the relief valve and every fitting on the tank, and heated water expands with nowhere to go once a valve sits on the incoming line. Virginia’s residential code wants a reducing valve once pressure tops 80 psi, with an expansion tank beside it, which is why that tank is on every quote we write and a gauge goes on a spigot before we price. A relief valve weeping in an Annandale basement is usually pressure talking, not the tank.
The other old-house question is the flue. About 7 in 10 Annandale owner homes heat with gas, and in a 1950s or 60s rambler the gas water heater and the furnace usually share one masonry flue. Once the furnace goes high-efficiency and vents out the wall in plastic pipe, the water heater is left alone in a flue built for two. The county’s chimney vent certification is where that gets caught; the fix is a liner, or a power vent tank at $5,957 to $7,494 that goes out the wall on its own.
About one Annandale home in five is in an apartment or condo building, many of them around the business district on Little River Turnpike and Columbia Pike. There the heater is usually a closet tank over a pan, and a leak reaches the unit below before anyone sees it. Mention the building on the call; some associations want to hear about a replacement first.
What’s heating the water across Annandale.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annandale | 1967 | single-family houses, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Gas tanks, often sharing a chimney with the furnace. |
| Wakefield | 1968 | single-family houses, nearly all | gas, about 8 in 10 | Gas tanks, often sharing a chimney with the furnace. |
| Woodburn | 1968 | single-family houses, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | Gas tanks, often sharing a chimney with the furnace. |
Annandale houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
Annandale
- Built before 1980about 8 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 1 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 5 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 7 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.
- 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 Annandale.
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 Annandale usually does.
Rust or water around the top of a gas tank
On a gas tank left alone in an old flue, rust flakes or water stains at the draft hood can mean the exhaust isn’t drawing up the flue. Turn it off and call; that one shouldn’t wait.
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 Annandale, 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 Annandale.
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.
How to pick the best water heater installer in Annandale.
Questions worth asking anybody who quotes you, us included.
Do they test the water pressure before they quote?
In a house older than the 1972 valve rule it’s the first thing to check. A reading over 80 psi changes what goes in alongside the new tank.
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.
Had the water heater replaced and a quote for my HVAC. Both technicians were friendly and helpful. Prices were decent. Would use again.
5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Water heater questions from Annandale.
Do I need a permit to replace a water heater in Annandale?
For gas, which is most of them here, yes, even for a straight swap. Electric can need one too: Fairfax County’s own permit list includes replacing a water heater. Either way, the permit is in our price wherever one’s needed.
How does a new tank get into an Annandale split-level?
Down the half flights on a hand truck, and the old one leaves the same way. If the utility room is behind a tight turn or a finished rec room, tell us when you book.
Tank or tankless in a 1960s Annandale house?
The tank costs less installed: $2,757 to $7,494, against $8,886 to $10,486 for tankless. A tankless frees up floor space and vents out the side wall on its own pipe, leaving the old flue out of it, as long as the gas service is big enough to feed it.
How much is a new water heater in Annandale?
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 Springfield
- Water heaters in Dunn Loring
- Water heaters in Burke
- Water heaters in Fairfax
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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 Annandale 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.