Water heater repair and replacement in Chantilly.
Water heaters in Chantilly, 20151 and 20152, from our shop on Lafayette Center Drive, with the permit and expansion tank in the price.
- Permit and expansion tank included
- Tank or tankless
- Dedicated plumbing team
Get your water heater priced
Chantilly goes through water heaters, so we see a lot of them.
Water heaters are a bigger share of our Chantilly work than in most towns. South Riding, in 20152, went up around 2006, so a lot of the tanks there are the originals, past the years most tanks last. 20151 is older, and most houses there are on their second or third heater.
The county line changes the permit, not the job. In 20151 Fairfax County wants a permit and a chimney vent certification for any gas water heater swap. In 20152 it’s Loudoun County, which since October 2025 skips the plan review when the new heater keeps the old one’s BTUs and spot.
Two water companies, one kind of water. 20151 is on Fairfax Water. Across the line in 20152, Loudoun Water’s own report skips hardness entirely, and its website steers you to the Corbalis plant’s lab sheets instead, which read 4.1 to 10.8 grains per gallon in 2025. That’s hard enough on both sides of the county line to lay a crust of sediment on the bottom of a tank.
Loudoun Water’s own FAQ names a water heater part most people have never heard of: the dip tube, the plastic pipe that carries cold water to the bottom of the tank. When it breaks down, white plastic bits turn up in the faucet screens and the hot water runs short. On a South Riding tank from the mid-2000s, that’s a repair worth pricing against a new heater before deciding.
What’s heating the water across Chantilly.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Riding | 2006 | single-family houses, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 8 in 10 | Original 2000s tanks, many past their years. |
| Chantilly | 1987 | single-family houses, about 6 in 10 | gas, about 5 in 10 | Gas tanks on their second or third replacement. |
Chantilly houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey, owner-occupied homes unless it says otherwise.
20151, the Fairfax County side
- Median home built1987 Census
- Built before 1980about 2 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 6 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 5 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 2 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.
20152, the South Riding side
- Median home built2006 Census
- Built before 1980hardly any Census
- Built since 2000about 8 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 5 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 8 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 2 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.
- A lot of original water heaters here went in during the 2000s, and a tank that age is past the years most of them last.
What a new water heater costs in Chantilly.
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 Chantilly usually does.
It’s the tank the builder put in
A lot of South Riding houses still have the water heater that came with the house around 2006. The date is on the label; if it starts with 200, get the replacement price now, before the tank picks the day.
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 Chantilly.
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.
Loudoun County
Loudoun Water’s rules put the pressure regulator entirely on the customer. Source.
How to pick the best water heater installer in Chantilly.
Questions worth asking anybody who quotes you, us included.
Is the gas company part of the conversation?
Parts of Chantilly are on Columbia Gas instead of Washington Gas. It doesn’t change the install, but if a rebate is part of the plan, it has to be your gas company’s.
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.
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Water heater questions from Chantilly.
Is it worth repairing a 2006 water heater?
If it’s the thermocouple or an element and the tank itself is dry, a repair can make sense. If the tank is leaking, no: at twenty years it’s well past what most tanks give, and a replacement costs $2,757 to $7,494 installed, with the permit and the expansion tank in that number.
Tank or tankless for a South Riding townhouse?
For most South Riding townhouses a tank is the cheaper answer, $2,757 to $7,494 installed against $8,886 to $10,486 for tankless. Tankless earns its price when the closet space matters or the house runs out of hot water every morning, and only if the gas line is big enough and there’s a wall to vent through. We check both before you choose.
Do you work on tankless water heaters in Chantilly?
Yes: repairs, descaling and new installs. In Chantilly’s water the heat exchanger scales up, so a tankless wants its inlet screen cleaned and a descale on a schedule, $300 when it’s booked by itself. A new one runs $8,886 to $10,486 installed.
How much is a new water heater in Chantilly?
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 Centreville
- Water heaters in Herndon
- Water heaters in Aldie
- Water heaters in Oakton
- Water heaters in Reston
More from SwiftPro in Chantilly
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 Chantilly 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.