Water heater checklists

Before you call. Photograph the data plate: brand, model, serial, capacity, and date code. Note the fuel type and whether the vent is a metal flue to a chimney, a PVC pipe, or a fan-assisted unit. Note the space around it. Count your household's simultaneous hot water uses on the busiest morning. That five-minute exercise makes every subsequent conversation more honest.

At quote stage. Require line items, not a lump sum: unit and model number, labor, permit fee, haul-away of the old unit, expansion tank if required, new shutoff valve, vent work, gas or electrical work, and any drywall or access work. NerdWallet's 2026 figures give you sanity checks — $150-$450 labor for a tank swap, $600-$1,900 for tankless, $25-$300 for permits.

At handover. Get the permit number and the scheduled inspection date. Get the warranty registered — many manufacturers require registration within a window. Have the installer physically show you the cold water shutoff, the breaker or gas control, and the T&P discharge line. Then look at every connection with a flashlight before they drive away.

One thing to check that people skip: ask whether the installer left the water temperature at a setting you chose. Factory or default settings are not a decision about your household's scald risk.

How to choose

Photograph the data plate before anything else

Brand, model, serial, capacity, date code. It answers half the questions any installer will ask and lets you verify the age claim yourself.

Require the model number on the quote

Not "50 gal gas water heater." A specific model lets you look up the actual warranty, first hour rating, and UEF instead of trusting a verbal claim.

Confirm disposal and expansion tank are included

These are the two most common post-signature add-ons. Get them named in the scope.

Ask for the permit number, not a promise

A pulled permit has a number. "We'll take care of the permit" is not evidence that one exists.

Register the warranty yourself the same week

Do not assume the installer did it. Manufacturer registration windows are real, and an unregistered unit can lose coverage.