Repaired or replaced, often the same day. Sydney water is soft, so what has usually finished a unit here is a spent anode or an element rather than scale.
Online Now!·--:--
Sydney's water supply is soft, which changes what actually kills a hot water system.
In hard-water regions a storage tank fills with scale and that is the end of it. Here the tank is protected by a sacrificial anode: a rod that corrodes deliberately so the steel of the tank does not.
Once that anode is used up, the tank starts corroding instead. So the failures we see are a spent anode, a failed element or a thermostat, and the first two of those are repairs on a tank that is otherwise fine.
Which is why we quote the repair before the replacement. Replacing a healthy tank because nobody checked the anode is an expensive way to solve a cheap problem.
Then say so when you ring. On these blocks the carry is a real part of the job and it belongs in the quote, not on the invoice.
On a block that steps down from the road, a storage unit is carried in and out rather than wheeled, frequently down a flight of steps and along a path.
That is a real part of the work and it belongs in the quote rather than in a conversation on the day.
It also applies to the old unit coming out, which is heavier and more awkward than people expect once it is full of sediment.
A wall-mounted unit is a fraction of the size and weight of a cylinder, and it removes the carry from the job almost entirely.
On a property where a tank has to come down thirty steps, that is not a marginal advantage. It frequently decides the choice.
The trade is that it needs an external wall, a flue position with the required clearances, and adequate gas supply, and those get checked first.
A tank tucked into a difficult corner of a sloping block is frequently the result of whatever was easiest when it went in, rather than a considered position.
That constrains what can replace it, and it also affects whether anybody ever services it, because a unit nobody can reach does not get looked at.
Half a metre of extra clearance in an accessible spot pays for itself several times over fifteen years.
On a stepped block the unit occasionally sits below some of the outlets it supplies, which affects how the system behaves and what it needs.
It is not a fault and it is not unusual on this ground. It is a thing to establish before specifying a replacement, because not every system suits it.
Mention it when you ring if you know that is your arrangement. It changes the recommendation.
Sydney's water is soft. The sacrificial anode is what protects a storage tank, corroding in place of the steel until it is used up.
Scale is not what ends a cylinder here, so descaling advice written for hard-water regions does not describe your unit.
Renewing an anode costs a fraction of a replacement and buys years, and where the replacement involves a difficult carry, that argument is stronger than usual.
The compliance plate on the unit gives the date. A relatively young system with a failed component is a repair. An old one with the same fault is usually a replacement.
Elements and thermostats are worth replacing under about ten years. Past a certain age the parts are no longer manufactured at all.
Photograph the plate and send it through before anybody drives anywhere. On a property with a long walk in, a second trip is a genuine cost.
Rusty or discoloured hot water while the cold runs clear. Water at the base of the unit. Banging or rumbling as it heats. A relief valve discharging steadily rather than occasionally.
Any one of those is worth a look. Two together is a unit to plan for rather than wait on.
Planning matters more where the replacement is logistically awkward, because an emergency version of the same job has no choice in it.
Into a drain or a gully, not onto the ground beside the building and not onto a slope where it runs somewhere nobody looks.
On ground that steps down, water put repeatedly into one spot has somewhere to go and something to do on the way, which is worth avoiding.
It is a short piece of pipe to redirect and it is worth doing whether or not the valve is currently faulty.
A tank that empties mid-shower is generally undersized for how the household now behaves rather than faulty. Capacity is drawn down by what is taken in the same short window.
Households change on that measure without anything about the building changing, and teenagers are the usual reason.
Describe your actual mornings when you ask for advice, because that is what the sizing runs on.
Not immediately, and not dramatically, which is exactly why people wait. A cylinder that has begun to seep from its shell has lost structural integrity and will not recover it.
The failure when it comes is the whole contents at once rather than a slow increase.
Turn the water off at the unit and get it replaced. If it sits in a roof space or above a living area, treat that as the same day rather than the same week.
Type and size decide most changeovers. On a Como property there are two prior questions: whether the street has natural gas or the house runs on LPG, and whether the old unit can physically be carried out of where it stands. Both are worth settling before anything is ordered.
| System | How it heats | Typical life | Suits a Como property when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electric storage | An element heats a tank, often overnight on a controlled load tariff | 8 to 12 years | There is no natural gas to the street and install cost matters more than running cost |
| Gas storage | A burner under a tank keeps a stored volume hot | 8 to 12 years | Natural gas reaches the property and there is room for a tank plus flue clearances |
| Continuous flow | Gas heats water on demand, nothing is stored | 15 to 20 years | There is gas and wall space, and the old tank sits somewhere awkward on the fall |
| Heat pump | Moves heat from the air into the tank rather than making it | 10 to 15 years | There is no gas, there is airflow, and the compressor is not under a bedroom window |
| Solar with boost | Roof collectors, with an element or burner covering the gap | 15 to 20 years | The roof has the orientation and the space, and the upfront budget is there |
A starting point rather than a rule. Storage size is about how much you can draw before it runs out, so what matters is how many people want hot water inside the same hour, not how many live in the house.
| People in the house | Electric storage | Gas storage | Continuous flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | 125 to 160 L | 90 to 135 L | 16 L/min |
| 3 to 4 | 250 to 315 L | 135 to 170 L | 20 L/min |
| 5 or more | 315 to 400 L | 170 L or twin | 26 L/min |
| Long run to the fixtures | Size up a step | Size up a step | 26 L/min, no wait |
Quoted at a fixed price before anything starts. These are indicative 2026 ranges, and any difficult carry is in the quote rather than added on the day.
Credited against the repair if you go ahead with it.
The most common fault on electric storage, and a repair rather than a replacement.
The cheapest worthwhile thing you can do for a tank you intend to keep.
Supplied and installed, with the carry and the disposal priced in.
Where gas is available and moving off a tank makes sense for the property.
Electric storage is what a great many of these houses were built around, and continuous flow is where a lot of them end up when the old tank sits somewhere awkward. These are the makes behind both.
We service and replace these systems as an independent licensed plumber. We are not an agent for, or endorsed by, any of these manufacturers.
And whether there is a carry. On a Como block that is a real part of the price and it belongs in the quote.
We find the compliance plate and tell you the age before anyone talks about replacing anything.
If an anode, an element or a thermostat will genuinely fix it, that is the quote you get.
Old unit removed and disposed of, new one installed to standard and warranted in writing.
We can usually be there the same day, and a fair proportion of the time it is a repair rather than a replacement.
Call 1300 381 569On electric storage, check whether the circuit has tripped at the switchboard, because a great many call-outs end there. On gas, check the pilot or ignition and that the gas is on. On any system, check whether the isolation valve has been closed by somebody working on something else. If none of that explains it, stop there and ring us rather than opening anything.
Because Sydney's water is soft. In hard-water parts of the country a storage tank silts up with scale and that is what finishes it. Here the tank is protected by a sacrificial anode that corrodes so the steel does not, and once it is spent the tank starts corroding instead. Nine failures in ten that we see are the anode or an element, and both are frequently a repair rather than a replacement.
It is a cost rather than a problem, and it is worth saying out loud on a quote. On a block that steps down from the road, a storage unit going in or coming out is carried rather than wheeled, and a full tank is heavy and awkward. We price that honestly rather than discovering it on the day and asking for more.
Sometimes, and it genuinely suits a lot of properties here, particularly where the old tank sits somewhere difficult and a wall-mounted unit can go somewhere sensible instead. It is not automatically better though. It depends on gas availability, the run to the fixtures and how the household actually uses hot water. We will tell you when a tank is still the right answer.
It depends on the type, the installation and whether the anode was ever looked at, so we will not put a number on a unit we have not seen. What we will do is find the compliance plate, tell you the age, and give you a straight view on whether repairing it is sensible or whether you would be spending good money on something near the end.
Frequently yes, and it usually means the anode has been spent for a while and the tank has started paying for it. Get it looked at rather than waiting, because a corroding tank does not recover and a leaking one is not a repair. Rusty water from one tap only is a different problem, usually the fixture rather than the system.
A diagnosis and report is $120 to $250, credited against the repair if you go ahead. An element or thermostat replaced is $250 to $550. An anode replaced is $300 to $600 and is the cheapest thing you can do for a tank worth keeping. A full storage replacement is $1,400 to $2,800 supplied and installed, with any difficult carry priced in the quote rather than added afterwards.
Tell us what the system is, roughly how old, and where it sits on the property. Those three answers get you a real number rather than a range.
Repair quoted before replacement, the carry priced upfront, and a written warranty either way.
Online Now!·--:--
