Repair, replacement, installation, tankless, heat pump, emergency and annual maintenance — seven services, all of them on water heaters and none of them on anything else. That focus is why the part is usually in the van, the diagnosis takes one visit, and the price is written down before anyone touches the unit.
No hot water today?Call before noon and we can usually be there the same day.
Oregon CCB #229847Licensed, bonded and insured — certificate on request
Flat-rate, in writingThe quoted price is the price, agreed before work starts
Permits includedFiled with Portland BDS and inspected, not billed as an extra
24/7 emergency lineNo after-hours surcharge at any hour, any day
What we do
Water heater services in Portland, OR
Seven water heater services, on the fuel types and the housing stock this city actually has. Each one is a page rather than a bullet, because the answer to “how much” is different for every one of them.
A general plumber treats a water heater as one job in twenty
Most of the plumbing companies quoting your water heater will also unclog a drain, re-pipe a bathroom and service a furnace this week. That is a perfectly good business — it is just not the one that gets your hot water back in a single visit.
One visit, not three
Our trucks carry thermocouples, gas valves, heating elements, thermostats and anode rods for the units Portland homes actually run. The failure gets fixed on the first visit, not scheduled for a return trip once a part is ordered.
Portland water, Portland tanks
Bureau water is soft and low in minerals, which is easy on a tank but hard on an anode rod — the rod is sacrificial and goes first. We check it on every call, because a $40 rod is what keeps a $1,500 tank alive.
The housing stock is old
Buckman, Sellwood and Woodstock are full of 1910–1940 houses with tight basements, undersized gas lines and venting that was legal three codes ago. A straight swap is often not a straight swap, and we price that honestly.
Seismic strapping is not optional
Oregon requires two straps on a tank water heater, upper and lower third. It is the most commonly skipped item on an unpermitted install, and the one an inspector always looks for.
How a job runs
From the phone call to hot water
Four stages, and you know the price before stage three begins.
1
You call
Tell us what the unit is doing and roughly how old it is. Half the time we can name the likely fault on the phone and confirm the part is on the truck.
2
On-site diagnosis
A licensed technician tests the unit properly — not a glance and a guess. No diagnostic fee, whatever the outcome.
3
Flat-rate quote
Repair price and replacement price side by side, in writing, with an honest recommendation. You decide. Our technicians are not on commission.
4
Done and documented
Most repairs and same-size replacements are finished the same visit. Permit filed, inspection scheduled, one-year parts and labour warranty in your hand.
2009Working on Portland water heaters, and only water heaters, since
$0Cost of a diagnosis and a written flat-rate quote
7Services, from a thermocouple swap to a full heat pump conversion
1 yrParts and labour warranty on every job we complete
What it costs
Installed prices in Portland, 2026
One table, and it is the same table our technicians quote from. No page on this site carries a different number.
Unit
Brands we fit
Installed price
40-gallon gas tank
Rheem, Bradford White, A.O. Smith
$1,100–$1,600
50-gallon gas tank
Rheem, Bradford White, A.O. Smith
$1,300–$1,900
50-gallon electric tank
Rheem, Bradford White, A.O. Smith
$1,100–$1,700
Gas tankless
Navien NPE, Rinnai RUR, Noritz
$1,800–$3,800
Heat pump (hybrid)
Rheem ProTerra, A.O. Smith
$2,000–$3,600
Installed prices for Portland in 2026 — unit, labour, haul-away of the old heater and the Portland BDS permit included. A heat pump installation drops to roughly $1,300–$2,800 once the Energy Trust of Oregon rebate is applied. Anything that changes the scope — a fuel conversion, new venting, a gas line upsize, a relocation — is quoted separately and in writing before we start.
Compare
How a specialist differs from a general plumber
Most quotes look alike on paper. These are the differences that decide whether you get hot water today or an appointment next week.
What matters
PDX Water Heater ProsWhat we do
A general plumbing companyWhat usually happens
What is on the truck
Thermocouples, gas valves, elements, thermostats, anode rods and T&P valves for the units Portland actually runs.
Whatever was left over from the last three jobs, none of which were water heaters.
Diagnostic fee
None. We look at it, we tell you what is wrong, you decide.
$79–$149 to come out, sometimes credited against the work, sometimes not.
How the price is set
Flat rate, written down before work starts. The number does not move.
Hourly, plus parts, plus a markup you find out about on the invoice.
Repair or replace
Both prices quoted side by side. Technicians are not on commission.
Replacement quoted by default, because it is the bigger invoice.
Portland BDS permit
Pulled in-house and included in the flat rate. Inspection scheduled for you.
Left to the homeowner, or quietly skipped.
Oregon seismic strapping
Two straps, upper and lower third, fitted and inspected every time.
The single most commonly omitted item on an unpermitted install.
Energy Trust rebate
Registered trade ally. We file the paperwork — up to $800 on a heat pump.
“You can claim that yourself” — and most people never do.
After-hours rate
The same flat rate at 2am as at 2pm. No surcharge.
Time-and-a-half or double time once the office closes.
Who answers at 11pm
Someone who works on water heaters.
An answering service that takes a message for the morning.
This is not a dig at general plumbers — when you need a sewer line traced, call one. It is the checklist we would use ourselves. Ask anyone you are considering, including us, to answer every line of it before you sign.
When to call
What needs a technician tonight — and what can wait
Not every water heater problem is an emergency. Knowing which is which saves you a night of worry, and sometimes a floor.
Call now
Active water, gas, or a tank that is no longer safe.
Water pooling at the base of the tank. If it is coming from the tank itself rather than a fitting, the liner has gone and it will not stop on its own.
A smell of gas near the unit. Leave the building first, call the gas utility from outside, then call us.
The T&P valve is discharging. That is a pressure or temperature fault venting itself — it is the safety device doing its job, and it means something upstream is wrong.
Scalding water at the tap. A failed thermostat can put a tank well past 140°F, which burns a child in seconds.
Book it in
Real, worth fixing — but not worth a midnight call-out.
Hot water running out sooner than it used to. Usually sediment or one failed element. Repairable, and it will keep until morning.
Rumbling or popping from the tank. Sediment boiling under the burner. A flush usually fixes it and buys years.
Rusty or metallic-tasting hot water. A depleted anode rod. Caught early this is a cheap part; left alone it becomes a new tank.
A unit simply reaching its age. Plan it, budget it, replace it before it fails — scheduled work is always cheaper than emergency work.
Rebates
Oregon pays a real amount toward the efficient options
Up to $800 from Energy Trust of Oregon on a qualifying heat pump water heater
Up to $400 on a qualifying gas tankless unit
Open to PGE, Pacific Power and NW Natural customers
We are a registered trade ally — the paperwork is filed for you, at no charge
A heat pump water heater is roughly three times as efficient as a standard electric tank, which in an all-electric Portland home is the difference between about $500 and about $170 a year to run. The rebate is what closes the gap on the purchase price — and it is the reason we quote heat pump alongside like-for-like on every all-electric replacement, whether or not you asked.
Water heater work here is permitted work, and Oregon has its own rules on top of the national code.
Permit required
Filed with the City of Portland BDS before work begins.
Any water heater replacement, like-for-like included
A new installation, a relocation or a fuel conversion
Gas line alteration, resizing or a new venting run
Conversion from tank to tankless, or tank to heat pump
Oregon specifics
The items an inspector will actually look for.
Seismic strapping — two straps, at the upper and lower third of the tank
Expansion tank where there is a closed system with a backflow preventer
Drain pan and drain line for any unit above finished space
T&P discharge terminating correctly, within six inches of the floor
Before we arrive
What to do while the tank is leaking
Five things that limit the damage and make the repair faster.
Shut the water off. There is a cold inlet valve on top of the tank — turn it clockwise until it stops. If that valve is seized, use the main shut-off for the house rather than fighting it.
Kill the heat source. On a gas unit, turn the control dial to OFF (not pilot). On an electric unit, switch off its breaker at the panel. A tank that keeps heating while it empties will destroy its own elements.
Do not open the drain valve yet unless water is actively spreading. Those plastic valves are brittle on old tanks and a broken one turns a slow leak into a fast one you cannot stop.
Get what matters off the floor and out of the path of the water — especially anything stored in a basement or a garage utility corner.
Photograph it before you mop. The pooled water, the tank, the ceiling below if it is above finished space. If this becomes an insurance claim, that is the evidence, and it cannot be recreated afterwards.
Service area
Every Portland neighborhood, one flat rate
We are based at 526 SE 6th Ave in Buckman, which is about as central as Portland gets — close-in SE, a few minutes from the bridges, and inside the city on every side. There is no travel surcharge anywhere in Portland, and no zip code we treat as the edge of the map.
Same-day service available across the whole city, not just the close-in neighborhoods
Old houses, condo towers, ADUs, basements and crawlspaces — all of it
One flat rate whether you are in Sellwood or St. Johns
HawthorneDivisionBelmontBuckmanSellwoodWoodstockMt. TaborMontavillaAlbertaIrvingtonLaurelhurstHollywoodSt. JohnsKentonOverlookThe PearlNob HillDowntownSouth WaterfrontMultnomah VillageSee the full service area →
Free quote
Tell us what the heater is doing
Describe the symptom and the age of the unit and we will come and test it properly, then give you a flat-rate price in writing. No diagnostic fee, and no number quoted over the phone before anyone has looked at it.
A licensed technician, not a salesperson
Repair and replacement price side by side
Portland BDS permit included in the quote
No obligation, and nothing owed if you decline
Questions
Water heaters in Portland — straight answers
What water heater services do you offer in Portland?
Seven: repair, replacement, new installation, tankless installation and service, heat pump installation, 24/7 emergency callout, and annual maintenance. We do not do general plumbing — no drains, no re-pipes, no furnaces. Water heaters are the whole business.
That covers gas, electric and propane units, tank, tankless and hybrid heat pump, in houses, condos, ADUs and small commercial premises across every Portland neighborhood.
How quickly can you get to a Portland home with no hot water?
Call before noon on a weekday and we can usually be there the same day. The emergency line is answered around the clock, and there is no after-hours surcharge — the flat rate at midnight is the flat rate at midday.
Scheduled work runs Mon–Sat 7am–7pm · Sun 8am–5p.
Do you charge to come out and look at it?
No. There is no diagnostic fee and no trip charge anywhere inside Portland city limits. A technician diagnoses the unit, gives you a flat-rate price in writing, and you decide. If you decline the work you owe nothing.
Do I need a permit to replace a water heater in Portland?
Yes. A water heater replacement is permitted work under the City of Portland Bureau of Development Services, and the installation has to meet Oregon seismic strapping requirements — two straps, upper and lower third of the tank.
We pull the permit in-house, schedule the inspection and hand you the documentation. It is included in the flat rate, not billed on top. Unpermitted work becomes a disclosure problem when you sell or refinance.
Is it worth repairing, or should I just replace it?
Under eight years old with a repair below about $350, repair it. Over ten years old, or a repair costing more than half a new install, replace it. If the tank itself is leaking from the inside there is no repair — a corroded tank is a replacement, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling you a delay.
What rebates are available on a new water heater in Oregon?
Energy Trust of Oregon pays up to $800 on a qualifying heat pump water heater and up to $400 on a qualifying gas tankless unit, for PGE, Pacific Power and NW Natural customers. We are a registered trade ally and file the paperwork on your behalf at no charge. Federal tax credits can sometimes stack on top.
Which brands do you work on?
All of them. Rheem, Bradford White, A.O. Smith, State, American, Navien, Rinnai, Noritz, Takagi and Bosch. For new installs we fit Bradford White and Rheem tanks, and Navien or Rinnai condensing units for tankless — chosen for parts availability and warranty service in the Portland market, not for margin.
Whichever water heater service you need
Repair, replacement, tankless, heat pump or a 2am emergency — a real diagnosis and a flat-rate price in writing, anywhere in Portland, at no cost.
