3R Plumbing + Mechanical · Norwell, MA
Will you run out of hot water?
Tell us what a busy morning looks like at your house. We will show you how long your tank lasts, whether tankless fixes it, and what each one costs to own.
01 What do you have now?
If you are not sure of the size, it is printed on the label on the front of the tank.
Tank size
What heats it
02 What runs at the same time?
Tap everything that might be going at once on your worst morning.
Time of year
Choose your setup above
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03 What each one costs
Roughly what your household uses in a year, plus typical installed price ranges for the South Shore.
People in the house
How much hot water you go through
04 Which one is right for your house
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
You run out of hot water now, you want the floor space back, or you plan to stay in the house long enough for the 20-year life to pay you back. It needs a bigger gas line and new venting, so the install costs more up front.
Your hot water is fine, the budget is tight, or the unit died today and you need it back tonight. A right-sized tank is still the cheapest way to get hot water in the house.
You are on electric now and paying for it. It uses roughly a quarter of the electricity of an electric tank and Mass Save rebates are strong. It needs about 700 cubic feet of space, a drain for condensate, and it cools whatever room it sits in.
Big house, big tub, several showers at once. One tankless cannot always cover it. We size it before we sell it, so you are not guessing.
Want the real numbers for your house?
We look at your gas meter, panel, venting path, and fixtures, then quote it flat.
Call 781-974-5239MA Master Plumber PL17071-M · veteran owned · serving the South Shore
See the assumptions, or change the rates we used
- A shower is figured at 2.1 gallons a minute of 105°F water, a tub at 4.0, laundry at 2.0, the kitchen sink at 1.5, a dishwasher at 1.0.
- A tank gives up about 70 percent of its size as truly usable hot water before the temperature drops off, and it reheats while you draw, which is why the timer is not simply the tank size divided by the flow.
- Incoming water is figured at 52°F most of the year, or 43°F in winter. Colder water means a tank empties faster and a tankless makes fewer gallons a minute.
- Installed price ranges are typical South Shore jobs including venting, permit, and haul-away: gas tank $2,900 to $3,900, electric tank $2,200 to $3,100, gas tankless $5,500 to $7,800, heat pump $4,600 to $6,200 before a $750 Mass Save rebate. Where you land in a range depends on the work behind the unit, not the unit itself. Tankless has the widest spread because a straight swap where the gas line and venting already suit it sits near the bottom, while upsizing gas from the meter and running new stainless venting through finished space sits near the top.
- Twenty-year totals include replacing the unit when it wears out, yearly descaling on tankless, and energy prices rising 3 percent a year. Tanks are figured at 12 years, heat pumps 14, tankless 20. The low end of each total assumes the low installed price both times, the high end assumes the high price both times, so the real answer usually sits inside the range.
- These are estimates to help you compare, not a quote.
3R Plumbing + Mechanical LLC · 77 Accord Park Drive, Suite D6, Norwell, MA 02061 · 781-974-5239
Estimates only. Your actual results depend on fixture flow rates, water quality, and install conditions.