If your water heater quit this morning, the first thing you want is a number. Not a range that doubles by the time the truck shows up — a number. So here are ours, the same flat prices we quote in Indianapolis homes every week.

The short answer

For a standard 40- or 50-gallon tank water heater, installed:

Retail unit: $1,600 to $1,800 flat. The exact figure depends on how your home is piped — $1,600 on plastic (PEX) piping, $1,800 on copper. One-year warranty.
Supply-house unit: $2,200 to $2,400 flat. Same split — $2,200 on PEX, $2,400 on copper. These are heavier-built heaters with stronger warranty support, and the warranty is two years.
Bigger or power-vent units cost more. A 75-gallon tank or a power-vent setup is a premium unit and a bigger job. We price those after seeing the setup, and we’ll tell you the number before any work starts — we just won’t staple a standard-tank price to a heater it doesn’t fit.
Tankless: $4,500 to $7,500. It’s a different job entirely — bigger gas line, new venting, a condensate drain — so the range is wide and depends on your house.
Already bought your own heater? We’ll install a customer-supplied unit for $600 to $800. One condition, stated up front: we can’t warranty a unit we didn’t supply.

Prices shown are our usual ranges for standard conditions and are subject to change. Your exact price depends on the condition of your home’s plumbing, access to the work area, and what the job needs once we see it — things like venting, code updates, or deteriorated piping can move the number.

That’s the whole job — heater, hookups, haul-away of the old unit. No trip charge stacked on top when the work proceeds, no “we’ll see” line items.

What actually drives the price

Three things move the number, and none of them should be a surprise on the invoice.

The unit itself. Size, fuel, and grade. A standard 40- or 50-gallon tank is the bread-and-butter swap. Go bigger, go power-vent, or go tankless and the unit costs more before anyone picks up a wrench.

The condition of what’s around it. Shut-off valves that haven’t moved in fifteen years, corroded fittings, a drain pan that’s rotted through — when the parts around the heater are at the end of their life too, replacing them while the tank is out is cheaper than calling us back in six months. We’ll show you anything we think needs attention and price it before it goes on the bill.

Code and safety items. Some homes need an expansion tank — the small tank that protects your heater and plumbing from pressure spikes. If your home needs one, it adds about $300 to the install, and we’ll tell you why before we add it.

Repair or replace? Here’s the honest math

Not every dead heater needs replacing, and we’d rather fix yours than sell you one. The way to think about it:

How old is it? Most tank heaters last 8 to 12 years. Indianapolis water is hard, and hard water is rough on tanks — a heater that’s been rumbling or leaving rusty water is telling you where it is in its life. Find the label on the side of the tank; the manufacture date is printed on it.
Where is it leaking? A leak from a valve or a fitting is a repair. A leak from the tank itself is not — the tank is done, and no part fixes it.
What does the repair cost against the replacement? A younger heater with a bad element or a failed valve is worth fixing. A ten-year-old heater facing an expensive repair is money spent on a tank that’s near the end anyway.

If we come out and your heater is worth repairing, we’ll tell you that and repair it. The trip charge is $75, and it comes off the bill when the job proceeds — whichever job that turns out to be.

What about financing?

A heater never quits on a convenient day, and we know a replacement isn’t in most budgets the morning it happens. We offer financing through Hearth — you can check your options here without affecting your credit score: https://app.gethearth.com/partners/cp-plumbing-and-contracting-llc/apply

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to replace a 50-gallon water heater in Indianapolis?
With C&P, a standard 50-gallon tank runs $1,600 to $1,800 installed for a retail unit, or $2,200 to $2,400 for a supply-house unit with a two-year warranty. The exact flat price depends on your home’s piping, and it’s quoted before work starts.

How long does a replacement take?
A standard tank swap is usually done in a few hours, start to hot water. Tankless installs take longer — plan on most of a day.

Do I need an expansion tank?
Some homes do — it depends on your water pressure and whether your system is closed. If yours needs one, it adds about $300 to the install, and we’ll explain why before adding it.

Can I buy my own water heater and have you install it?
Yes. We install customer-supplied units for $600 to $800. The one condition: we can’t warranty a unit we didn’t supply, so if the heater itself fails, that’s the manufacturer’s warranty, not ours.

Should I repair my water heater or replace it?
If the tank itself is leaking, replacement is the only option. If the heater is under eight years old and the problem is a part — an element, a valve, a control — repair usually makes sense. Past ten years, put the repair money toward a new tank.

How long do water heaters last in Indianapolis?
Most tank heaters last 8 to 12 years. Hard water shortens that — mineral scale builds up in the tank, the heater works harder, and it wears out sooner. A softener on a new heater is the single best thing you can do for its lifespan.

Get your number

If your heater is leaking, rumbling, or just done, call us at (317) 750-2337. We’re C&P Plumbing and Contracting out of New Palestine, and we’re open 7 AM to 7 PM, seven days a week. The trip charge is $75 and it’s credited toward the work. You’ll get the flat price before we start — the same numbers on this page.