Hot water systems

Hot water systems: repair, replace or upgrade

No hot water? Find out in three taps whether to repair or replace, and what the 2027 gas rule means for you.

Call 0401 956 095 Repair or replace?

Photo: Marian Florinel Condruz / Unsplash

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Cold shower this morning? Start here.

Gas system: check whether the pilot light is still lit. Many units have a small window near the ground.
Electric system: check the hot water circuit at your switchboard — it may simply have tripped.
Either: look for water pooling under or behind the unit. A leak means it needs a plumber, not a reset.

If you can smell gas, stop. Don't relight anything, don't use light switches. Turn the gas off at the meter if it's safe to do so, open the windows, get everyone outside, and ring us on 0401 956 095. In Victoria only a licensed gas fitter may work on gas appliances.

Call Glenn now

Repair it, or replace it?

Three taps for a straight answer. No email required — this stays on your screen.

1 What's happening?

2 Roughly how old is the unit?

3 What kind of system is it?

Answer the three questions above and a plain-English answer will appear here.

The Victorian rule every gas hot water owner should know

If you have a gas hot water system in an existing home, the rules are changing — and it's worth knowing before your unit dies rather than after.

Right nowNothing has changed. You can repair your gas hot water system, and you can still replace it with another gas unit.
1 January 2027All new homes, and most new commercial buildings, must be built all-electric.
1 March 2027When a gas hot water system in an existing home reaches end of life and can't reasonably be repaired, it must be replaced with an efficient electric system — usually a heat pump. Repairs are still allowed. Gas cooking and gas heating in owner-occupied homes are not affected.

What that means for you in practice: if your gas unit is already over ten years old, you get to choose the timing now. Wait until it fails after March 2027 and the decision gets made for you, on the worst possible day, with no time to compare options.

Rebates are available for efficient electric systems through the Victorian Energy Upgrades program, the federal small-scale technology certificate scheme, and Solar Victoria — the amounts and eligibility rules change regularly, so we'll tell you what applies to your job at quoting time. You can also check the current position at energy.vic.gov.au.

Source: Victorian Government Building and Plumbing Amendment Regulations 2025. This page is general information, not advice about your specific property.

The four types, in plain English

Most people inherit whatever the last owner installed. Here's what you've actually got, and what it's like to live with.

Continuous flow (gas)

Also called instantaneous. No tank — water passes through a copper heat exchanger wrapped around a gas burner and is heated on demand.

Never runs out · Compact · Needs adequate gas supply

Gas storage

An insulated tank keeps a set volume of water hot and ready. Simple, robust, and the most common older system in South-East Melbourne homes.

Cheap to install · Can run out · Affected by the 2027 rule

Electric storage

One or two elements heat the tank, often on an off-peak tariff overnight. Reliable, but the most expensive to run of the four.

Simple to fix · Slow recovery · Highest running cost

Heat pump

Moves heat out of the surrounding air into the tank rather than generating it. Pairs well with rooftop solar if you run it during the day.

Lowest running cost · Rebate eligible · Needs outdoor space

Five things that go wrong — and which ones you can look at yourself

The pilot light has gone out Have a look

Often the simplest fix of the lot. Find the pilot window on your unit — you may need to crouch down, as they're frequently close to the ground. If it's out, the relighting instructions are usually printed on a sticker on the unit itself. If it lights and then goes out again within a few minutes, something else is wrong: that's a thermocouple or gas valve fault and it needs a licensed gas fitter. If you can smell gas at any point, don't attempt to relight it.

A fault in the gas supply Licensed only

A gas appliance is only as good as the line feeding it. Undersized or corroded pipework starves the burner, and leaks are genuinely hard to locate without the right gear. This is licensed gas fitting work — it is illegal for anyone unlicensed to carry it out in Victoria, and for good reason.

Sediment build-up or a failed element Licensed only

Minerals settle out of the water and coat the heating element and the bottom of the tank. The unit works harder, costs more to run, and never quite gets hot enough. An element can be replaced. If the tank has gone — usually rust, often showing as discoloured water — replacement is almost always the better call.

A failed thermostat Licensed only

Thermostats wear out; it's a normal end-of-life failure and usually an inexpensive part. One important safety note: a storage system needs to hold water hot enough to suppress Legionella bacteria, while water reaching your bathroom taps must be tempered down to a safe temperature. Those two requirements are balanced by a tempering valve, which is why storage thermostats aren't a dial for the household to fiddle with.

The gas control valve Licensed only

On a gas storage unit the control valve is effectively the brain — it decides when gas reaches the burner. It's a normal wear item, but it's also the point where a fault becomes a gas safety issue rather than an inconvenience. On an older unit, the cost of the valve is worth weighing against the cost of a new system.

Servicing beats an emergency, every time

A hot water system is a machine that sits in the weather with water running through it. Rust and scale are the enemy.

A full service once a year for most homes
Twice a year if you're in a hard water area
The temperature and pressure relief valve should be checked periodically — the sticker on your unit will tell you how often the manufacturer wants it done

What a replacement from us includes

A free, no-obligation quote
Priced before anything starts. You decide, then we go.
All fittings and materials
Quality parts from Reece — no line-item surprises at the end.
Same-day removal and disposal of the old unit
It doesn't get left on your nature strip.
Full installation and testing
Commissioned, checked and walked through with you before we leave.
A Plumbing Certificate of Compliance
Your proof the work meets Victoria's prescribed standards. More about what that means.
Workmanship warranty
On top of the manufacturer's warranty on the unit itself. [Period to be confirmed by Glenn.]

Brands we work on

Rinnai
Rheem
Dux
Thermann
Aquamax
Vulcan
Bosch

Not on the list? Ring anyway — most systems use the same handful of components underneath.

Hot water questions we get asked most

How long should a hot water system last?

It depends on the type and on your water, but most storage systems are living on borrowed time past about ten to twelve years, and continuous flow units often run longer. Once you're past a decade, the sensible question shifts from "can it be fixed" to "is fixing it worth it".

Can you replace my hot water system the same day?

Usually, yes — for common domestic sizes and models. Ring early in the day and tell us the brand and capacity off the label on the unit, and we'll know straight away whether we can have it done before you need a shower.

Do I have to switch to a heat pump?

Not today. From 1 March 2027, a gas hot water system in an existing Victorian home that reaches end of life and can't reasonably be repaired must be replaced with an efficient electric system. Until then you can repair, and you can still replace like for like. Gas cooking and gas heating in owner-occupied homes are unaffected.

Why is my water hot but running out so fast?

On a storage system that's typically sediment or a failing element cutting your effective tank capacity — or simply a tank that's too small for how the household has changed since it was installed. Worth diagnosing before you assume you need a bigger unit.

Which suburbs do you cover for hot water work?

We're based in Mulgrave and cover South-East Melbourne — Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, Wheelers Hill, Clayton, Springvale, Noble Park, Dandenong, Rowville, Oakleigh and the suburbs around them.

Got a plumbing or gas job in South-East Melbourne?

Call Glenn directly for an upfront quote. Seven days a week, 7am to 9pm.

Call 0401 956 095 Request a callback