JT Plumbing Services
Hot Water System Repairs & Replacement — Huon Valley & Kingston
No hot water is not an emergency until it is winter in the Huon Valley, and then it is. We repair and replace hot water systems across Franklin, Huonville, Cygnet, Geeveston and Kingston, usually same day.
Call Jaryd on 0458 989 134.
Repair first, replace if we have to
Plenty of hot water problems are a cheap part, not a whole new unit. A failed element, a dead thermostat, a leaking tempering valve, a tripped safety cut-out. We will tell you which one you are looking at before you commit to anything.
Where a replacement genuinely is the right call — a split tank, a unit past fifteen years that is on its second element, or a system that is costing more to run than a new one would — we will say that too, and explain why.
Systems we work on
Heat pump. Now the most common replacement in Tasmania, and for good reason on Aurora tariffs. They run like a fridge in reverse and use a fraction of the power of an old electric storage unit. They are also the system most affected by a cold Huon winter, so siting matters — we will put it somewhere it will actually perform.
Electric storage. The old standby, still in most older Huon Valley homes. Cheap to replace, expensive to run. If yours has died and you are on a controlled tariff, ask us to price a heat pump against it before you default to like-for-like.
Gas — LPG and natural. Continuous flow and storage. Most of the Valley is on bottled LPG rather than reticulated gas, which changes the sums.
Solar hot water. Common on properties that installed in the 2000s. We service the plumbing side, replace failed boosters and tempering valves, and repair storage tanks.
Wetback and slow combustion. Still genuinely common out here, and not many plumbers want to touch them.
Tank water changes things
A lot of Huon Valley properties run on rainwater rather than TasWater mains, and it affects hot water systems in ways a Hobart plumber will not think about.
Tank water is soft and often slightly acidic, which is harder on sacrificial anodes than treated mains water. That means the anode in your storage tank can be gone years earlier than the manufacturer’s schedule assumes — and once the anode is gone, the tank starts corroding.
Checking and replacing the anode is a cheap job that adds years to a tank. If you are on tank water and nobody has ever mentioned an anode to you, that is worth a phone call.
How we price it
Repairs are quoted on the spot once we know what has failed. Replacements are quoted in writing, supplied and installed, with the unit named so you can compare like for like.
Two things worth knowing before you collect quotes:
- A quote that does not name the make, model and capacity is not a quote. You cannot compare it to anything.
- Ask what is included. Removal and disposal of the old unit, new tempering valve, new relief valve, and any pipework changes should be in the price, not added afterwards.
Hot water replacements in southern Tasmania generally start from around $149 for a like-for-like electric storage unit and more for heat pump. Rebates on heat pump installs change from year to year — ask us what is currently available and we will tell you what we actually know rather than guess.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ten to fifteen years for electric storage, though on tank water it can be less if the anode has never been checked. Heat pumps are newer to the market here but are generally rated similarly. If yours is over twelve and needing repairs, replacement is usually the better spend.
For most households on an electric storage unit, yes — running cost is a fraction of a conventional element. The caveat is siting: they lose efficiency in cold air, so a shaded, exposed spot on a Huon Valley block will underperform. We will tell you where to put it before you buy it.
Usually. Common units we can generally get and fit on the day; less common sizes and heat pumps may be a day or two on parts. We will tell you which when you ring, not after we have pulled the old one out.
Most often a failed lower element in an electric storage unit — you are only heating the top half of the tank. Sometimes a stuck tempering valve, sometimes sediment build-up. It is usually a repair, not a replacement.
Yes. Tank water is softer and often slightly acidic, which wears the sacrificial anode in a storage tank faster than treated mains water does. Getting the anode checked is cheap and adds years to the tank.
Other Services We Offer
General Plumbing Maintenance
Leak detection, repairs and inspections that keep small problems small.