If you’re new to tankless water heaters, you’ve probably heard the terms isolation valves or service valves thrown around here and there. The terms are used interchangeably, but let’s roll with isolation valves for now. While isolation valves are crucial to performing maintenance on your tankless water, they’re hardly ever included in the box, making cost a bit of a concern.
After 15 years of installing tankless water heaters, we’ve learned that providing isolation valves to homeowners is the best way to ensure they can service their tankless water heaters annually. Because we provide isolation valves to our customers, we have insight into how much you can expect to pay if your contractor doesn’t offer them.
By the end of this article, you’ll understand how much isolation valves cost on their own, how much they cost with installation from other contractors, and what they do for your home.
Let’s start by getting right to the cost of isolation valves on their own.
Cost of Isolation Valves Without Installation
If you’re looking to have a tankless water heater installed, you’ll want to grab some isolation valves. The only hitch is that some contractors don’t provide these parts as a part of the installation.
If you were to grab a pair of isolation valves yourself, you’d be looking at a cost of $100 to $150. Not bad, right? Unfortunately, you still need to install them. Installing isolation valves is a job best left to a professional since you can’t really afford to install these incorrectly.
So, how much does it cost to install isolation valves? Well, it definitely isn’t the cheapest job.
Cost of Installing Isolation Valves
If isolation valve installation isn’t included, you’re looking at quite a bit more than the initial $100 to $150 retail price. Typically, you can expect to pay anywhere from $400 to $700 for a contractor to install isolation valves.
Seeing this number might tempt you to install isolation valves yourself. Still, given their importance to the health of your tankless water heater, it’s recommended you let a licensed contractor do the heavy lifting. Proper installation will ensure your tankless water heater operates correctly and doesn’t leave you hanging on a cold morning.
But why do you even need isolation valves? If they don’t come in the box, they can’t be that important, right? Not quite. Let’s find out why.
Why Isolation Valves Are Important
Diving right in, isolation valves are important because they allow technicians to service your tankless water heater. Without them, the technician can’t get into your tankless water heater to perform maintenance.
If your technician can’t access your system for maintenance, hard water build-up will accumulate. This type of build-up leads to early breakdowns, leaks, dips in efficiency, and colder water than a clean unit.
Isolation valves provide an entry point for your technician to flush out your tankless water heater with a special solution to clean out the inside of the tankless water heater. The valves are installed where the hot and cold water enters the tankless water heater.
Closing the valves isolates the tankless water heater from the rest of the house. During this point in maintenance, the whole house will still have cold water but won’t have access to hot water.
It’s a minor inconvenience you’ll only have to put up with once a year. Compared to having your tankless water heater break down, an hour or so of cold water is typically preferable and definitely cheaper.
Installing isolation valves will save you money in the long run by preventing those potential early breakdowns. While installing isolation valves can put a small dent in your budget depending on where you started, it’s more than worth it considering you’ll improve the longevity of your tankless water heater.
What Do You Think About Isolation Valves?
By now, you’ve got a clear picture of what to expect when deciding on isolation valves. Over the course of this article, we’ve touched on the cost of isolation valves on their own and with installation, as well as why they’re so important to maintaining your tankless water heater. You’ll be able to make an informed call on whether you’d like to install these parts or not without wondering if you made the right call.
We know the importance of isolation valves from first-hand experience, which is why we include them with every installation. Having isolation valves will make your life easier in the long run and won’t leave you guessing as to when your tankless water heater will break down on you. To have isolation valves installed, give us a call at (310) 853- 8690 or visit us online at our tankless water heaters page, or click the button below to book a consultation.
If you’re still new to tankless water heaters and aren’t quite sure about them yet, it’s worth considering whether they’re right for you. You can also check out our Ultimate Tankless Guide to find answers to some of the most common questions asked by customers.
