Short answerTypical market pricing in Washtenaw and western Wayne County in 2026 puts a standard 40- or 50-gallon atmospheric gas water heater at roughly $1,600 to $2,800 installed, a power-vent model at roughly $2,500 to $4,000, and a gas tankless unit at roughly $4,000 to $7,000. Venting, expansion tanks, code updates and the basement location drive the spread.
The three price tiers
Most water heater replacements in Southeast Michigan fall into one of three buckets. Typical market pricing in Washtenaw and western Wayne County for 2026, installed, with the old unit hauled away:
- 40- or 50-gallon atmospheric gas tank: roughly $1,600 to $2,800. This is the standard tank with a draft hood that vents into a chimney, and it is what sits in most basements from Ypsilanti to Livonia.
- 40- to 75-gallon power-vent gas tank: roughly $2,500 to $4,000. A blower on top pushes exhaust through PVC out a side wall. Needed when there is no chimney or the chimney is not usable.
- Gas tankless (on-demand): roughly $4,000 to $7,000, with the upper part of the range for condensing units, a new gas line and a first-time install.
Electric tanks, where there is no gas, usually price a little below the atmospheric gas range, and heat pump water heaters above the power-vent range before rebates. These are market figures, not Temprasure's price list; our water heater installation quotes are flat-rate after a free look at the space.
Why the atmospheric range is as wide as it is
The tank itself is a modest part of the number. The rest is the installation and what the installation has to correct.
- Tank size and recovery. A 40-gallon tank suits a couple; a 50 is the norm for a family of four; a 50-gallon high-recovery model with a bigger burner serves a house with two showers running at once.
- Warranty tier. 6-year, 9-year and 12-year tanks differ in anode rod size, glass lining and sometimes insulation. The longer-warranty tanks cost more and generally last longer in our hard water.
- Code items. A replacement is required to meet current code even if the old tank did not. That commonly means a new T&P discharge line to within 6 inches of the floor, a sediment trap on the gas line, a new flex connector, an expansion tank if the house has a backflow preventer or pressure-reducing valve (most newer Canton and Saline subdivisions do), and a drain pan where the tank is over finished space.
- Venting fixes. The flue connector from the draft hood to the chimney is often rusted, undersized or sloped wrong. If the furnace has already left the chimney for PVC venting, the water heater alone may not draft in a large unlined flue, and a chimney liner becomes part of the job.
- Location. An open basement with a floor drain is the easy case. A tank in a closet, a crawlspace in a 1950s ranch, or a second-floor utility room in a newer colonial takes longer and needs a pan with a drain.
- Water quality. Houses on wells in York, Augusta or Salem Township sometimes add a sediment filter or a different anode at install.
When power-vent is the only option
Power-vent water heaters exist because chimneys are disappearing. A house that converted to a 90%+ furnace and had the chimney capped, a house with an unlined masonry chimney that fails inspection, a finished-basement remodel that boxed the old flue in, or a slab-built house with no chimney at all: all of these need a power-vent or a direct-vent tank. The blower, the controls and the PVC run are what add the cost over an atmospheric tank. The tradeoffs are a quieter life for the chimney and a 120-volt outlet requirement near the tank, which older homes sometimes do not have.
Power-vent units also go out in a power outage. During an ice storm in the Dexter or Chelsea area, an atmospheric tank keeps making hot water; a power-vent one does not. The blower itself is a wear part, and a replacement blower assembly on a 10-year-old power-vent tank is a repair in the mid hundreds that an atmospheric tank never needs.
Tankless: what the number buys
A tankless water heater replaces the tank with a wall-mounted unit that heats water as it flows. The equipment is more expensive, and the installation almost always involves more than a swap:
- Gas supply. A tankless unit can need 150,000 to 199,000 BTU, versus 40,000 for a tank. The 1/2-inch gas line that fed the old tank will not carry that; a new 3/4-inch line from the meter is common and on a long run can be the biggest line item.
- Venting. Stainless or PVC venting depending on whether the unit is condensing.
- Condensate drain on condensing models.
- Water treatment. In our hard water, tankless heat exchangers scale. An isolation valve kit for annual descaling is standard, and a softener or scale inhibitor is worth considering.
- Electrical. A nearby outlet.
The upside is endless hot water, roughly 20 years of service life versus 10 to 12 for a tank, and lower gas use. The honest downside is that the payback from gas savings alone is long; people choose tankless for the hot water and the space. Tank vs tankless in Michigan weighs both.
Heat pump water heaters
An electric heat pump water heater pulls heat out of the basement air and puts it in the tank. It uses a fraction of the electricity of a standard electric tank, qualifies for the federal 25C credit (up to a capped amount) and for DTE rebates, and in a Michigan basement it also dehumidifies in summer. It costs more than a power-vent gas tank before incentives, needs a 240-volt circuit, a condensate drain and around 700 cubic feet of air space, and it cools the basement a few degrees in winter. For an all-electric house or one looking to drop a gas appliance, it is worth a look, and Michigan HVAC rebates and tax credits explains the incentive side.
Repair or replace
A tank that is leaking from the body is done; there is no repair for a rusted-through tank. A tank under 8 years old with a bad thermocouple, gas valve or pilot assembly is a repair, usually in the low hundreds, and worth doing. Between 8 and 12 years old, we look at the condition of the anode, the amount of sediment and whether there is rust at the fittings, and tell you which way it leans. Water heater lifespan and replacement signs covers the indicators.
How we quote it
Free estimate on a replacement, flat-rate price before the work, and the same price at 11 p.m. on a Saturday as on a weekday morning, because a cold shower is an emergency to the person taking it. We tell you when a repair is the better choice. If you smell gas at any point near the tank, leave the house and call DTE at 800-947-5000 and 911 from outside before calling us.