Hot water system replacement and repairs on the Central Coast

ZC Plumbing replaces and repairs hot water systems across the Central Coast from Terrigal to Gosford, usually on the day you call, and installs more than 100 a year. We fit Rinnai, Rheem, Thermann and Vulcan in electric, gas storage and continuous flow.

The old unit goes on the truck, a new tempering valve goes in, and the compliance certificate is lodged. Across Australia a like-for-like replacement costs $1,000 to $4,500 installed and takes two to four hours.

Call 0476 000 533 for a figure on the phone.

ZC is based in Terrigal and works across Terrigal, Wamberal, Avoca Beach, Erina, Kincumber and Gosford, the peninsula out to Killcare, and the rest of the suburbs on our areas we serve list, with property managers and retirement villages further up the Coast.

Most calls start the same way, "my hot water system seems to be leaking". A storage tank lasts eight to twelve years, a little longer for electric, and on the beachside strip from Wamberal to Avoca the salt air takes a few years off the casing, so ten is the age to start watching. Running out of hot water sooner than you used to, rusty or discoloured water, rumbling from the tank and a wet patch at the base are the signs.

A drip from the relief valve is normal. Water at the base of the tank means the tank has gone, and that's a replacement, not a repair. If it's pouring out right now, the emergency page tells you which valve to turn off first.

Not every problem is a new unit. Elements, thermostats, tempering valves, pressure relief valves and anodes on Rheem, Vulcan and Rinnai systems are one-visit repairs when the tank itself is sound. The rule of thumb is that a unit under eight years old with one failed part is worth repairing, and a unit over ten with any leak from the tank isn't. We'll tell you which from a photo of the unit and its label, on the phone, before anyone drives out.

Electric storage is the cheapest to buy and the dearest to run, and it's what most Central Coast houses have now. Gas storage heats faster and costs less to run where natural gas is connected. Continuous flow gas gives unlimited hot water and frees up the space the tank took, but it draws far more gas than a tank and sometimes needs the meter upgraded, which our gas fitting side arranges.

Heat pumps use about a quarter of the electricity of a standard tank and are what the NSW rebate is aimed at, but they need somewhere to sit where the fan won't bother a bedroom. We install the storage and continuous flow systems most Coast homes need, and we'll tell you which suits the house rather than which one is on the truck.

For a family of four we usually fit a 315 litre tank. Three or four bathrooms in use at the same time, go bigger. One to three people, 250 litres is usually enough.

Across Australia the full spread is $1,000 to $4,500 for a standard replacement and up to $7,000 for solar or heat pump. A hardware store package at $1,100 to $2,000 is a contractor swap.

What it doesn't include is a plumber checking the tempering valve, the compliance certificate, or someone who'll still be answering the phone when the unit's ten years old. With ZC, a straight like-for-like swap of a storage unit is around $1,650 plus GST installed, which is $1,815 including GST, a continuous flow gas unit is about $1,850 plus GST, and the common repairs, an element, a thermostat or a valve, run $250 to $400.