How we make recommendations, and how we get paid
Both, on one page, because a claim of independence you cannot check is worth nothing. If you find something here that does not match what the site actually does, we want to hear about it.
Where the money comes from
Water Heater Advisor is not a plumbing company and does not perform installations. We are paid by the installers we introduce you to. That payment affects which qualified installer we match you with. It never affects what we recommend.
Specifically, we are paid a percentage of the value of work that actually completes. We are not paid per enquiry, we do not run an auction, and we do not sell the same homeowner to several contractors.
What payment can affect
Which qualified installer receives an introduction, when more than one is capable of the job and serves your area.
What it can never affect
What we recommend. The engine that decides what suits your home has no access to who is paying us, and that separation is structural rather than a promise.
How the recommendation is reached
In this order, every time. Feasibility eliminates before preference scores, which is why the quiz will sometimes tell you that the thing you wanted is not the thing your house needs.
- 1
Urgency and safety first
A leaking or failed heater changes everything that follows. We shorten the questions and weight the answer toward what can realistically be installed quickly.
- 2
Eliminate what will not physically work
No gas service rules out gas options. A sealed interior closet rules out a heat pump. This step runs before any preference scoring and cannot be overridden by it.
- 3
Calculate demand
Household size, bathrooms and how often two hot taps run at once. Simultaneous demand, not headcount, is what determines the size you need.
- 4
Estimate conversion complexity
Gas line capacity, venting, electrical work, condensate routing. This is where most of the cost variation between two similar homes lives.
- 5
Apply local conditions
Utility territory, live rebate status, permit requirements and code. We use your postcode rather than your city because rebates follow utility boundaries.
- 6
Apply your priorities
Upfront cost, running cost, endless hot water, floor space, or getting off gas. Two technically valid options often split on this answer alone.
- 7
Brand as a tie-breaker only
A brand preference never overrides feasibility. If you want a brand that does not make what your house needs, we will say so rather than bend the recommendation.
How we handle facts that go stale
Rebates, codes and prices change. Treating them as evergreen content is how most sites in this category end up quietly wrong.
Confirmed available as of the date shown next to it.
The programme exists but funds are committed and new projects are waitlisted.
No longer available. We leave these visible rather than deleting them, because a lot of published advice still references them.
We have not confirmed this ourselves. The badge is deliberately unfilled so you can tell at a glance which figures we stand behind.
Things we will not publish
- A single average installed price. The evidence does not support that precision, and an average answers the wrong question anyway.
- A blanket warranty figure for a brand. Warranty varies by model, component and registration, and a homeowner relying on a headline number can lose coverage on a technicality.
- That any contractor is an authorised or certified installer, unless we have confirmed that exact status in the manufacturer’s own directory.
- A citywide water hardness figure we cannot source. It varies by service zone, and it matters enough to tankless maintenance that guessing would be irresponsible.
What we are not
Water Heater Advisor is an independent information and referral service. We are not a plumbing contractor and we do not perform installations.
We do not quote construction work, we do not negotiate your installation agreement, and we do not take payment for the work itself. You contract directly with a licensed contractor and you pay them directly.
California regulates who may hold themselves out as performing construction work, and requires licensed contractors to display their licence number in advertising. If you are ever unclear whether you are talking to us or to a contractor, ask, and check their licence with the CSLB.
See it work
The fastest way to judge whether any of this is true is to run the quiz and look at what it tells you, including what it rules out.