Electric hot water, repaired properly and replaced honestly
We supply, install and repair electric hot water systems throughout Perth, from compact instantaneous units to single and dual-element storage tanks with off-peak tariff options. Our licensed plumbers diagnose element and thermostat faults fast and size replacements to suit your household and budget.
Electric storage is still the most common hot water system in Perth homes, mostly because it is the cheapest to buy and install and it works anywhere there is power. That simplicity is also its weakness: it is the most expensive of the four main system types to run, and a tank that is oversized for its household quietly loses heat around the clock for a decade.
The three faults behind almost every no-heat call
A tripped circuit breaker. Reset it once. If it trips again, there is a genuine fault, most often a shorted element, and it needs a licensed repair rather than repeated resets.
A failed thermostat. The thermostat tells the element when to fire. When it fails you get no heat at all, or water that never reaches temperature. It is an inexpensive part and a quick swap.
A burnt-out heating element. The classic. On a dual-element storage tank, losing the bottom element leaves you with a small amount of hot water that runs out unusually fast, while losing the top element often means nothing at all. We carry elements on the truck, so most of these calls are one visit.
The fourth thing we always check is the sacrificial anode rod. It is a consumable component designed to corrode so your steel cylinder does not. Perth’s water hardness chews through them faster than the manufacturer’s assumed interval, and once the anode is gone the tank starts eating itself. Rusty or discoloured hot water is the warning sign, and by then you are usually looking at a replacement rather than a repair.
Sizing, off-peak and recovery rate
Getting capacity right matters more on electric than on any other type, because recovery is slow. A rough guide: 50 to 80 litres for one or two people, 125 to 170 litres for a family of three or four, and 250 to 400 litres for larger households or where you are running an off-peak tariff.
Off-peak deserves a proper explanation, because it is often set up badly. On an off-peak tariff the element only fires during a cheap overnight window, so the tank has to store an entire day’s hot water. Put a 160 litre tank on off-peak in a four-person house and you will run out by dinner time. Sized correctly, though, off-peak electric storage can be genuinely economical.
What electric hot water costs in Perth
Installed electric systems run from around $500 for a small single-element tank up to $2,500 for a large 400 litre unit or an instantaneous setup. It is the lowest upfront cost of any system type, which is exactly why it is worth pausing before replacing like for like.
Water heating is roughly a quarter of a typical household energy bill. A heat pump hot water system does the same job for a fraction of the electricity and attracts the federal STC rebate, which we process so it comes off your quote directly. For the numbers, see our guide comparing hot water running costs, or read why an electric system stops heating if you are troubleshooting right now.
