Repairs same day where we can. In a flat we also work out what the building will actually allow and whose space it is, because that decides more than the brand does.
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In a house, replacing hot water is a decision about fuel, size and budget. In a Randwick walk-up there are two questions before any of those.
The first is whether the space is yours. Plenty of these units sit in a common cupboard, a shared laundry or a stairwell recess. If the space or the unit is common property, the owners corporation has a say and possibly the bill, even though only your flat uses the water.
The second is what the building will carry. These blocks were wired and plumbed for the demand of their day. The electrical supply to a 1930s flat was not laid with a modern storage unit or a heat pump in mind, and gas frequently never reached individual flats at all.
And the person who discovers the problem is very often renting, on a hospital roster or a university term, with no authority to approve a replacement. We work with that rather than pretending otherwise.
Inside the flat, in a common cupboard, or in a shared laundry. That one answer changes who pays and who has to approve it.
A unit inside your lot, serving only your flat, is generally yours. Where it sits, and whether a new one can go somewhere different, is frequently common property.
So a replacement can be simultaneously your decision and the building's, and the two move at different speeds.
It is worth establishing which parts are which before ordering anything.
A great many interwar blocks were never plumbed for gas to individual flats, and nothing since has changed that.
So continuous flow gas, which is the obvious answer to a small flat with limited space, is frequently not available at all.
Establishing that first saves a great deal of wasted consideration, and it takes one question to the building.
Circuits in these buildings were sized for the demand of their era. A modern electric system, or a heat pump, may need more than the existing supply to the flat can give.
That is an electrical question rather than a plumbing one, and it is worth answering before an appliance is chosen.
It is also occasionally the reason a like-for-like replacement is the only practical option, and that is worth knowing plainly.
This suburb runs on hospital rosters. A household of people on different shifts uses hot water across the whole day rather than in one morning burst.
That is actually easier on a storage system, because the tank has time to recover between draws.
So the usual advice about concentrated morning demand may not describe your household at all, and it is worth saying which pattern you have.
A tank sized for a one-bedroom flat decades ago will not stretch to a household of three sharing, and nothing about it has broken.
Capacity is drawn down by what is taken in the same window, and a share household is the version that catches people out.
Worth distinguishing before anybody quotes a replacement, because a sizing problem and a fault go down different paths.
Sydney's supply is soft, so limescale rarely finishes a unit here. The sacrificial anode corrodes in place of the steel until it is used up.
In a rented flat nobody ever replaces one, because the tenant does not think of it and the owner never sees the unit.
It is worth raising with an owner, because it is inexpensive and it is the difference between a tank lasting eight years and eighteen.
The compliance plate carries the date. Under about eight years a failure is usually a part. Past twelve the tank lining is generally the issue.
Photograph the plate and send it through before anybody attends. In a walk-up with no lift, avoiding a second trip is worth more than usual.
Between those it depends on the fault, which is why a specific diagnosis matters more than a rule.
A storage tank is heavy and awkward and it travels both ways, old one out and new one in, through a common stairwell.
That is a real part of the work and it belongs in the quote rather than in a conversation on the day.
Mention the floor when you ring, because it changes who and what we send.
A tank above another dwelling needs a working tray and a drain that goes somewhere, and a great many older installations have neither.
It is inexpensive to fit while somebody is already there, and it is the difference between a wet floor and somebody else's ceiling.
If yours has no tray, that is worth dealing with rather than noting.
A weeping fitting on top of a cylinder is a repair. Water from the body of the tank is not. The steel has failed and there is no patch for it.
Turn the water off at the unit, kill its power, and tell the flat below and the building before you arrange anything else.
In a walk-up that water reaches other homes within hours, which is a strong argument against waiting.
Type and size decide most changeovers, but in a flat there is a prior question: whether the space is yours to use and whether the supply to your unit will run what you are considering. Both are worth settling before anyone orders anything.
| System | How it heats | Typical life | Suits a Randwick flat when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electric storage | An element heats a tank, often overnight on a controlled load tariff | 8 to 12 years | The usual answer here, because most of these blocks have no gas to the flat |
| Gas storage | A burner under a tank keeps a stored volume hot | 8 to 12 years | The flat has its own metered gas and room for a tank plus flue clearances |
| Continuous flow | Gas heats water on demand, nothing is stored | 15 to 20 years | There is gas and wall space, and the cupboard floor is needed for something else |
| Heat pump | Moves heat from the air into the tank rather than making it | 10 to 15 years | There is genuine airflow and the noise does not land on a neighbour's wall |
| Solar with boost | Roof collectors, with an element or burner covering the gap | 15 to 20 years | Rarely, because the roof is common property and that is a strata decision |
A starting point rather than a rule. In this suburb the pattern matters as much as the number: three people on different hospital rosters draw hot water across the whole day rather than in one morning, which asks more of recovery than of capacity.
| People in the flat | Electric storage | Gas storage | Continuous flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | 125 to 160 L | 90 to 135 L | 16 L/min |
| 3 to 4 | 250 to 315 L | 135 to 170 L | 20 L/min |
| Staggered shifts | Size up, or accept a wait | Size up | No change, it does not run out |
Quoted at a fixed price before it starts. These are indicative 2026 ranges. Where the unit or its space turns out to be common property, we say so before anyone commits, because that changes who the invoice belongs to.
Element, thermostat, valve or anode. Frequently completed in the same visit.
Like for like in the same position, installed and compliant, old unit removed.
Where there is gas to the flat and wall space for it. Subject to what the supply carries.
Where there is genuine airflow and the noise does not land on a neighbour's bedroom.
Whether the circuit will run it, and whether the space is yours to use.
Electric storage is what most of these blocks were built around, so it is most of what we see. These are the makes behind it.
We service and replace these systems as an independent licensed plumber. We are not an agent for, or endorsed by, any of these manufacturers.
Inside the flat, or in a common cupboard. That answer decides who authorises the work long before we discuss brands.
Plenty of failures are an element, a thermostat or an anode. We check before recommending you spend thousands.
If it needs replacing, whether it fits and whether the flat's electrical supply will actually run what you are considering.
Fitted to standard, tested, and the old unit taken away rather than left in the common laundry.
Tell us the make, the rough age, and whether it sits inside your flat or in a shared space. In a block that last answer changes the job more than the brand does.
Call 1300 381 569In a flat, check the switchboard inside your unit first, then whether the hot water breaker is in a common board rather than yours, because in a lot of these buildings it is. If it runs on a controlled load tariff that only heats overnight, a unit that ran out at seven in the morning has not necessarily failed, it has just been emptied. Then look for water under or around it. Leaking and not heating are different jobs and knowing which saves a visit.
Very. A great many of these interwar blocks were never plumbed for gas to individual flats, so electric storage is what the building was designed around. Where gas does exist it is often a single supply serving the building rather than metered to each unit, which makes it common property. That is worth knowing before you buy a gas appliance for a flat, because the answer may be that it cannot be connected without the owners corporation's involvement.
Possibly, and there are three separate questions. Is there physically room where the current one sits, which in a walk-up is usually a cupboard sized in 1935. Will the electrical supply to your flat carry it, because those circuits were not laid for modern demand. And is the space common property, in which case the owners corporation has a say. A heat pump also needs airflow and makes noise, which in a block means somebody else's bedroom wall. We check all three before recommending anything.
Call us, and call your agent. We can attend and diagnose, and if it is unsafe or leaking we will make it safe regardless, because that should not wait. But a replacement has to be authorised by the owner, and where the unit or its space is common property it may be the owners corporation instead. Around here that comes up constantly, because so many of these flats are rented by people working at the hospitals or studying nearby.
Often not, it is just small. A tank sized for a one-bedroom flat in 1960 does not stretch to a household of three showering in the same hour, and in this suburb it is common for people on hospital shifts to be showering at times that overlap awkwardly. Before replacing anything we check whether the element and thermostat are actually performing, because a tank that has lost capacity to sediment behaves exactly like one that is too small.
If it sits inside your lot and serves only your flat, it is generally yours. If it lives in a common cupboard, a shared laundry or a plant space, or if it serves more than one unit, it is likely common property even though only you use the water. In a self-managed block nobody may know which. We establish it and put it in writing, because it decides whether you or the owners corporation is paying for the replacement.
A repair, so an element, thermostat, valve or anode, is generally $250 to $650. A like-for-like electric storage replacement in the same position is $1,400 to $2,800 installed. Continuous flow, where there is gas to the flat and room on a wall, is $1,900 to $3,500. Heat pumps sit higher and need somewhere they can actually breathe. Where the space turns out to be common property we say so before anyone commits to spending.
Tell us where the unit sits and whether you own or rent. In a walk-up those two answers decide what we can do today and who has to approve the rest.
Repairs quoted before they start, and if it needs replacing we check the space and the supply before recommending anything.
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