What Does a Tankless Water Heater Cost in Pasadena, CA?

Converting a storage tank water heater to a tankless unit in Pasadena is $3,295 when the tank being replaced is 40 gallons and $3,695 when it is 50 gallons, at our book price, installed. Those two prices are for the Noritz EZTR40 and EZTR50, the only tankless models built to use the existing water heater hookups, which is what makes a book price possible at all. Any other brand or model is quoted on site. Below is what the conversion price includes, what is quoted separately, and what the Pasadena permit and water add to the picture.

The conversion price covers removing the storage tank, installing the Noritz EZTR40 or EZTR50 on the existing hookups, new hot and cold water supply lines, a new gas supply line, and isolation valves so the unit can be flushed without shutting the house down. Hauling the old tank away is $95. A drain pan is $75 and a gas sediment trap is $225 where the inspector calls for them. The permit is separate and is covered below. The full book is on our pricing page.

Every tankless brand other than the Noritz EZTR line needs its own gas line sizing, venting and mounting, and that is decided by the house, not the catalog: how far the gas run is, what size the line is, where the vent can exit, and whether the unit is moving. So a Navien, Rinnai, Takagi or Rheem installation is evaluated on site and quoted in writing before any work starts. A venting upgrade from single wall to double wall is $250 to $450 on a tank job and is one of the items we check on a conversion. Relocating the heater, or putting one in a home that never had one, is quoted the same way. If you are weighing a tank against tankless, the tank replacement price is on our installation page and in what a water heater replacement costs in Pasadena.

The City of Pasadena Building & Safety Division's Permit Center requires a plumbing permit and an inspection for a water heater replacement; the office is at 175 North Garfield Avenue and can be reached at (626) 744-4200. We pull the permit and meet the inspector for a $295 administrative fee plus the city's own permit fee, which is passed through at cost as its own line on the quote. Pasadena's published fee for a water heater change-out is $118 (a $78 permit processing fee plus $40 for the water heater and vent on the FY 2027 fee schedule, before the city's percentage surcharges), so the permit line comes to $295 + $118 = $413. Plumbing permits for a change-out can be pulled through the city's Express Permit Portal. Pasadena's housing inspection checklist (PMC 14.12.640) flags missing or inadequate water heater strapping, and a water heater replaced without a permit. You can decline and pull the permit yourself, but if the inspector then calls for a code correction, that work is charged at book price.

Pasadena Water and Power measured its own system at 13 grains per gallon in 2025 (222 mg/L as calcium carbonate, ranging from 202 to 256 mg/L), against the 10.5 grains that classifies water as very hard. A tankless heat exchanger has narrow passages, and at that hardness the manufacturers call for a descale flush every year; skipping it is how a tankless unit ends up throwing error codes a few years in. The yearly descale is $259, or it is included in the $199 per year tankless membership along with free diagnostics when a repair is needed. If the unit does fault, the tankless diagnostic is $299, includes the flush, and is waived if we repair or replace it.

Pasadena's Craftsman bungalows and 1920s Spanish revivals in Bungalow Heaven, Madison Heights and along the Arroyo sit alongside newer condos and ADUs in East Pasadena and Hastings Ranch. Older homes hide aging garage or closet installs with dated gas lines; designated historic homes and hillside lots off the Arroyo mean tight closets and a careful inspection. A tankless unit hangs on the wall where the tank stood and reuses the tank's flue path when it is a Noritz EZTR on a straight swap, which is what keeps the conversion at book price. A venting upgrade from single wall to double wall is $250 to $450 where the inspector calls for it, a gas sediment trap is $225, and a drain pan is $75. A closet installation inside the house, or a second-floor unit, carries a $249 surcharge over the book price; moving the unit somewhere else is quoted on site.

Book prices apply during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM; pricing outside those hours or in an emergency is subject to change. Conversions are scheduled at least 24 hours ahead. Prices are current as of September 2026 and subject to change, and the quote is in writing before any work starts. A conversion is the job most people finance, and checking your options takes a few minutes. We dispatch from Pico Rivera; call 833-927-3356 or send us the details.