HawthorneVillager.com

We just purchased a Village Home which included carrying over the contract of rental gas water heater.

Yesterday i got a notice (not a bill) that my account has been setup, and that my monthly rate is $27.87.

To me, that seems quite steep, and I expected a much lower rental cost.

Is this typical?
What does everyone else pay?

I pay around the same but will look into buying out the contract or getting my own tank later this year. Not happy paying $27 a month, ripoff for sure.

Steep but typical.
Ontario seems to be one of the few areas where people don't buy their water heaters outright.

John Allingham, Professional Engineer
Owner & Certified Home Inspector
Halton-Peel Home Inspection
(416) 254-5869
inspect@peelhomeinspection.com
http://www.peelhomeinspection.com

With a cost like that to rent, why dont they?

I've no idea but I would say that less than 5% of the houses I inspect have owned water heaters. I own mine.

John Allingham, Professional Engineer
Owner & Certified Home Inspector
Halton-Peel Home Inspection
(416) 254-5869
inspect@peelhomeinspection.com
http://www.peelhomeinspection.com

Likely because 75% of Milton is in new homes (less than 12 years old) and builders profit from locking you into a contract with a provider -- ergo people stick with the status quo.

Repairs... I've had my heater serviced 3 times. Each time, I saw the "would be" bill. It paid for me to pay rental. When I've called direct energy, 2 of the 3 times, they were there in hours.

My previous home was just shy of 10 years old when we bought it and it had a rental water heater. It was in Toronto and I think I paid about the same (few bux more or less maybe). I was hoping to get into a house with an owned water heater this time but the previous owners had a rental.
I hated the monthlies but like PP said, the cost of the repairs/service is pretty steep.

Same here, the repairs I've had exceeded what I've paid so far over the last few years.

The warranty on owned water heaters is pretty good. The repairs may not have cost you anything.
Over the course of 15 years the rental payments will be 3-4 times what you would have paid to buy your own.
I think the rest of North America has it right and Ontario has it wrong.

John Allingham, Professional Engineer
Owner & Certified Home Inspector
Halton-Peel Home Inspection
(416) 254-5869
inspect@peelhomeinspection.com
http://www.peelhomeinspection.com

Warranty is fine - but when my hot water is out, I want someone over to fix it right away. When you own yours, you have to make sure you know/have someone you can call. If / when they are available to fix it is questionable. As well as the excessive "emergency" charges.

If these tanks were built they way they were 15 years ago, they would be more reliable and something I would consider, but today's tanks are crap.

I totally agree with John. It's foolish that most people in Ontario still rent their water tanks, me included for now. Why stop at water tanks? Lets rent Tv's, toilets, AC. In all my years, I've never bought an extended warranty and never made a claim either. Sure some people will need repairs eventually but most don't. It's smarter to take your chances, as you'll save a ton of $$$. The only exception would be if you have kids and don't want to be stuck without hot water for long. 0.02

^^^ those other items don't break down nearly as much. If you are without a toilet of your AC, yes it's uncomfortable, but not unliveable. Not being able to shower, clean clothes, dishes etc when you have 2 young children is worse then uncomfortable.

My 3 repairs amounted to $900 plus the purchase of the tank which would have been $700 range I would assume. 6 years at $25 is still better overall. Pretty close to the same costs.

If they were better quality products, an installer I could rely on without question, then yes, I'd buy it.

We pay a tad more for ours it's billed every 3 months and come to around $94 after tax.
Our HW Tank is one of the larger ones and in the 4 years we had reliance come here 3 times.
Glad we rent ours. It's a nice piece of mind and that's what I'm paying for.

It also depends how handy you are. The most common maintenance issues (cleaning the flame sensor, replacing the drain valve, replacing the relief valve, replacing the blower) are not that difficult and most can be found on you tube.
If you're not handy at all then paying $5k in rental charges over the life of the unit may provide more peace of mind, although keep in mind that the rental company is making a huge profit on you. I've inspected houses where even the furnace is a rental unit.

John Allingham, Professional Engineer
Owner & Certified Home Inspector
Halton-Peel Home Inspection
(416) 254-5869
inspect@peelhomeinspection.com
http://www.peelhomeinspection.com