The 1960s garage swap
A 40 gallon tank on a stand, a metal flue through the roof, a half inch gas line. Going tankless here usually means a new gas run from the meter, a side wall vent and a new outlet.
Fullerton · Tankless install and service
Tankless water heaters, installed and serviced in Fullerton.
We size the unit to your busiest ten minutes, check the gas line and vent before anything goes on the wall, and set up flushing for Fullerton's hard water.
Preview site for Fullerton Tankless Water Heaters. The phone number is a temporary placeholder and the request form is not connected yet.
- Status
- Preview
- Service
- Tankless, gas and electric
- Area
- Fullerton, CA
- Line
- (714) 555-0106 (temporary)
How tankless works
The box on the wall is the easy part
- 01
A tankless heater fires only while a hot tap runs.
- 02
You lose the 40 or 50 gallon tank, and you gain a burner several times larger that lights in short bursts.
- 03
The gas line, the vent and the outlet behind it decide how well it works.
- 04
Fullerton adds two wrinkles.
- 05
Most houses here are 1950s to 1970s slab tracts with the old tank in the garage, so the gas pipe and flue were sized for that tank.
- 06
The city's water blends local groundwater with imported supply, and it leaves scale in a heat exchanger that nobody flushes.
- 07
We check all of it before we quote, and we tell you to check our CSLB license before we start.
You only notice a water heater when it fails. We set yours up so the gas, the vent and the water never make you notice.
Symptoms
Your unit is telling you something
Tankless trouble shows up as swings and codes long before the heater quits.
- The shower goes cold for a few seconds, then hot again.
- One low flow tap never gets hot, while showers work fine.
- A code is blinking on the display or the remote.
- Flow has dropped over the months, or the temperature wanders.
- Ignition sounds different: a whistle, a rattle, a louder roar.
- Water drips from the unit, a valve, the relief line or the condensate drain.
- Nobody has flushed it, and your faucets wear a white crust.
Before you buy a unit
Six checks decide what your conversion costs
In a Fullerton tract house built around a garage tank, these are the parts of the job that grow. We walk all six on the first visit.
| Check | What we look at | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Gas supply | Pipe size from the meter, every gas appliance in the house, and the meter itself. | A gas tankless burner draws far more at full fire than a tank. A small line starves it, and meter work goes through SoCalGas. |
| Venting | A route outdoors, distance from windows and doors, and the vent material the manual names. | The old tank's roof flue rarely fits. Condensing units often vent in plastic pipe, others in metal, always per the manual. |
| Electrical | A 120 volt outlet near a gas unit; large dedicated circuits for an electric one. | Gas units need power for controls and the fan. Whole house electric units can outrun an older panel. |
| Condensate | A drain point for condensing models and whether a neutralizer is required. | Condensing units make acidic water that has to drain the way the manufacturer and code require. |
| Service valves | Isolation valves with flush ports on the hot and cold lines. | Fullerton's hard water scales the heat exchanger. Valves turn flushing into a short job. |
| Location | Garage wall, outside wall or closet, and the walk to your farthest bathroom. | Where it hangs sets the vent route and how long hot water takes to arrive. |
No hot water
Hot water stopped. Do this first.
Five minutes, in this order. The first one matters most.
- 1
Smell gas? Leave the switches alone, get everyone out, and call 911 or SoCalGas from outside.
- 2
Water leaking? Close the cold service valve under the unit, or the main shutoff, and keep water away from the outlet.
- 3
Write down the error code exactly as shown, then look it up in the manual before you reset anything.
- 4
Check the easy things: the cord is plugged in, the unit's gas valve is open, and the range still lights.
- 5
Leave the cover, burner and vent alone. Call a licensed plumber, and check the CSLB license first.
The work
How we install and service tankless units
We work from the gas meter and the water main toward the heater. Most bad installs start the other way around.
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Walk the whole house
We count bathrooms, note what runs at once, and look at the current tank, gas line, flue and nearest outlet.
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Size for flow, not gallons
A tankless unit is rated in gallons per minute at a given temperature rise. We size for your coldest morning and show you the numbers.
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Confirm gas, vent and power
We check full fire demand against your pipe size and total gas load, and plan the vent to the manufacturer's clearances. Meter changes go through SoCalGas.
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Write the scope down
Unit, vent, gas work, valves, condensate, permit and haul away, all on paper before work starts. Ask the City of Fullerton if you want to confirm what your permit covers.
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Install with service valves
Isolation valves with flush ports on both lines, a relief valve, a condensate drain where the unit needs one, and a vent that is properly supported.
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Test it and plan the flushing
We fire the unit at low and high flow, check for gas and water leaks, set the temperature, and agree on a flushing schedule for your water.
Read before you call
Guides, printable checklists, worked examples and neighborhood notes for Fullerton tankless owners.
- Guides
Sixteen plain guides to choosing, installing and keeping a tankless heater running in Fullerton.
- Checklists
Worksheets for each stage of owning a tankless unit.
- Worked examples
Invented examples that walk through common tankless jobs in Fullerton houses.
- Neighborhoods
Housing age, where heaters usually hang, what the pipes are made of, and who to call about water, gas and permits, for six Fullerton neighborhoods..
Around town
Four jobs we see in Fullerton houses
Cold bursts after a few years
The shower drops to lukewarm and a code shows up now and then. In hard water that usually points to scale or a clogged inlet filter, and we confirm it before suggesting parts.
The kitchen tap that never heats
Showers are fine; the kitchen stays cold at low flow. The unit needs a minimum flow to fire, so the fix may be an aerator, a mixing valve or a recirculation setting.
A remodel adds a bathroom
More fixtures can run at once. Before anyone buys a bigger unit, we check whether the gas line and vent can carry it, or whether a second unit near the new bath makes more sense.
Fullerton
What Fullerton houses do to a tankless heater
Most of the city is postwar slab tract housing from the 1950s through the 1970s, with older homes near downtown and newer ones in the hills. The heater usually sits in the garage or a closet with a roof flue and a gas line sized for a tank. Supply lines are copper or galvanized, and galvanized pipe sheds rust into a new unit's inlet filter.
Fullerton runs its own water utility, and its supply blends local groundwater with imported water. That water is hard, which makes scale the main long term threat to a heat exchanger. SoCalGas owns the meter side; your plumber owns everything from the meter outlet to the unit.
- Ask us for our CSLB license number and look it up at cslb.ca.gov before work starts.
- Ask who pulls the permit, and check with the city if you want to confirm what your job needs.
- Plan flushing for hard water from the manufacturer's interval, and insist on service valves.
- If a larger unit needs a meter upgrade, that request goes through SoCalGas.
- Ask us to confirm your Fullerton address is inside our service area.
ZIP codes served: 92832 (Fullerton), 92835 (Fullerton), 92831 (Fullerton), 92833 (Fullerton).
Also nearby: 92801, 90621, 92805, 90631, 92870, 92806, 90638, 92821, 92802, 92804, 90603, 90604, 90620, 92865, 91748, 90623, 92840, 90680.
Questions
What Fullerton owners ask us
Before you hire anyone
Ask for the CSLB license number and check it at cslb.ca.gov. Ask who does the work. Get the price in writing before anyone starts.
Fullerton Tankless Water Heaters is the business name for this site. Licensing and service details will be published here once confirmed.
Questions to ask a plumber- Will tankless work in an older Fullerton house?
- Usually, once the house can feed it. Many older tracts have a gas line and flue sized for a tank, so a conversion often adds new gas piping, a new vent and an outlet. We check those before anyone compares unit prices.
- Why does a tankless heater need flushing?
- Fullerton's water is hard. Heating it leaves minerals inside the heat exchanger, which cuts flow, wastes gas and triggers codes. Follow the manufacturer's interval, and ask us whether your water calls for a shorter one.
- What is the cold water sandwich?
- A short burst of cold between two stretches of hot, usually when someone turns a tap off and back on quickly. Many tankless units do it. Some models and recirculation setups shorten it, so raise it when you pick a unit.
- Can I flush the unit myself?
- Some owners do, when the unit has service valves with flush ports and the manual lays out the steps. If there are no valves, or the gas and power setup is unclear, have a licensed plumber do it.
- Do I need a bigger gas line?
- Often. A gas tankless unit can draw several times what a tank draws at full fire. We total every gas appliance against your existing line, and anything on the meter side goes through SoCalGas.
- Does a tankless unit need seismic straps?
- California's strapping rule is written for tank heaters. Tankless units mount to the wall on the manufacturer's brackets. Any tank you keep in the house still needs proper straps.
Tell us what the heater is doing
Brand and model if you have it, the error code, and what the hot water does. Urgent? Call (714) 555-0106.
Safety first
Tankless acting up? Start here.
Smell gas: leave and call 911 or SoCalGas from outside. Water leaking: close the service valve or the main. Then write down the code and call a CSLB licensed plumber you have checked.
What we ask when you call
The brand and model, its age, any error code, gas or electric, and where it hangs. For a new install we ask how many bathrooms you have, where the tank sits now, and whether anyone has worked on the gas line or vent.
We want to see the gas line, vent and water connections before we give a firm price, and we put the scope and price in writing. This is a preview site: the number shown is a temporary placeholder and the request form is not connected to a destination yet, so a submission is not sent anywhere.