Just noticed a small leak coming from my home's hot water heater (50gal/natural gas) and I know that means I need to replace ASAP. I found a replacement unit from Lowes with good reviews for $400; they said grand total would be between $1000-1100 installed.

With that being said...
We are planning on moving within a few years but I was wondering if it would be cheaper to opt for a tankless unit instead of a standard unit? I know they are more money for the unit but I wasn't sure if installation was cheaper. If not is $1100 a fair price for a replacement standard unit installed?

It's quite frustrating as it looks incredibly simple to install, but I'm very hesitant to attempt it due to it being natural gas.

 

Honestly, $600-700 is on the upper end for a standard replacement, but don't expect to find a master plumber, licensed, insured, etc that is willing to do for less than $300-400 IMO. Good plumbers are getting expensive, and charging $7-800 a fixture is normal nowadays. I don't know anyone who does service calls for less than $100, that aren't on the low-end of things already.

I quoted a good friend $250 to replace his, which is a smaller unit.

Also, I've been subbing under a guy who sells and gets all the installs for bathroom/kitchen/etc for a Lowes, and the amount he said he made in his 1st month in sales was RIDICULOUS. I think it was through only like 4 customers too.

 

Going to tankless will cost you more. The unit has to be on an exterior wall from what I was told, so you'd have to rereout the gas lines to accomodate. Also, most places won't sell gas lines and fittings to non-licensed individuals.

 

Yeah, I totally missed the gas thing, either way, Lowes charges on the higher end, but they usually have Grade A contractors. You could save some money by finding someone else, but sometimes it's just easier to do it through them.