No hot water? Sorted today.
Hot water tends to fail at the worst possible moment, usually the first cold shower of the morning, usually on a weekday. Voyager repairs and replaces hot water systems across the North Shore, and runs 24/7 callouts when a unit is leaking badly or failing unsafely.
Available 24/7 across the North Shore · No callout fee on eligible jobs
No hot water at all
Hot water runs out too fast
Water is lukewarm, or too hot
The unit is leaking
Discoloured or smelly hot water
An honest answer depends on the unit’s age, what’s failed and what it would cost to put right.
Roughly: a system in the first half of its life with a failed element, thermostat or valve is generally worth repairing. A corroded or leaking tank usually isn’t. You’d be spending real money on a unit that’s going to fail again. If the tank itself has gone, that’s a replacement.
Voyager inspects the unit and explains what’s failed, what repair would involve and what it costs, before any work is agreed. If replacement is the better value, you’ll be told that, including when it’s the less profitable answer.
As a rule of thumb:
| The situation | What usually makes sense |
|---|---|
| Under ~8 years old, failed element, thermostat or valve | Repair: the tank has plenty of life left |
| 8-12 years old with a minor fault | Repair can still stack up: weighed against the tank’s remaining life |
| Past 10-12 years with repeat faults | Replacement usually wins: the next fault is already queued |
| Tank leaking or visibly corroded | Replacement: a failed tank isn’t repairable |
| Continuous-flow (instantaneous) unit with a fault | Often repairable: these commonly run 15-20 years with servicing |
Describe what’s happening and we’ll tell you straight, including when the simple fix is the whole job.
Hot water is the one job where a range published online tells you very little, because two houses with the same broken system can be thousands apart. What actually moves the number:
| What changes the price | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Repair or replace | A failed element, thermostat or valve is a fraction of a new system |
| The type of system | Electric storage, gas storage, continuous flow, heat pump and solar sit at very different price points |
| Where the unit goes | Leaving it where it is costs less than relocating it |
| Electrical and gas work | A new circuit, a switchboard upgrade or a gas line change adds to the job |
| Access | A rooftop or internal cupboard unit takes longer to get out than one on a slab outside |
| Rebates | The NSW Energy Savings Scheme and federal small-scale technology certificates can take a substantial amount off a heat pump or solar install |
Voyager quotes a fixed price for your specific system before any work starts, so the number you approve is the number you pay. Ring and you’ll get a real figure for your job rather than a band that may have nothing to do with it.
Electric, gas, solar and heat pump: both storage tanks and continuous flow (also called instantaneous) units, for suitable systems in homes, businesses and strata properties.
Tank capacity matters when you’re deciding between repair and replacement: a 125-litre electric storage unit serving a household that has grown since it was installed will keep running out whatever you do to it, and that’s a sizing problem rather than a fault. Where a unit is obsolete or parts are no longer available, that’s identified up front rather than after a wasted callout.
No hot water at all, running out quickly, leaking, or a temperature problem. Brand and rough age of the unit helps if you have it. A photo of the data plate helps more.
The plumber tests the unit and establishes what’s actually failed.
Repair and, where relevant, replacement, with the recommendation and the reasoning. Priced by job, not hour.
Including checking the tempering valve is delivering safe temperature at the tap.
Subject to Voyager’s current terms and eligibility requirements.
On an electric system, check whether the circuit has tripped at the switchboard. On gas, check whether the pilot light is out. If either has happened once, resetting it is reasonable; if it keeps happening, something is failing and it needs looking at rather than resetting again.
Often, yes. Voyager also runs 24/7 for units that are leaking heavily or failing unsafely.
Commonly 8-12 years depending on the type of system, local water and whether it’s been maintained. Some go longer. Once a unit is past that range, repeated faults usually signal the tank rather than the part.
Some discharge from the relief valve is normal. Water pooling under the unit itself, or a constant run from the valve, isn’t, and a corroded tank tends to go from weeping to failing without much warning. Worth getting looked at.
Yes, for suitable systems. Where replacement is the better value, you’ll be told why, along with what the repair would have cost.
It depends far more on the system than on the labour, so we quote it rather than publish a band. The biggest factors are which type you replace it with, whether it stays where it is, and whether any electrical or gas work is needed. Heat pump and solar installs also attract rebates that change the final figure. Voyager gives you a fixed price for your specific job before anything is agreed.
No. A tempering valve should be limiting the temperature at bathroom outlets. If your hot water has become dangerously hot, that valve may have failed, worth attending to, particularly with children or older people in the house.
Free quote, a fixed price agreed before the work starts, and someone on the end of the phone at any hour.
Voyager Plumbing · NSW Contractor Licence 476657C
Verify with NSW Fair Trading
Page reviewed and updated 2 October 2026
