No hot water is not a next-week problem.
No hot water is not a next-week problem. If your system has died, is leaking, or is tripping the power, call 0472 657 042 and in most cases I can be there the same day. I'm Jieye, owner and licensed plumber at Hills Plumbing & Gas (QBCC 15243081). You get me on the phone and me on the job, not a call centre and whoever is free.
This page covers what to check yourself before you pay anyone, what I repair, and how I decide between repairing your unit and telling you it's time to replace it. I'd rather give you a straight answer than a big invoice.
No hot water? Check these three things before you call.
About one call in five turns out to be something the owner could have sorted in two minutes. Check these first. If none of them fix it, you have a genuine fault and it's worth a plumber.
1. The pilot light (gas storage units). Open the access panel near the bottom of the tank and look for a small flame. Wind and rain get to outdoor units, and a blown-out pilot is the single most common "no hot water" cause on the Coast. Relighting instructions are printed on the sticker inside the panel. Follow them exactly. If it relights and stays lit, you're done. If it won't stay lit, the thermocouple is likely gone, and that's a repair job. If you smell gas at any point, stop, turn the gas isolation valve off, and call me. Do not keep clicking the igniter into a gas smell.
2. The breaker (electric units). Go to your switchboard and find the circuit marked hot water or HWS. If it's tripped, flip it fully off, then back on. An electric storage tank then needs a couple of hours to reheat, so don't judge it in ten minutes. If the breaker trips again, leave it off and call. A breaker that keeps tripping usually means a failed element or thermostat letting water reach the wiring, and resetting it repeatedly is how switchboards get damaged.
3. The relief valve (all storage tanks). A steady dribble from the copper pipe at the side of the tank is normal during heating. A constant running stream is not, and it's often why your gas or power bill jumped and your hot water runs out early. Gently lift the easing lever once and let it snap back. If it still runs continuously, the valve needs replacing. That's a licensed job because the valve is the safety device stopping the tank over-pressurising. Do not cap it, plug it, or wire the lever down. Ever.
Want the full checklist by system type, including continuous flow error codes and heat pumps? See what to check when you have no hot water.
What I repair.
I repair all the common systems on the Gold Coast, whoever installed them:
- Gas storage (Rheem, Vulcan, Aquamax): pilot and thermocouple faults, gas valve failures, relief valves, leaking fittings
- Gas continuous flow (Rinnai, Rheem, Bosch): error codes, ignition faults, water flow and temperature problems, isolation and servicing
- Electric storage (Rheem, Vulcan, Aquamax): elements, thermostats, relief valves, tripping circuits
- Heat pump (Sanden, Reclaim, iStore, Rheem Ambiheat): fault codes, plumbing-side faults, valve and connection issues; sealed refrigeration faults go to the manufacturer's agent and I'll tell you upfront if that's what you're looking at
- Solar (Solahart, Rheem, Edwards): booster faults, valves, leaking connections
Common jobs: no hot water, not enough hot water, water not hot enough or scalding, leaking tanks and fittings, noisy tanks, discoloured water, and relief valves running non-stop.
Repair or replace? The honest answer.
This is where hot water companies make their margin, so here is exactly how I call it.
Repair it when the unit is under about 8 years old, the tank itself is sound, and the failed part is a normal wear item: thermocouple, element, thermostat, relief valve, igniter, gas valve. These parts fail well before tanks do. Replacing a whole system because a $30 thermocouple died is a waste of your money, and it happens on the Coast every week.
Replace it when the tank itself is leaking. A weeping tank body is corrosion from the inside and no repair fixes it; anyone who says otherwise is selling you a delay. I'll also usually recommend replacement when a unit is 10+ years old and needs a major part, because you'd be putting new parts into a tank near the end of its life, and salt air on the Coast shortens tank life further. At that point the repair money is better going toward the new unit.
If it's borderline, I'll give you both numbers, the repair and the replacement, and the trade-offs. Your call, no pressure. Plenty of people take the repair to buy a year or two and plan the replacement properly. That's a legitimate choice and I'll say so.
What it costs.
Repairs are quoted on diagnosis. I won't publish a repair price list because it would be a guess dressed up as a fact. What a repair costs depends on the part, the brand, and access, and anyone advertising a flat repair price is recovering it somewhere else on the invoice. What I will promise: you get a firm price after diagnosis, before any repair work starts, and you can say no.
Annual gas service: $150 to $200. Worth doing on gas storage and continuous flow units; it's when pilots, thermocouples and relief valves get caught before they strand you on a cold morning.
If it comes to replacement, so you can sanity-check any quote (mine included), typical supply and install on the Gold Coast runs:
| System | Installed price |
|---|---|
| Electric storage | $1,300 to $2,400 |
| Gas storage | $1,800 to $3,200 |
| Gas continuous flow | $1,900 to $3,500 |
| Heat pump (after rebates) | $2,500 to $4,500 |
Heat pump rebates currently take $1,000 to $2,500 off the up-front price depending on the unit and your eligibility, which is why heat pumps land in that range despite a higher sticker price. For the full rundown on choosing a system, see the hot water systems page.
Same day, most days.
I carry the common failure parts in the van: thermocouples, elements, thermostats, relief valves and standard fittings. That means most repairs are done in one visit, the same day you call, without a second trip for parts. Where a part has to be ordered (some continuous flow and heat pump components are brand-specific), I'll tell you straight away and give you a realistic date, and if the wait is silly I'll say whether replacement is the smarter move.
Being one bloke with a van cuts both ways and I'm upfront about it: on a rare flat-out day you might wait until tomorrow. What you won't get is a sales technician on commission talking you out of a $200 fix.
Why licensed matters on hot water.
Hot water repair isn't a handyman job. Gas work legally requires a licensed gasfitter. Tempering and relief valves are the safety devices that stop tanks scalding kids or over-pressurising, and they must be fitted and tested by a licensed plumber. My QBCC licence is 15243081 and you're welcome to look it up before I arrive. Every repair is done to standard, and my work is guaranteed: if a repair I've done fails, I come back and make it right.
Where I work.
All Gold Coast suburbs, from Yatala and Ormeau in the north to Coolangatta in the south, and west into the hinterland. Northern corridor and hinterland jobs are home turf.
Get your hot water back today.
Call Jieye on 0472 657 042. Tell me the system type, the brand if you can see it, and what it's doing. I'll tell you on the phone if it sounds like a two-minute fix you can do yourself. If it needs a plumber, I'll get to you fast, diagnose it, and give you a firm price before any work starts.
Frequently asked questions.
How fast can you get to me?
Most repair calls get a same-day visit. Mornings are easiest to fit, and no hot water jobs get priority over routine work. If I genuinely can't get there today, I'll tell you on the phone rather than leave you guessing.
How much does a hot water repair cost?
It's quoted on diagnosis, honestly, because the price depends entirely on which part has failed. I diagnose the fault, give you a firm price, and only proceed if you're happy. A yearly gas service is the exception with a set range: $150 to $200.
Is it worth repairing a 12 year old hot water system?
Usually not, and I'll tell you so. At 10+ years a storage tank is near the end of its life, especially in Gold Coast salt air, and money spent repairing it is usually better put toward a replacement. The exception is a genuinely cheap fix, like a pilot light or valve, that buys you time to replace on your schedule instead of during a cold-shower emergency.
My tank is leaking. Can that be repaired?
Depends where from. A leaking valve or fitting is repairable, often cheaply. Water weeping from the tank body itself means internal corrosion, and no honest plumber will call that repairable; that tank needs replacing before it lets go properly.
Do you repair systems you didn't install?
Yes. Most of my repair work is on systems installed by someone else. Brand doesn't matter either; the common parts on Rheem, Rinnai, Vulcan, Aquamax, Dux and the rest are all serviceable.