Water Heater Replacement Dubai
A heater gets replaced because the tank has gone, not because somebody wanted a newer one. By the time you are reading this there is usually water somewhere it should not be, and the job is as much about the mess as about the machine.
We drain the old tank, take it down, renew the valves and connectors it was sitting behind, fit the new unit and take the old one with us. The cupboard it was in gets left dry and clear.
If nobody has confirmed the tank is actually finished, do not spend on a replacement yet. A repair covers five of the six things that fail in a heater.
Tell us this when you call
- Where the water is coming from, if it is leaking.
- Roughly how old the heater is, or the model on the label.
- Whether it is in a cupboard, above a ceiling, or on a roof.
- Whether the hot water runs brown when the cold runs clear.
Those four answers decide the unit, the access and whether anything beyond the heater needs doing. A photo of the label covers most of it.
When replacing is the only answer
Five of the six things inside a heater are parts. The tank is not. These are the findings that mean the heater itself is finished, whatever else in it still works.
Water from the body of the tank
Not from a joint, not from the valve, but weeping or running from the shell itself. The steel has corroded through from the inside and there is nothing to tighten or seal.
The tank has failed
Brown hot water, clear cold
The rust is coming from inside the tank, because the sacrificial rod that was protecting the lining has gone. Once the lining is going the tank is on a clock.
Corrosion already underway
Corrosion around the element flange
The plate the element bolts through has rusted. A new element will seal badly against a pitted flange and will weep, which is why changing it does not buy anything.
Nothing left to seal against
The second element inside a year
One element failing is a part. Two failing in quick succession is the tank conditions killing them, usually heavy scale, and the replacement will go the same way.
The cause is the tank, not the part
No parts made for the model
Older and grey import units reach a point where the element and thermostat cannot be bought here. A heater you cannot get parts for is not repairable at any price.
Unserviceable
Past ten years, never serviced
Not a rule on its own, but it changes the arithmetic. Spending on a part inside a tank that has carried a decade of scale usually buys months rather than years.
Worth replacing while you choose to
If none of these describes what you have, the fault is almost certainly a part, and that is a water heater repair rather than this.
How the replacement runs
The old heater coming out is the slow half of this job. Most of what goes wrong on a replacement goes wrong at that end, not at the fitting end.
- 1
Isolate and drain
Power off at the board, cold feed closed, tank drained down. A full tank is far too heavy to take off a wall and this is the part that cannot be rushed.
- 2
Old unit down and out
Disconnected, lifted off the brackets and carried out. Ceiling voids and tight cupboards are where the care goes, because the tank is awkward and the plasterboard is not.
- 3
Renew what it leaves behind
Valves, flexible connectors and brackets replaced rather than reused. They are the cheapest parts of the job and the most common reason a new heater leaks.
- 4
Fit, fill and leave it dry
New unit mounted and connected, tank filled, air bled, temperature checked at a tap. The old heater leaves with us and the space is left clear.
What gets renewed along with the heater
A new heater bolted to twelve year old fittings is a new heater with twelve year old fittings. These are the parts we change as a matter of course, and the reason why.
- The flexible connectors
- Braided hoses perish from the inside and give no warning. They are the single most common leak on a replacement where somebody reused them to save a few dirhams.
- The isolation valve
- A valve that has sat in one position for a decade often will not close properly when you finally need it to. The point of fitting one is that it works on the day it matters.
- The pressure relief valve
- Always new. An old valve is usually scaled, and a scaled valve either drips continuously or does not open at all. Neither is something to find out later.
- The mounting brackets
- Replaced and refixed into something structural. Brackets that carried the old tank may have been slowly pulling out of plasterboard for years without anybody noticing.
- The electrical tails and isolator
- Checked, and renewed where the insulation has gone hard or the terminals are discoloured. Heat cycling is hard on connections and this is where electrical faults start.
- The drain provision
- If there was not one, we add one. It is a small job during a replacement and a genuinely awkward one at any other time.
Disposal, and the mess the old one made
The old heater goes with us. A drained tank is still heavy and awkward, and a building will not thank anybody for leaving one beside the bins.
The bigger question is usually what the failed heater did on its way out. A tank that has been weeping for weeks leaves a stained ceiling, soft plasterboard, or a swollen cupboard base, and none of that is plumbing work.
We will tell you plainly what needs doing and what will dry out on its own. Where it does need work, that is painting for a stained ceiling, carpentry for a cupboard base, and false ceiling repair where a panel has gone soft. Same company, one visit to look at it.
What to have ready on the day
None of this is difficult and all of it saves time. A replacement that stalls usually stalls on access rather than on plumbing.
- Clear the cupboard or the space under the ceiling hatch
- Know where the flat stopcock is, and that it turns
- A path from the heater to the front door with nothing breakable on it
- Building permission arranged if your tower asks for it
- Somebody at home who can approve the work if we find something underneath
- The model label photographed, if the heater is hard to get to
Should the new one be the same size
Usually yes, and sometimes no. A replacement is the one moment when changing the size costs almost nothing extra, because the labour is already being paid for.
Go larger if people were running out of hot water with normal use. Go smaller, or go to an instant unit, if the tank was only ever feeding a kitchen sink or a cloakroom and was being kept hot all day for nothing.
Change the position if a leak from where it sat would reach a ceiling or a distribution board. That is a judgement about what the next failure costs, not about this one, and it is worth making while the wall is already open. We go through the sizing properly on the installation page.
The work a failed heater creates
Very few heater replacements are only a heater. The ceiling it leaked through is painting, the cupboard base is carpentry, the soft panel is a false ceiling job, and the pipework it was fed by is plumbing. The supply it tripped is electrical. We also cover handyman work, tiling, renovation, gypsum partitions and air conditioning, with the full list in one place. Once the new unit is in, an annual service or an AMC is what stops the next one arriving the same way.
Where we replace heaters
Towers and villas across Dubai, including the awkward ones above bathroom ceilings. If your community is not listed, ask us.
New Dubai
- Dubai Marina
- Jumeirah Lakes Towers
- Palm Jumeirah
- Jumeirah Beach Residence
- Emirates Hills
- The Greens and The Views
- Discovery Gardens
- Dubai Media City
Central Dubai
- Downtown Dubai
- Business Bay
- DIFC
- Al Barsha
- Jumeirah
- Umm Suqeim
- Al Quoz
- Trade Centre
Old Dubai
- Deira
- Bur Dubai
- Al Karama
- Al Nahda
- Mirdif
- Al Qusais
- Oud Metha
- Garhoud
Outer communities
- Arabian Ranches
- Jumeirah Village Circle
- Dubai Silicon Oasis
- Dubai Sports City
- Damac Hills
- Motor City
- Dubai Hills Estate
- International City
Replacement questions we get asked
How do I know the tank has really failed?
Find where the water is coming from. If it is from a joint, a connector or the pressure valve, that is a part and it is repairable. If it is weeping or running from the shell of the tank itself, the steel has gone through from the inside and no sealant holds against that. Brown hot water with clear cold water points the same way even before anything leaks.
Do you take the old water heater away?
Yes, it leaves with us as part of the job. The tank is drained first and then removed from the property. It is worth asking anybody you get a quote from, because a drained heater is heavy and awkward and getting rid of one yourself is not simple in a tower.
Can you replace the heater the same day you look at it?
Often, when the unit is a common size and the access is reasonable. It takes a second visit when the model is unusual, when the pipework needs altering to take the new tank, or when the building wants notice before a contractor opens a ceiling. We will tell you which on the first look rather than after.
Will you reuse the old valves and hoses?
No. Flexible connectors, the isolation valve and the pressure relief valve are renewed as part of a replacement. They are a small fraction of the cost and they are the most common reason a newly fitted heater leaks. Reusing them is how a clean job turns into a callback.
Who pays for a replacement in a rented flat?
A water heater is a fixture, so in most tenancies it sits with the landlord or the owners association rather than the tenant. Message them before you commit to anything. We are happy to put the diagnosis in writing so you have something to send them.
What happens to the ceiling the old heater leaked through?
We will tell you whether it will dry out or whether it needs work. A brown stain that has stopped spreading usually needs sealing and repainting, and plasterboard that has gone soft needs cutting out and replacing. Both are things we do, so it does not need a second company.
Replace a failed water heater
Send us a photo of the heater and the label if you can reach it. We will tell you whether it is the tank or a part before anybody talks about a new unit.