Hear from Our Customers
A cold December morning in Auburn lows hovering around 37°F, the whole household running showers and the dishwasher at once is exactly when an aging tank heater decides it’s done. When you switch to a properly sized tankless unit, that scenario stops being a problem. You get continuous hot water on demand, and the system runs more efficiently because it’s only heating water when you actually need it.
Auburn’s water supply runs around 310 parts per million in total dissolved solids that’s the mineral load coming off the Sierra Nevada granite and the old Gold Rush alluvial deposits underneath this region. That kind of hard water shortens the life of a traditional tank heater faster than most people realize. A tankless system, maintained with annual descaling, handles Auburn’s water chemistry far better over the long run and doesn’t quietly degrade the way a tank does.
The other thing worth knowing: a field-tested switch from tank to tankless has shown up to 37% savings in water heating energy. Over the 20-plus year lifespan of a tankless unit compared to replacing a tank heater once or twice in that same window the math works in your favor. That’s not a sales pitch, it’s just what the numbers show.
We’ve been serving Auburn and Placer County since 2009. Ryan Murray started this company as a working tradesman not a franchise, not a call center and the way we run the business today reflects that. Upfront pricing, same-day availability, and technicians who actually show up when we say we will. Our 4.7-star Google rating across 93 reviews didn’t come from a marketing campaign. It came from jobs done right.
Auburn is part of our core service area not a stretch of the map, not a ZIP code added to a list. That means familiarity with Placer County Building Services, knowledge of what older homes near Old Town typically need before a tankless installation can happen, and an understanding of the water quality challenges specific to this part of the Sierra Nevada foothills. When you call, you’re talking to a local team that knows Auburn.
It starts with a real assessment. Before any work is quoted or scheduled, a Murray Plumbing technician looks at your current setup gas line sizing, venting configuration, electrical panel if applicable and identifies what your specific home actually needs. In Auburn, particularly in older homes around Old Town or mid-century properties built in the 1960s and 70s, that assessment often turns up undersized gas lines or venting that needs to be updated. You hear about all of it upfront, with a complete price, before anything gets touched.
Once you approve the scope, we pull the permit through the appropriate authority either the City of Auburn or the Placer County Building Services Division, depending on where your property sits. That office is right here in Auburn, and handling Placer County permit requirements is a routine part of every job we do, not an afterthought. You don’t fill out a form or make a call to the county. We handle it.
Installation day runs efficiently. The old unit comes out, the new tankless system goes in, any required infrastructure upgrades are completed, and the system is tested before our technician leaves. Inspection is scheduled and managed on your behalf. When it’s done, you have a permitted, code-compliant installation and hot water that actually keeps up with your household.
Ready to get started?
Every tankless water heater installation through us includes the pre-installation assessment, full permit management through Placer County, the installation itself, and a final system test before our technician walks out the door. If your Auburn home needs a gas line upgrade common in the area’s older housing stock, where half-inch lines don’t meet the three-quarter-inch minimum that most gas tankless units require that work is scoped and priced as part of the original quote, not surfaced mid-job.
Gas tankless units are the most common installation in Auburn given the area’s existing natural gas infrastructure, and a properly sized unit delivers five to ten or more gallons per minute enough to run multiple fixtures simultaneously without the pressure or temperature drop that smaller systems create. For homes in Vintage Oaks, Bowman, or on larger foothill lots with higher peak demand, sizing matters and we size to your actual usage, not a generic household estimate.
For Auburn homeowners dealing with the area’s hard water, there’s also an honest conversation to be had about whether a whole-home water softener or inline filter makes sense alongside the new system. It’s not always necessary, but it’s worth knowing before you install and we’ll give you a straight answer on it either way.
It depends on when your home was built and what’s currently in the wall. Most gas tankless water heaters require a three-quarter-inch gas supply line at minimum, and a significant number of Auburn homes particularly those built before the 1980s, including many properties in and around Old Town were originally plumbed with half-inch lines. That’s not a dealbreaker, but it does mean the gas line needs to be upgraded as part of the installation.
This is exactly why the pre-installation assessment matters. We check your existing gas line, venting, and overall setup before quoting the job. If an upgrade is needed, it’s included in the upfront price not added to the invoice after the work has started. You know the full cost before anything is touched, which is the only fair way to handle it.
The honest answer is that it varies based on your home’s existing infrastructure. A straightforward tankless installation on an Auburn home with properly sized gas lines and adequate venting typically runs in the range of $1,400 to $2,600 for the unit and labor combined. If your home needs a gas line upgrade which runs roughly $1,500 to $2,500 depending on scope that gets added to the total. Electrical panel work, if you’re going with an electric tankless unit, is a separate cost as well.
What we commit to is that you get the full number before work begins. The pre-installation assessment exists specifically to identify what your home needs so the quote reflects the actual job, not just the easy part of it. No estimates that grow after the crew shows up.
Yes and skipping it creates real problems. Under California Plumbing Code Section 502.1, a permit is required for water heater replacement in Placer County. If you’re within the incorporated City of Auburn, the city’s building department handles it. If your property is in unincorporated Placer County which covers North Auburn, Applegate, Auburn Lake Trails, and the surrounding foothill communities the permit comes through the Placer County Building Services Division, which is headquartered right here in Auburn.
The reason this matters beyond compliance: an unpermitted installation can void your homeowner’s insurance coverage if the water heater causes damage down the line. We manage the entire permit process as part of every installation application, scheduling, and inspection coordination. You don’t call the county, you don’t fill out forms, and you don’t chase down an inspector. It’s part of the job.
Auburn’s water supply runs around 310 parts per million in total dissolved solids that’s a moderately hard water supply driven by the Sierra Nevada granite bedrock and the mineral-rich alluvial deposits left behind by Gold Rush-era placer mining in this region. That mineral content builds up as scale inside any water heating system over time, and it does real damage to traditional tank heaters shortening their lifespan and quietly degrading efficiency before most homeowners notice.
Tankless units handle Auburn’s water chemistry better in the long run, but they’re not immune. Annual descaling maintenance is more important here than it would be in a softer-water community. When we install a tankless system in Auburn, there’s also an honest conversation about whether a whole-home water softener or inline filter makes sense for your specific situation. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t but you should know before you invest in a new system.
A standard installation where the gas line, venting, and electrical are already adequate typically takes between two and four hours. If your home needs infrastructure work alongside the installation, like a gas line upgrade or new venting, plan for a longer day. We schedule based on the full scope identified during the pre-installation assessment, so you’re not surprised by a job that runs longer than quoted.
For emergency replacements a failed tank heater on a cold January morning when Auburn’s getting close to seven inches of rain and the household has no hot water our same-day service handles most calls the day you reach out. The 24/7 emergency line means you’re not waiting through a weekend or until Monday for someone to pick up.
For most Auburn homeowners, yes but the honest answer depends on what your home needs to support one. Some contractors in the Auburn area will steer older-home owners away from tankless entirely, citing the infrastructure upgrades as a reason to stick with a tank. That’s not always the right call. The infrastructure upgrades are a one-time cost. The energy savings, the 20-plus year lifespan, and the elimination of standby heat loss are ongoing benefits.
The real question is whether the total investment unit, installation, and any required upgrades makes sense for your situation, your household’s hot water demand, and how long you plan to stay in the home. Auburn’s homeownership profile skews toward long-term residents, and for someone who’s been in their Old Town or Bowman home for years and plans to stay, the math typically works. We’ll walk you through the real numbers for your specific home not a generic calculation so you can make the call with actual information.
Local Resources
