My name is Chriss R. I’m 51, I’ve been a general (building) contractor since I was 22, and in nearly three decades of residential construction I have signed off on more water heaters than I can honestly count. WaterHeaterLab is where I write down what all those jobs taught me — the sizing math, the comparisons, and the ten-year costs that a spec sheet never quite admits to.
The engineer who went back to the job site
I didn’t plan on becoming a builder. I earned an engineering degree in Industrial Engineering & Maintenance and was headed for factory floors and maintenance schedules. Then my father, a building contractor his whole working life, started talking about slowing down. I changed course, joined him on his jobs, and took over the family business when he retired. The degree wasn’t wasted: a house is one long maintenance problem, and the water heater is the piece of equipment nobody thinks about until it quits — usually on a Sunday.
These days I run the business from the office: estimates, specs, bids, and project follow-up, most of it on a computer rather than a ladder — a career move my knees fully endorse. It also leaves me time to write up, in one place, what I used to explain to clients one kitchen table at a time. I have four boys, so I get regular practice explaining things to skeptical audiences.
What I actually know — and what I don’t
Let me be precise, because credentials matter on the internet. I am not a licensed plumber, and I have never claimed to be. On my jobs, licensed plumbers and electricians did the installing. My role was everything around them: scoping the work, choosing the equipment, pricing the options, supervising the schedule, and answering for the result. Across hundreds of water-heater installations and replacements on residential projects, that vantage point teaches you what no product page will: which decisions cost real money, which upgrades never pay for themselves, and what actually fails ten years later — because I was often still around to see it.
Why WaterHeaterLab exists
When a water heater dies, a homeowner has cold showers, a deadline of roughly right now, and a phone full of people trying to sell them something. What they rarely get is numbers. This site publishes comparisons, sizing guides, and ten-year cost-of-ownership analysis so you can check the pitch against arithmetic before you sign anything. If you want to see exactly how those numbers are built, the methodology is public on our method page.
What you won’t find here
- Installation tutorials or DIY repair walkthroughs. Water heaters involve gas lines, 240-volt circuits, and pressurized tanks. Everything here is informational only — hire a licensed professional for installation or repair, and remember that local codes vary.
- Installation or repair services. I don’t sell them, and I won’t route you to someone who paid to be recommended.
- Sponsored rankings. No manufacturer or installer pays for a verdict on this site.
- Referral fees. None from installers, none from manufacturers.
The site does run display advertising, which keeps the lights on. Those ads are served independently of the editorial verdicts — an advertiser can buy space next to an article, never a conclusion inside one.
The paperwork
WaterHeaterLab is published by NET STUDIO LLC, 1501 South Greeley Hwy, Ste C #1386, Cheyenne, WY 82007, USA. Behind the corporate name, it’s me at the desk. If you’ve spotted an error, disagree with a number, or want to tell me your water heater outlived my cost model, I’d genuinely like to hear it — the contact page is the fastest way to reach me, or write to contact@waterheaterlab.com.
— Chriss R., editor
Last updated: August 19, 2026