Water heaters are one of the mainstays of most service and repair plumbing firms. How do successful plumbers compete against utilities, home centers and the increasing hordes of handymen? PM recently surveyed 1,000 of its readers on servicing/installing techniques associated with the water heater market. A hefty 23 percent responded with useful and sometimes unexpected information. Because we make our living maintaining water heaters, we were very interested in their responses.

The survey’s final question resulted in one of the most interesting answers. Plumbers were asked how long they’ve been in the industry. Twenty–five years was the average, with 10 percent of the respondents having more than 40 years worth of experience. Only 2 percent of the responses came from people who have worked in the industry less than 10 years. Also, almost three–quarters of these plumbers work on both residential and commercial equipment. So the information and opinions resulting from the survey came from people with considerable experience under their belts. And their responses show they know a good deal about water heaters.