Water Heater Installation, Replacement & Repair in Westborough, MA
A cold shower in Westborough isn't just unpleasant — it's a sign your water heater needs attention. Richard T. Curley Plumbing & Heating handles everything from pilot-light fixes to full tank installations and replacements in Westborough homes. Whether yours is gas, electric, or power-vent, we diagnose the issue and get your hot water back the same day.
Westborough is the gas town. National Grid runs down Route 9 and through the older colonials and mid-century ranches, so most of the basements we open have a gas water heater — atmospheric-vented, dropped in near the chimney where the old boiler used to sit.
But Westborough has a second story that keeps us busy: the condos and the newer construction, the heat-pump homes and the places where gas was never run. Those run electric, and they're a bigger slice of this town than most people expect. What almost all of them share is the same tight basement math — a modern tall tank that has to come down the stairs and into a corner that was never built for it. We've been fitting them in Westborough since 1980.
There’s no hidden utility bargain buried here like there is in some of the towns around us — Westborough is on standard investor rates, not a municipal utility. That keeps the economics simple: gas is the economical lead for most of this town, and an electric unit makes sense where gas isn’t practical or where the house is already on heat pumps and the numbers line up with the Mass Save program. The honest advice we give most Westborough homeowners is the same advice we’ve given for forty years: match the fuel to the house, not the other way around.
For the full picture on water heater types, costs, and what to expect, read our complete guide to water heater installation in Massachusetts.
The Water Heater Business...
The Water Heater Business… Richard T. Curley Plumbing & Heating has provided Westborough, Massachusetts, with affordable water heater installation, replacement, and repairs since 1980. We do our best to provide the residents of Westborough, Massachusetts, with same-day service.
We keep the parts that fail most often on the truck, so when your heater dies on a January morning, we’re not making you wait for a supply house delivery.
"Specializing in water heaters"
“Specializing in Water Heaters” We don’t just say that — it’s written right on the side of our trucks, and it has been for over 40 years.
In Westborough’s older colonials and mid-century ranches, we mostly find atmospheric-vented gas heaters in basement corners near the flue, close to where the old boiler used to sit — and in the newer condos and gas-less homes, no chimney at all.
Gas Water Heaters
Gas water heaters (natural gas or propane) are atmospheric-vented models, venting galvanized pipe into a chimney. They’re the setup we see most in Westborough’s colonials and ranches — the heater sitting in a basement corner near the flue, venting up the same masonry stack. When those homes convert their heat to mini-splits, the water heater gets left in an oversized, unlined chimney, and the draft goes bad — which is when a power-vent upgrade becomes the fix.
- Installation
- Replacement
- Repair
- Gas thermostats
- Thermocouple
- Temperature and Pressure Safety Valve
- Vacuum Relief Valve
- Expansion Tank
Power-Vent Water Heaters
Power-vent water heaters are the atmospheric model with a re-engineered exhaust — a PVC vent and a blower on top that pushes combustion by-products out the roof or a sidewall when there’s no reliable chimney. They’re the right answer when a Westborough home has gone away from the old boiler stack, but the trade-off is the foundation: routing a PVC vent through a thick, older foundation wall is work you want done right the first time.
- Installation
- Replacement
- Repair
- Gas thermostats
- Temperature and Pressure Safety Valve
- Vacuum Relief Valve
- Expansion Tank
Electric Water Heaters
Electric water heaters and especially the hybrid heat-pump models — are the quiet second story in Westborough, showing up in condos, townhomes, and heat-pump houses where there’s no gas line. The catch is the space: a heat-pump unit stands taller and wider than a standard tank and needs plenty of surrounding air to pull heat from, and a tight Westborough basement often doesn’t have it. In those homes it’s a standard electric, sized to the stairs it has to come down.
- Installation
- Replacement
- Repair
- Thermostats
- Heating elements
- Temperature and Pressure Safety Valve
- Vacuum Relief Valve
- Expansion Tank
Water heaters across the MetroWest…
Richard T. Curley Plumbing & Heating handles water heaters in Westborough and the towns around it. If you’re in a neighboring town, here’s where to go:
Call (978) 562-3736 for service in Westborough or any of these towns.
Frequently Asked Questions About Water Heaters in Westborough
Same day in almost every case. We’re based nearby in Hudson, so most Westborough addresses are minutes away, and we show up stocked with the parts that fail most often. Call (978) 562-3736. A cold shower in a Westborough colonial in January is not something you wait until tomorrow to fix.
Yes. Most Westborough basements have an atmospheric-vented gas unit near the chimney, but the condos and newer homes run electric. A quick description over the phone — or a photo you text us — usually tells us what we’re walking into, and we’ll bring the right parts on the first trip.
It depends on fuel type, tank size, and how hard the access is. A standard gas tank in an open basement is the most straightforward; an electric in a tight condo mechanical closet or a power-vent with a long PVC run costs more. We give you a clear number before we start, not a surprise after.
Usually, yes. Most of the time it’s the thermocouple or a venting issue with the draft, and we carry those parts on the truck. If the unit is old enough that the repair doesn’t make sense, we’ll say so and talk replacement honestly.
In an older home it’s often an undersized tank or a failing heating element — or sediment build-up from years of mineral-heavy town water sitting in the bottom of the tank. We diagnose it the same visit and tell you whether it’s a repair or a replacement.
While your hot water is on our mind, don’t overlook that leaky kitchen faucet in Westborough — we fix those too. And our bathroom plumbing services in Westborough cover everything from running toilets to full shower valve replacements. And when the boiler behind all that hot water needs service, our heating repair and replacement in Westborough handles that from the same stocked truck.
For everything else in Westborough — kitchen plumbing, bathroom repairs, drain cleaning, and all your plumbing needs — see our full Westborough plumbing services page.