A heating element is the metal coil bolted into the side of an electric storage tank that heats water directly, the way a stove burner heats a pot. A. O. Smith's own product literature says its electric tank water heaters use one or two heating elements. Gas water heaters have no element at all.
Hot Water Brief is an independent cost-research site. We are not a contractor and do not perform the work ourselves.
The element threads or bolts straight through the tank wall into the water, which is why any work on it touches the plumbing side as well as the electrical side. On a tank with two elements, only one runs at a time. The upper element heats first, and once the water in the top half of the tank reaches the set temperature, its thermostat shuts it off and hands the job to the lower element for the rest of the tank. That handoff is also why the two elements fail in different, recognizable ways, covered below.
This page is about the element itself. If the fault sits somewhere else on the tank, such as the thermostat, the anode rod, or the tank shell, see Water Heater Problems: What Is Wrong and What Repairs Cost for the fuller symptom breakdown.
RV elements run on 120V through a relay; check the RV relay and ECO first.
Replacing a heating element in an electric water heater costs $200 to $750, parts and labor combined, according to Fixr's national water heater repair cost guide, updated 29 August 2025. That range covers a single element. A thermostat swap, sometimes done at the same time, runs $100 to $250 by the same source.
| Job | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Heating element, parts and labor | $200 to $750 |
| Thermostat, parts and labor | $100 to $250 |
| Whole water heater repair, any cause, national average | $450, most jobs $150 to $750 |
| Tank replacement, once the tank itself has failed | $600 to $2,000 |
Source: Fixr, Water Heater Repair Cost, updated 29 August 2025.
Fixr does not split the part cost from the labor cost for this job. It lists $200 to $750 as one figure with labor already included. What tends to push a job toward the higher end is how hard the element is to access, and whether both the upper and lower element need replacing on the same visit, which is effectively two of the same job done back to back. This is a national range, not a quote for your home, and Hot Water Brief does not set prices or quote work.
No. A gas water heater has no electric heating element at all; it produces heat with a burner beneath the tank instead. Fixr's national repair cost guide states plainly that heating elements are present in electric water heaters, while gas units rely on components such as burners, thermocouples, pilot assemblies and gas control valves.
This is a common mix-up, and it is worth being direct about: if your water heater runs on gas or propane, this page's cost range does not apply to your unit, no matter what symptom sent you looking. A gas heater that has stopped producing hot water is almost always a dead pilot, a failed thermocouple, or a gas control valve fault instead, and those repairs run on their own separate price ranges.
For the gas-side breakdown, including what a thermocouple, a pilot assembly or a gas control valve typically costs to fix, see Water Heater Problems: What Is Wrong and What Repairs Cost.
On a dual-element tank, which one failed shows up in the symptom. No hot water at all typically points to a burned out upper element, since it heats first. Hot water that runs for a few minutes then turns cold points to a failed lower element. Fixr prices either element the same, $200 to $750.
| Symptom | Likely part | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| No hot water at all | Upper element burned out | $200 to $750 |
| Hot briefly, then cold | Lower element failed | $200 to $750 |
| Lukewarm at every tap | Thermostat setting, or a failed thermostat | $100 to $250 |
Source: Fixr, Water Heater Repair Cost, updated 29 August 2025.
A thermostat fault produces the third pattern above, lukewarm water everywhere rather than a hot-then-cold pattern, which is why it is priced and diagnosed separately from the element itself. A multimeter continuity test tells the two apart; guessing does not. The fuller symptom-by-symptom table, covering leaks, noises and odors as well, lives on Water Heater Problems: What Is Wrong and What Repairs Cost.
A. O. Smith's own product literature states its electric tank water heaters use one or two heating elements. A single-element tank has one heating element and one thermostat. A dual-element tank has a separate upper element and lower element, each wired to its own thermostat, and Fixr prices either element the same: $200 to $750 to replace.
The practical difference shows up at repair time rather than at cost time, since a single element replacement and a dual element replacement both fall in the same $200 to $750 range per element. What changes is diagnosis. On a single-element tank there is only one part to test. On a dual-element tank, the symptom tells you which of the two elements to test first, which is the point of the table in the previous section.
Parts for the two configurations are not interchangeable between the upper and lower position on a dual-element tank, and it is worth confirming which element position you are ordering a replacement for before buying one.
Shut off the power at the breaker before touching anything inside the access panel. This is a high-voltage circuit, and power must be confirmed off, not assumed off, before any wire is disconnected. The job also involves draining part of the tank, which Fixr flags as work most homeowners hand to a professional.
None of that removes the electrical risk. If there is any doubt about which breaker feeds the unit, whether the circuit is actually dead, or how to test it safely, that is the point to call a licensed electrician or plumber rather than proceed.
Every number on this page traces to a published source. Cost figures come from a cost guide, named as one. The electric-versus-gas and single-versus-dual element facts come from a manufacturer's own consumer product page. The empty-tank warning comes from a U.S. Department of Energy building science resource.
For the fuller symptom-by-symptom repair breakdown, including gas units, see Water Heater Problems: What Is Wrong and What Repairs Cost. For water heater costs beyond this one part, see the water heater cost hub.
No. A gas water heater heats water with a burner, not an electric element. Fixr's national repair cost guide states that heating elements are present only in electric water heaters, while gas units use a pilot or igniter, a thermocouple and a gas control valve instead. See the water heater problem guide for gas-side repair costs.
Fixr's national water heater repair cost guide, updated 29 August 2025, puts it at $200 to $750, parts and labor combined. That figure applies equally to the upper or lower element on an electric storage tank; Fixr does not price them differently.
The power must be shut off at the breaker and confirmed off before the access panel comes open, since this is a live electrical hazard, not a minor one. Beyond that, the job involves draining part of the tank, and Fixr treats water heater repair generally as work most homeowners hand to a professional.
A. O. Smith's own product literature states its electric tank units use one or two heating elements. A single-element tank has one element and one thermostat. A dual-element tank has a separate upper and lower element, each with its own thermostat, and Fixr prices either one the same at $200 to $750.
The symptom points at it. No hot water at all usually means the upper element failed. Hot water that runs out after a few minutes usually means the lower element failed. A thermostat fault tends to show up as lukewarm water at every tap, and Fixr prices thermostat work separately at $100 to $250.
No. A heating element is a single sealed part; once it has burned out or fails a continuity test, it is swapped rather than repaired. Fixr's $200 to $750 range already reflects a full replacement, not a partial fix.
Independent Research
Published ranges for tank and tankless replacement, the failures that justify a repair, and the ones that do not. Sourced, dated, and free to read.
