Same or next day service
Tankless water heater conversion in Bryan & College Station
Ramon Service Company converts tank water heaters to tankless in Bryan and College Station, checking the gas line and venting first and saying so when a larger tank is the better answer for the house.
- We answer the phone
- We show up when we said, and call if that changes
- Three options, explained and priced before anything starts
Why people make the switch
Most people land here for one of two reasons: they keep running out of hot water, or they want the closet back.
You keep running out of hot water
The usual reason people ask, and the one case where tankless genuinely solves something a bigger tank might not.
Two showers at once is not possible
This is a flow-rate question rather than a capacity one. Worth sizing properly first, because an undersized tankless unit has exactly the same problem.
You’re replacing a tank anyway
The right moment to ask, because the labor overlaps and you are already paying for the disruption once.
You want the floor space back
A wall-hung unit frees the footprint a tank takes up, which in a tight utility closet can matter more than the hot water does.
You’re staying in the house a long time
The efficiency pays back over years rather than months, so this decides it more often than any other factor.
Already have one that is playing up?
This page is about putting a tankless unit in. If you have one already and it is throwing an error code, not igniting, or going cold partway through a shower, that is a repair rather than a conversion, and it is covered on the water heater repair page.
Will your house actually take one?
This is the whole question, and it’s the part most quotes skip. Four things decide it:
- Gas supply. A tankless unit fires at three to five times the input of a tank. The existing gas line is frequently too small, and upsizing it back to the meter is the single biggest cost in most conversions.
- Venting. Tankless units need their own sealed venting in stainless or PVC depending on the model. You can’t reuse the old flue.
- Condensate. Condensing units produce acidic condensate that has to drain somewhere legal.
- Electrical. Even a gas unit needs power for the controls and fan.
None of that’s exotic. It’s just work, and it’s work that doesn’t show up on a price you were quoted over the phone.
How long it takes. Anywhere from a couple of hours to most of a day, depending on the swap. Like-for-like is quick. Changing brands, moving the unit, or upsizing the gas line all add time, and on a conversion from a tank the gas and venting work is usually the bulk of it.
Either way you get as much detail on price and timeline as we can give you before we start, rather than after.
When a bigger tank is the better answer
We would rather say this on the page than after you’ve paid for a site visit.
A tankless conversion is usually the wrong call when the gas line needs a long run replaced, when the current tank is meeting your needs and you simply want it replaced, or when you’re unlikely to be in the house long enough to see the efficiency back. In a lot of Bryan and College Station homes that retrofit cost is the whole story.
It’s usually the right call when you’re genuinely running out of hot water with a correctly sized tank, when you want the floor space, or when you’re staying put and the gas and venting are already close to what’s needed.
We’ll price both, and tell you which one we would put in our own house.
What changes day to day
Hot water doesn’t run out. That’s the real benefit, and a big one for a household that showers back to back.
Flow rate becomes the limit instead of volume. A tankless unit heats what passes through it, so the constraint moves from “how much is left in the tank” to “how many fixtures are open at once.” Sizing is about how many things you run simultaneously, not how many gallons you store.
There is a short delay at the tap. The burner has to fire. It is a second or two, and most people stop noticing inside a week.
Descaling is not optional here
On our water, a tankless unit wants flushing roughly once a year. Skipped, scale builds on the heat exchanger, efficiency drops, and eventually the unit fails in a way that isn’t economically repairable.
It’s a straightforward service and you can learn to do it yourself if you want to - we’ll show you. What matters is that you go in knowing it’s part of owning one, rather than finding out in year six.
What is included
- Old unit removed and hauled away
- New unit set, connected, and tested
- Gas line sized and run where the existing supply won’t carry it
- Venting and condensate drain to current code
- Isolation valves fitted, so future descaling is a twenty-minute job
- Temperature set and the unit walked through with you before we leave
What it costs
$80 service call, waived when you approve the work and we start the same day.
That covers finding out what is actually wrong instead of guessing at it. After that you get three options with a price on each, before anything is touched. A couple of hours for a straight swap, up to most of a day if the gas line or venting has to change.
What happens when you call
- 01
You reach the company, not a call center
No dispatch queue and no script. Describe what you are seeing and you will get a straight answer on whether it needs a truck today.
- 02
$80 service call
Waived when you approve the work and we start the same day. It pays for finding out what is actually wrong instead of guessing.
- 03
Three options, priced
Written down before anything is touched. Nothing happens until you pick one.
How we quote it
Once we know what is actually wrong you get three options, written down before anything is touched. What fills each one depends on what we find, but the shape is always the same, and every one of them solves the problem you called about. The $80 service call is waived when you approve the work and we start the same day.
- Option 1
The smallest fix that works
The least work that actually solves the problem. What that turns out to be depends on what we find, but it’s always the first thing we price.
Best when: The rest of the fixture is sound and the fault is contained.
- Option 2
Fix it, and what’s next to it
The repair plus the parts around it that are the same age and heading the same way.
Best when: You would rather not be back here in six months.
- Option 3
Replace it
A new fixture or unit, sized to the house and brought to current code.
Best when: Repairs have stopped being economical, or you were going to replace it anyway.
Why it happened
Brazos Valley water is hard, and hard water is the single thing that decides whether a tankless unit is a good idea here. Scale builds on the heat exchanger, and a unit that never gets descaled will fail early and expensively - well before the fifteen to twenty years the brochure promises. That isn’t a reason to avoid tankless. It’s a reason to plan for the flush before you buy one.
Common questions
- Is there a service charge?
- There’s an $80 service call to find out what’s actually wrong, and it’s waived if you approve the work and we start the same day. That covers finding out what’s actually wrong rather than guessing at it. Once we know, you get three options priced before any work starts, cheapest first, and you pick.
- How long should a water heater last?
- Eight to twelve years for a tank, fifteen to twenty for tankless - less than that here if nobody ever flushed it, because Brazos Valley water leaves sediment on the bottom of the tank and scale on the elements. Past ten years, a second repair on the same unit usually costs more over the following two years than replacing it would have.
- Do I get a price before you start?
- Yes, in writing, before anything is touched. Three options, cheapest first: fix what’s causing the problem right now, fix the whole area, or replace it. We’ll tell you when the cheap one isn’t enough and why, but we aren’t going to open with the expensive one.
- What if something isn’t right after you leave?
- Call us and we’ll come back and look at it, and there’s no $80 service call when it’s work we did. There’s no warranty certificate to read - what’s fair depends on what failed and why - but we’ll listen, look at what’s actually happening, and work with you toward a fair fix. We’re family owned and Aggie owned, and in a town this size our reputation is the business.
Related services
Water Heater Replacement
Tank replacement sized to the house, with the venting and code items brought current, priced three ways before anything starts.
Same day
Water Heater Repair
No hot water, not enough of it, or a tank that’s leaking. Diagnosed properly, then priced three ways.
Thinking about tankless conversion?
Describe what you are seeing and you will get a straight answer on when we can be there and what it is likely to take. Bryan and College Station.
Answered 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. · Same day