Most families think of a water heater as one purchase. In practice it is a sequence: someone decides, someone sizes and orders the unit, someone arranges the work, someone is home for the day, and someone checks the result and files the paperwork. Each step has a person attached, and the family meeting is where you name them before the old unit is disconnected.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Decide who approves before anyone calls

Name the person who can approve the work and the amount to be spent, and name the person who will be the contact for the installer. If two siblings both think they are in charge, the installer will call whichever one answers first, and the decision will be made without the other one. Put both names on the line and say who has the final word.

Find the details of the existing unit

Note the fuel type, the size, the location, and the condition of the shutoff valves and the venting. Ask the installer to confirm the sizing from the house and the way it is used, rather than assuming the old unit was right. Ask whether the new unit needs any change to the vent or the gas or electric connection.

Ask about permits

Ask whether your city or county building department requires a permit for the replacement and who pulls it. Ask whether the installer's work is inspected. A permit question is cheap to ask on the phone and expensive to skip if an inspector comes later.

Plan the disconnect day

Ask what the installer needs turned off, what gets drained, and how long the house will be without hot water. Decide who is home for the whole visit. If Mom is in the house, decide who is her point of contact during the work, so she is not left to answer questions about shutoffs and tools.

Check the install before you sign off

Ask the installer to walk you through the connections, the pan and drain line if one is used, and the location of the shutoff valves. Run hot water at a tap, look for leaks at the connections, and ask what temperature the new unit is set to and how to change it. Note the answers on the list.

File the paperwork and the haul-away

Keep the receipt, the model and serial numbers, the installer's warranty, and the manufacturer's warranty registration in one folder. Confirm whether the old unit was hauled away, and get that in writing. The final line on the list should say who holds the folder, because the next person who needs it will be looking for it on a bad day.

For the public pages behind the general guidance here, see Sources.