Terms of Use
Effective date: August 12, 2026.
Embercrest is free to read, and using it means accepting these terms. They exist mostly to say clearly what this site is (information) and what it is not.
Information, not professional advice
Everything published here is for informational purposes only. It is not professional plumbing, electrical, gas-fitting, legal, insurance, tax, or financial advice, and reading it creates no client or contractor relationship with anyone. Plumbing and mechanical codes, permit rules, and prices vary by state and city and change over time, so always confirm scope, code requirements, and pricing with a licensed professional in your jurisdiction before acting.
Safety duties that outrank anything we publish
Water heaters involve scald, natural gas, carbon monoxide, and electrical hazards, and no guide on this site overrides basic safety. If you smell gas, leave the building immediately and take everyone with you. Do not flip switches, light flames, or use phones indoors; call 911 and your gas utility from outside. Never search for or repair a gas leak yourself. Respect hot water: at a 140°F setting, tap water can inflict a third-degree burn in about six seconds, per the Consumer Product Safety Commission. And never cap or plug a temperature-and-pressure relief valve, because capped valves have caused water heater explosions.
DIY is at your own risk
Our guides explain how work is done so you can judge quotes and scope, not to certify you to do it. Gas and electrical work is regulated in most jurisdictions, and water heater replacement commonly requires a permit. Gas connections, 240-volt electrical work, venting, and temperature-and-pressure relief work are licensed-professional tasks, not DIY projects. If you choose to do any work yourself, you assume full responsibility for its legality, safety, and results.
Referral connections
Calling the number on this site is free and may connect you with a licensed local installation partner; we may be compensated for qualified referrals, as described in how we make money. Any estimate, contract, warranty, or work arrangement is strictly between you and the installer. Embercrest is not a party to that agreement, does not supervise the work, and is not responsible for it. We encourage you to verify any contractor's license and insurance for your jurisdiction before hiring.
Using our content
Site content is owned by the publisher and protected by copyright. You may read, link to, and share brief excerpts with attribution for personal, non-commercial purposes. Republishing pages, scraping the site into datasets, or presenting our tables and price ranges as your own requires written permission.
Prohibited uses
Do not disrupt or probe the site's infrastructure, misrepresent yourself when calling the referral line, or use the site or its phone number for any unlawful purpose, including automated or harassing calls.
Outbound links
We link to government agencies, standards bodies, and other outside sources. We choose them carefully but do not control them, and linking is not an endorsement of everything they publish.
Warranty disclaimer
Everything here is published "as is," with no warranties of any kind, express or implied. We work hard on accuracy: drafting is AI-assisted, a human editor verifies every figure against its source, and our editorial policy describes the full process. Still, costs, codes, rebates, and product standards shift by region and over time, and we cannot warrant that any figure fits your house, your city, or this month's market.
Liability limits
So far as the law permits, neither Embercrest nor its operators can be held responsible for indirect, incidental, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages tied to this site or to any installer referral, including property damage, personal injury during work performed by a third party, or the cost of repairs. If some liability survives that exclusion, it is capped at the amount you paid Embercrest for access, and that amount is zero.
Governing law and venue
Ohio law governs these terms, because the publisher operates from Ohio, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute goes to the state or federal courts sitting in Ohio.
Revisions and questions
These terms can be revised; when that happens, the effective date at the top moves with them, and reading the site afterward counts as accepting the new version. Questions travel through the contact page. Related pages: the privacy policy and the accessibility statement.