A Fairfax Station house is usually a big one. About 9 in 10 homes in the 22039 ZIP have four bedrooms or more, against about 4 in 10 across Fairfax County, and a 40 gallon tank that suits a townhouse can run short here. A house that size usually wants 50 gallons or more, two tanks side by side, or a tankless unit sized for two showers at once.
The fuel varies, too. About 6 in 10 owner homes in 22039 heat with natural gas, about 3 in 10 with electricity, and about 1 in 12 with oil or propane. Propane-fired tanks are priced with gas, $3,379 to $5,485 installed, and Fairfax County wants the same permit for one, even like for like. An all-electric house usually keeps an electric tank, $2,757 to $5,493.
On a well, the water reaching the tank has never been through a treatment plant. Whatever grit the pump brings up settles at the bottom, and the hardness is whatever your own well test says, not a utility’s average. If the water runs through a softener, the anode rod in the new tank gets used up faster, so it’s worth a look every couple of years.
Power matters more out here too. A tankless unit or a power vent tank needs electricity to fire, and on a well so does the pump that feeds it. When the lights go out, a well house is down to whatever the pressure tank holds, whichever water heater it has, so a tankless unit’s need for power costs a well house nothing it wasn’t already losing.