Storage tank
$1,600–$2,400Typical cost, including installation
WATER HEATER REPLACEMENT IN CIMARRON HILLS
Cimarron Hills Water Heater
Replacement
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See what replacement costs ↓CIMARRON HILLS AT A GLANCE
Replacing a water heater in Cimarron Hills.
Cimarron Hills is unincorporated El Paso County, east of Colorado Springs next to Peterson Space Force Base. A water heater replacement needs a PPRBD permit: $40, or $75 if the vent is replaced too. Tap water comes from Cherokee Metropolitan District's own wells in the Upper Black Squirrel Creek basin, not from Colorado Springs Utilities. It's some of the hardest water on the Front Range, which shortens a tank's life here more than almost anywhere else around Pikes Peak.
Cimarron Hills is an unincorporated community in El Paso County, so county offices handle permits.
- Permit to replace with the same type
- Yes · Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD)
- Permit fee
- $40 to replace a home water heater, or $75 if the vent is replaced too (PPRBD's current fee schedule; the page shows ICC valuation data effective June 30, 2025)
- Who gets the permit
- A contractor licensed and registered with PPRBD (a mechanical contractor license covers gas piping and gas appliances). You can pull the permit yourself only for work you do on the main home you own and live in. It's illegal for a homeowner to pull a permit for a hired contractor.
- Electric utility
- Colorado Springs Utilities and Mountain View Electric Association
- Water
- Cherokee Metropolitan District (Upper Black Squirrel Creek alluvial wells plus a purchased surface-water connection) · about 180 mg/L as CaCO3 (2024 Gazette report of a district presentation; not in the CCR)
- Rebate worth checking
- Residential Water Heater Rebate – Heat Pump Water Heater (Active)
- Typical home
- Built 1989 (median) · 68% owner-occupied
- Companies found
- 1 that advertise water heater work
01 / TYPICAL PRICES
What a new water heater costs.
Know before you call.
Heat-pump tank
$2,500–$5,000Typical cost, including installation
Tankless
$2,400–$5,400Typical cost, including installation
AI equipment illustrations; models vary and images are not to scale. Typical national prices from Home Depot ↗, checked September 28, 2026. The source doesn’t say how many jobs the ranges are based on. These are not Cimarron Hills averages or guaranteed quotes.
Compare what each quote includes.Equipment · Labor · Permits · Old heater removalHow to compare quotes →
What we know about prices in Cimarron Hills
- National installer’s published rangeThe ranges above. Home Depot ↗
- Local permit fee$40 to replace a home water heater, or $75 if the vent is replaced too (PPRBD's current fee schedule; the page shows ICC valuation data effective June 30, 2025). Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD) fee source ↗
- Local company’s advertised priceNone of the local company websites we checked list a full installed price.
- Measured local dataNot collected yet, so no Cimarron Hills average is shown.
What can change the price in Cimarron Hills?
PPRBD charges more for a replacement that includes the vent ($75 instead of $40). Its handout says old cellular-core plastic vent pipe must be taken out and replaced, and new plastic exhaust pipe must pass an air test at 5 psi. Other plumbing, electrical, gas and heating work without a building permit is priced by job value (Table C, starting at $50 for $100–$500).
02 / COMPANIES WE FOUND
Who replaces water heaters in Cimarron Hills?
Companies that advertise water heater replacement here, with what their water heater customers say.
Companies we found in our research. They are not Ember & Tank providers or partners. We show selected reviews, not a rating or every review. How we choose reviews →
Wild Water Plumbing, Heating & Cooling
Lists Cimarron Hills among the areas it serves. Based in 4320 Barnes Road, Suite 120, Colorado Springs, CO 80917.
- Tank
- Tankless
What the reviews say
We haven’t found reviews that mention this company’s water heater work yet.
Order: companies based in Cimarron Hills first, then companies whose water heater reviews we’ve read. Each group is alphabetical. These businesses are not our employees or vetted partners and do not receive requests from Ember & Tank. We haven’t checked their license, insurance or quality of work. Colorado DORA license lookup ↗.
See before-and-after replacement examples from independent companies →
HOMES IN CIMARRON HILLS
What Cimarron Hills homes are like.
1989Median year built
27%Built before 1980
68%Owner-occupied
71%Heat with utility gas
76%Single-family homes
The median home was built in 1989. A first or second replacement is common in homes this age.
71% of homes heat with utility gas, so gas water heaters with existing venting are common here.
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey ACS 2024 5-year ↗ (2020-2024). Heating fuel is what homes use to heat the house. It often, but not always, matches the water heater’s fuel.
LOCAL CONDITIONS
What’s different in Cimarron Hills.
Hard water from district wells
Cherokee Metropolitan District's 2026 report lists mostly groundwater wells plus some purchased surface water. A 2024 Gazette story put its hardness at 180 mg/L as calcium carbonate and described residents replacing appliances and putting in softeners.
Cherokee Metropolitan District – Water Quality Report page (2026 CCR, calendar year 2025) ↗ · Colorado Springs Gazette – 'Cherokee Metro District customers call for a fix to hard water woes' (March 3, 2024) ↗
Groundwater from Upper Black Squirrel Creek
Cherokee says its water comes from Upper Black Squirrel Creek, a renewable underground water supply in eastern El Paso County. Its 2026 report (2025 data) names more than twenty numbered wells plus one purchased surface-water connection. It lists sodium averaging about 57 ppm (18.8 to 82.7) and nitrate averaging 5.1 ppm, under the 10 ppm limit. Well water this full of minerals is why flushing the tank and checking the anode rod are worth doing here.
Cherokee Metropolitan District – Water Quality Report page ↗ · Cherokee MD 2026 Drinking Water Quality Report (calendar year 2025, PWSID CO0121125) ↗
A new treatment plant is coming
State testing found PFOA at 8.7 parts per trillion and PFOS at 2.8 ppt in Cherokee's water, above EPA's proposed 4 ppt limit, and the district is designing a new treatment plant. Colorado Public Radio reported in July 2025 that the district, which serves about 18,000 customers, expects it running by 2029 or sooner. The Gazette reported that the options being studied included softening. Until then, whether to add a softener or whole-house filter is up to you.
Cherokee Metropolitan District – Water Quality Report page (PFAS section) ↗ · Colorado Public Radio – Cherokee Metropolitan District PFAS treatment (July 13, 2025) ↗ · Colorado Springs Gazette – Cherokee hard water (March 3, 2024) ↗
Newer housing, some manufactured homes
Census estimates for 2020–2024 put the median home in Cimarron Hills at 1989, with about 69% single-family detached homes and about 7% mobile homes. A replacement heater in a manufactured home must meet federal HUD-code rules, including a sealed burner for gas units and a drain pan under the tank.
U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024 5-year, table B25035 (via Census Reporter) ↗ · U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024 5-year, table B25024 (via Census Reporter) ↗ · 24 CFR 3280.709 – Installation of appliances (eCFR) ↗
ENERGY & WATER
Who supplies Cimarron Hills homes.
Energy
- Electric: Colorado Springs Utilities (At least part of the area (a 2018 news story on a CSU outage near Highway 24 and Hathaway Drive))
- Electric: Mountain View Electric Association (May serve eastern parts; not confirmed)
KOAA – Power outage in Cimarron Hills (2018; Colorado Springs Utilities crews restoring power) ↗ · City of Fountain – Fountain Utilities (other utility providers: Mountain View Electric for rural El Paso County) ↗ · Colorado Springs Utilities – Official Statement (Aug 7, 2024): gas system serves certain unincorporated portions of El Paso County ↗
Water
Cherokee Metropolitan District (Upper Black Squirrel Creek alluvial wells plus a purchased surface-water connection): about 180 mg/L as CaCO3 (2024 Gazette report of a district presentation; not in the CCR)
Cherokee MD 2026 CCR (docx) ↗ · Colorado Springs Gazette (March 3, 2024) ↗
REBATES & CREDITS
Rebates for Cimarron Hills homes.
For Colorado Springs Utilities and Mountain View Electric Association customers in Cimarron Hills. Ask installers for the price before rebates, then check with the program that you qualify.
- Residential Water Heater Rebate – Heat Pump Water Heater ↗ActiveUp to $750 for a qualifying ENERGY STAR heat pump water heater.
- Residential Water Heater Rebate – Natural Gas Water Heater ↗Active$300 for a qualifying ENERGY STAR natural gas water heater; qualifying boilers get $1,200.
- Colorado heat pump tax credit ↗Active for 2026 installs$250 credit for an ENERGY STAR heat pump water heater installed in 2026, claimed by a state-registered contractor, who must pass at least $83 to you as an invoice discount.
- Federal Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (25C) ↗EndedCovered improvements made through December 31, 2025.
Checked September 30, 2026. Who qualifies and the conditions: Colorado rebates · How to check an incentive.
PERMITS & LICENSING
Permits and licenses in Cimarron Hills.
Permits and who issues them
PPRBD lists water heaters as needing a permit, and its handout says both gas and electric water heater installs need a permit and inspections. Cimarron Hills is unincorporated El Paso County, and PPRBD is the building department there. After a water heater replacement you get a final plumbing inspection, plus heating and electrical inspections if they apply.
Yes. PPRBD says a contractor you hire must be licensed and registered with PPRBD, and can't get a permit unless the license is in good standing.
Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD) ↗ · PPRBD – About Us ↗ · PPRBD – Homeowner permits ↗ · PPRBD handout – Water Heater Replacements and Installation (dated 03/04/24) ↗ · PPRBD – Current building permit fee schedule (Appendix B, 2023 Pikes Peak Regional Building Code; ICC valuation data effective June 30, 2025) ↗ · PPRBD – Required inspections by project type ↗ · PPRBD – License types ↗
Check the installer’s license
Ask for the license number and search it yourself on the Colorado DORA license lookup ↗. A listing on Ember & Tank is not a license check. Colorado licensing explained →
NEARBY CITIES
Compare places near Cimarron Hills.
| City | Distance | Permit to replace | Fee | Electric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Springs | 3 mi | Required | $40 | Colorado Springs Utilities |
| Security-Widefield | 8 mi | Required (county) | $40 | Fountain Utilities, Mountain View Electric Association |
| Fountain | 12 mi | Required | $40 | Fountain Utilities, Colorado Springs Utilities, Mountain View Electric Association |
| Black Forest | 14 mi | Required (county) | $40 | Mountain View Electric Association |
| Monument | 17 mi | Required | $40 | Mountain View Electric Association, CORE Electric Cooperative (listed by the town as IREA) |
| Castle Rock | 37 mi | Required | $75 | CORE Electric Cooperative |
COMMON QUESTIONS
Cimarron Hills water heater questions.
How hard is the water in Cimarron Hills?
About 180 mg/L as calcium carbonate (roughly 10.5 grains per gallon), from a Cherokee district presentation the Gazette reported on in 2024. The district's own 2026 report doesn't list hardness.
Colorado Springs Gazette – Cherokee hard water (March 3, 2024) ↗
Will Cherokee's planned treatment plant soften the water?
We don't know yet. The plant is being designed to remove PFAS by about 2029. The Gazette reported softening was one option the district was studying, but we found no final design.
Colorado Public Radio (July 13, 2025) ↗ · Colorado Springs Gazette (March 3, 2024) ↗
Who issues the permit?
PPRBD, the building department for unincorporated El Paso County. It's $40 for a home water heater replacement, or $75 if the vent is included.
More guides: Colorado water heater replacement · All local guides