I've been buying water heaters from Lowes for my house and 2 rentals for years. I went to have another replaced and found a nice gas heater for about $799 at Lowes. Used to be they could arrange for a plumber right then (for about $400-$500) and all would be taken care of. Now, they simply provide your name to another company (DRF), who calls you. You have to again tell them which heater you want. They quoted over $1,600 to install (mine is a very easy replacement in an open location) the heater (so, over $2,400 total including the heater). Stupid expensive. My local plumber quoted $1,700 (including the heater), still a big increase from the past, but much better than Lowe's. Guess Lowe's has lost a customer forever.