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Payless Water Heaters was founded more than 35 years ago by brothers Bryan and Scott Oksas, who set out to build a company that specialized in one thing: water heaters. Since then, the family-owned, locally operated business has completed over 120,000 installations across California, earning a reputation as a Platinum certified Water Heater installer and California's top-ranked Noritz tankless water heater installer for nearly 20 years running.
But Payless isn't just a top Noritz installer — the Oksas brothers actually helped Noritz design the tankless water heater that changed the way plumbers install tankless systems in American homes: the Noritz EZ Series. We sat down with Bryan Oksas to hear the story firsthand.
"Back in 2014, my brother Scott and I helped create and invent the Noritz EZ Series."
Noritz came to us — two brothers running a plumbing company — and asked what we would do to make their tankless water heater better and easier to install in a home that already had an existing tank water heater. That was the real challenge, because most homes in the U.S. were built with a standard tank water heater. If you wanted to switch a homeowner over to tankless, the install itself was the biggest obstacle.
We worked side by side with Noritz's engineering teams from both America and Japan, testing different venting configurations to see what would actually work in the field. We told them the unit needed top water connections, which had never been done on a tankless water heater before, and a flexible vent that could run through existing venting — something that mattered a lot for homes with HOA restrictions. We also told them it needed more gallons per minute than what was on the market, and a longer warranty than every other tankless brand out there.
A 25-year warranty, industry-leading in the tankless category. Top water connections. A flexible vent system that runs through a home's existing venting. And they pushed efficiency to 98%. All of it was designed to make the install easier for the plumber — which is exactly where the name "EZ" comes from.
We went straight to the Noritz factory while the new EZ Series units were just starting production. Seeing the lineup we helped shape actually being built on the factory floor is something I still think about. Noritz has since expanded that lineup with bigger units, but the DNA of what we asked for back in 2014 is still in every one of them.
The EZ Series runs at 98% efficiency, which can save a homeowner up to 30% on their gas bill compared to a standard tank water heater. And because there's no tank to run out, it's never-ending hot water — no more waiting around for a recovery cycle.
The EZ-98 produces 9.8 gallons per minute. The EZ-71, the newest model in the lineup, produces 7.1 gallons per minute. And the EZ111 produces 11.1 gallons per minute. Between the EZTR50, EZTR75, EZ-71, EZ-98, and EZ111, there's an EZ Series unit sized right for just about any household in California.
Today, Payless Water Heaters continues to install and service the Noritz EZ Series across Southern California and the Bay Area, backed by the same commitment to making tankless conversions simple that Bryan and Scott brought to Noritz's engineering table over a decade ago. Homeowners considering the switch to tankless get a system built with real plumber input, installed by the contractors who helped build it.
Ready to go tankless with a Noritz EZ Series water heater? Call Payless Water Heaters today at (833) 856-3341 for same-day service. They can get you hot water in hours, not days.
