Calling all professionals - What is the best, most reliable water heater available?

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allthumbz

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When I needed to purchase a new vacuum cleaner I talked for an hour with a local repairman. I learned SO much about all the different types, the pros and cons, most frequent repairs, etc. I truly appreciate that kind of information and help. It's invaluable.

So I'm asking because at some point in the near future I'll want to replace my water heater.
My previous water heater (can't recall what kind) lasted reliably for 20+ years without any repairs, whereas it seems the newer ones (or at least my Reliance model which does not live up to its name) not only have all kinds of problems that require repairs/replacement, but just don't seem made to last. Shouldn't all w/heaters last 20 years or more? Are we dealing with built-in obsolescence?

So I'm asking repairmen and homeowners for their experience and opinion. What is your choice? What makes it better than another? What do you look for?

And if you are a sales rep for a water heater company you are disqualified
from this little survey. :p
 

Ian Gills

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Hmmmmmmmmmmm. But even a Bradford will fail prematurely if you have an idiot install it. My licensed plumber left mine leaking at the hot outlet. Luckily I spotted it, cut the pipe and did the job properly.

Nevermind, I only used him to get the Bradford anyway. He was my "water heater mule".

I think you have to be "licensed" to get a Bradford. Evidently my plumber was, licensed to drive that is.

So pay a professional to buy it and deliver it. And then ask him to leave it at the door.

He'll be happy to get home early and you'll be sure the job's well done!
 
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Terry

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Ian,
I think you just had bad luck with your installer.
You will notice that there aren't really any complaints on installation, but on product when it comes to heaters.
Except yours.
At least your installer left the leak where is was easy to find.

I sell Bradford White and Rheem.
I've had good luck with those.
But then I always use new connectors for water and gas.

And I like Marks page on heaters. Good information there.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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Terry......

I seem to be getting more fond of the Rheem water heaters....

been having a few more failures with the Bradfords lately... at 3-4 years old..

most of the Rheems I put in back from 98 through 2004
have done pretty well.....

have you been noticeing any problems lately???

both are good heaters, maybe I just need a change
 

hj

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heaters

The manufacturer has absolutely NO WAY to control the life of the water heater. The controls are made by a specialty company and the heater company buys them. They make the tank and glass line it, but NOBODY can tell if the glass lining completely coats the interior of the tank, and even it it does, the tank will eventually corrode, and the rate of corrosion is directly proportional to the amount of water that is used, AND the temperature the tank is set for. EVERY manufacturer has heaters that last 15 years, and the one that was made after it lasts 3 or 4 years. I do not consider 8 years for an electric heater to be premature failure or built in obsolescence. Gas heaters usually last longer, but I had to replace a 5 year out gas Bradford White last week, and a plumber had to return a 75 gallon gas one after 2 days, last month.
 

Cwhyu2

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I prefer Rheem,installed too many to count.Installed one at my mother`s
and at exgirlfreinds both in 1991 and still going strong.I inspect them yearly as
to keep track and never had a call back on any I installed.
 

CHuntMD

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Rheem Fury still going and going

17.5 years old and my Rheem Fury 70 gal natural gas is still going strong. I might have drained it 3 times over all these years but that is it. I'm near Washington DC and while the politics stick the main water provider (WSSC) has excellent water.

I did notice a little paint bubbles kinda like rust near the top where the side meets the top. The tank sits in the basement next to the sump pump and the washer and dryer are in the same are so it does have more moist air than the rest of the basement.

My ?: Are the new HWT any more effieicent? Those AO Smiths ones have goten a lot of press/tv but I want something to last as I can't afford to move ;) I am also thinking about a GeoThermal system to replace my 17.5 year old furance/ac so I also get a desuperheater and storage tank. Do storage tanks add to the life of the HWT since it does not have to heat the incoming water as much?

CH
 

batmanspawn

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I would tell you to stay away from Whirlpool, Ive had mine a little over a year and Ive had the plumbers here 2X in the last 2 days, Ive almost spent enough money to get a new one and the problem is not fixed, I have to get a manifold door cover, cause the pilot light won't stay lit.
thanks/later/Bruce
 

SteveInMich

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I don't know if replying to this post will help once again make this rise in the consciousness of the august members of this forum, but here goes...

Hi! I bought a ca. 1977 home in SE Michigan in 2001. I am currently looking for the third hot water heater which I will have owned.

I am looking for a new direct-vent gas *tank* water heater. I have had both a forced-vent A. O. Smith fail(1 for details) and a Bosch AquaStar 250SX which was NEVER right, out of the box...and never addressed by Bosch.(2 for details).

So I am looking for "most reliable" gas tank water heaters NOW (not from 20 years ago, when they lasted better, etc.), if you have noticed trends. Any ideas about tanks which, given attention, good sacrificial rods, etc., are tending to last longer (like in days of yore)?? THANKS!

Note:
Yes, I am doing my homework. Consumers' Reports, in its last "buying guide", basically said that, though it did the testing of tank water heaters, "they all performed about the same," so they decided to AVERAGE all of the info instead of reporting their test results...! How the heck does THIS represent the values for which CR has always stood, er, USED to stand...?

In reviewing the complaints at the BBB for the best-known brands, I find a typical drone:

- "new" hot water heater, NIB, was actually found to fail IMMEDIATELY;
- company, if it responds to the complaint, begins with
- get a licensed plumber at your expense to diagnose it
- if a part can be identified, you get it...eventually...for free under the warranty
- BUT, the part is supposed to be installed by a licensed plumber, at your expense
- AND, no guarantee that this is actually "the problem", because the unit never worked enough to figure out whether or not there might actually be OTHER problems masked by the first one, or which were perhaps the proximal cause of what appeared to be the first problem...

Now, I am at a bit of an impasse in evaluating the numbers there, because i) a lot of people will complain to their friends, family, neighbors, but not register a complaint with the BBB, so you pretty much have to assume that the complaints are UNDERreported; ii) it is hard to figure out, e.g., how many complaints per $1 M in sales, or 1k units, etc., of water heaters of a given type, because this is simply internal info and financial reports aggregate products, etc. Even comparing across manufacturers is difficult, because some make many items and others make fewer items.

But it seems you CAN say:

a) Manufacturers don't actually test their units. This is the only way to explain "new in box" being found to be "dud in box" even when fresh. Yeah, they may test every 1,000th unit, or so, but they have a lot of reports of "DIB" which belie their claims of amazing manufacturing quality, reliability, etc.

b) The parts you are offered are now cheap parts (China?), and may well be the basis of the problems you are trying to fix. The cheapness of parts is a consistent refrain in the chorus of bad experiences.

c-1) The warranty is essentially a gimmick. Without any of their own tech people--or even a network of "approved installers" who are contracted to provide warranty-related diagnostics, at least, then you truly are "on your own," esp. if you are being given crap parts to replace crap parts. Worse:

c-2) The warranty doesn't even help the consumer/installer when the unit fails to pass the "suitability for use" test, i.e., was defective from the get-go.

d) Life of tanks seems to be rather lesser than in the past. The difference between "gosh, it failed in 3-5 years" v. "previous tank went on forever" seems to indicate that yet another American industry has opted to trade off better engineering for higher profits...what a surprise, I know, I should have ask you to sit down before saying that. ;-)

e) "Customer service" and "technical assistance" are largely jokes for at least a few of the main manufacturers (Rheem, A. O. Smith). This is particularly troubling, because it means that, once the unit is paid for, manufacturers are tending to essentially wash their hands of ANY part in maintaining it...you know, the "what? that unit? I'm not even sure we ever made a unit with that identifier..." syndrome.

Water heater details:
1) The A. O. Smith was a forced-vent system which first had a failure of the diaphragm switch which proved the draft provided by the fan. I discovered that the particular switch on that particular model was something which was simply not available from ANY supply house/manufacturer...(unless you bought a new box/fan unit, I guess). I got around this problem and figured that, as long as the fan ran, it was fine.

I flushed the tank, tested the overpressure value regularly, replaced the sacrificial anode, and kept it running until it failed more generally.

Then, I became prey to the madness known as the TANKLESS WATER HEATER!

2) I installed a Bosch AquaStar 250SX NG tankless water heater.

It sucked from the get-go, not only because it cost a bit more than a standard tank would have, and not only because, reading the manufacturer's requirements after I bought it (big mistake), I needed to up my gas line to 1.25" and of course use Z-Vent(R) for the "flue" (both costly in money and time), but, when I got the thing limping along...well, that's all it did.

If you read reviews of it from around 2014, you'll see a whole set of things which mirror my own experience:
a tendency to both scald us (when set at a "max" temperature of 100 F...not 100 C, but 100 F), the sudden cold between cycling, a disturbing smell of gas (eventually traced to their own gas valve, using a gas sniffer), and a noise on startup (I didn't realize that this was a very common problem; I was more interested in the others), and wasting water at a nearby tap to try to make sure that the flow rate wouldn't sag...which doesn't save water or heat from gas or electricity...

I immediately called about the scald problem and was given a song-and-dance back then which was repeated just a week or so ago: oh, this can happen when the flow rate is too low. To me, this means that they don't understand what a temperature LIMIT should mean...because they apparently can't measure it--in spite of having power to the unit!--unless there is a certain amount of water flow... LMAO One tech at a boiler shop suggested that it would take a few milliseconds to detect the high temp, but that only means that they have engineers who are unaware of any of the technique which have been around for ages (like predicting where the temp is going via, e.g., numerical integration of the heat the sensor is seeing) for dealing with this. So much for "German engineering"...

The answer was as I have said above, and others found: get a tech out, then have the tech call us. Many who went down that road were in for big bills, lots of expenses, and no real solutions.

So yeah, even though CR, and other reviewers are pushing tankless water heaters, they lie about the "endless hot water" (it ends quite frequently, actually), and the costs...esp. when you are supposed to inspect no only the igniter/flame sensor unit every year--resulting in a destruction of the current gasket and the need for a new one lol--but also descale...in addition to the initial install costs.
 
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