Rheem 42V75F and Bradford White M-I-75S6BN NG Water Heaters

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Jdavis37

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Quick question... our bathroom remodels are going (master is entering 4th week) and while we have no true high demand water needs, the tub we purchased is just large enough for my 50 gallon very non expensive GE water heater to peter out toward the end (not unexpected).

While we could afford a more expensive water heater than listed above, our budget is already severely overblown and I do not want to spend any more than need be for a decent quality heater with enough capacity to easily fill our tub (fill to overflow is 75 gallons on tub). I am targeting the above two 75 gallon water heaters based upon favorable responses here and of course pricing. That said, the Rheem is about $120 or so less expensive than the BW. From specifications is difficult to see much difference. Not that I am fixated on the $120 but just don't want to spend extra if it isn't warranted.

Is there any significant differences between these 2 heaters? Both are atmospheric vent which is what I have now. Thx :)

PS My current 50 gallon comes very close to filling the tub with hot enough fills though with winter approaching that may change.
 

Reach4

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You could extend the use life of the tank by kicking up the thermostat to 140 or so an hour before your big tub event, and dropping it back to 120 later. Be careful to not let anybody get burned while the water is cranked up.

I am not a pro. Some may not like this idea.
 

Jdavis37

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Reach,

Thx.... to get the tub to "almost fill" I have to crank the temp to max. It's really just time fora bigger tank. I can buy either of thos elisted before. Buying locally I know my contractor has easier access to the Rheem. I'm not super picky here but was curious if it were worth pushing more for the BW. If it is a better heater than is the Rheem I'll push and pay the slight upcharge. if it is 6 eggs half dozen thing I'll just go with the Rheem. The only high demand we have is the tub. Having extra water for a long shower might be good but is doubtful we'll get into many occasions where we need tons of water there (probably shouldn't have said that).
 

Terry

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Most 50 gas water heaters use a 3" flue.
A 75 gallon water heater used a 4" flue.

The easiest solution is to run the existing 50 gallon water heater at 180 and use a tempering valve
You can set the tempering valve at 120 and mix down the 180 with cold water to make up the correct temperature.
It's "like" having a 75 gallon tank and you family is safe from scalding.

https://terrylove.com/forums/showth...atic-Mixing-Valves-(-water-heater-tempering-)

UPC requires a tempering valve for a tub, or the water heater set at 120.

honeywell_am_1_a.jpg
 
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Jdavis37

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Thx Terry,

Oddly I was graced with having a 4 inch vent. I already have the temp set to max (very hot). Current water heater was a very inexpensive GE from a box store and is about 10 years old. I can't complain as for the money spent it has done fairly well. I can "almost" get up to the overflow (with me in tub) with current water heater but any higher and the tub temperature won't be hot enough to help with my aching back and legs. Would be nice to be able to fill the tub without having to do a rain dance, chewing on 1 finger while crossing two others behind my back and praying that it works. Once it gets colder and the cold water is actually cold I know it will require 2 fills to get it full.

I was originally going to go the tankless route but after reading through the pros/cons and needing a higher capacity gas line run all way across my home and then already being about $9K over budget on the bathroom remodels I want to minimize expenses. The 100 gallon water heaters are just too pricey at this point but I think a 75 will do the trick. I want to avoid the big box stores this time around it it seemed Rheem and BW had favorable responses on here. If there were any noticeable differences between these two to warrant the extra cost for BW I'll do it, but if they are roughly the same then the Rheem it is!




Most 50 gas water heaters use a 3" flue.
A 75 gallon water heater used a 4" flue.

The easiest solution is to run the water heater at 180 and use a tempering valve
You can set the tempering valve at 120 and mix down the 180 with cold water to make up the correct temperature.
It's "like" having a 75 gallon tank.


[h=2][/h]
 

Terry

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I use Bradford White and Rheem water heaters. Either is a good choice.
At ten years, you may not have much life left in the old GE. I've been pulling GE's that are less than seven.

Adding a tempering valve to a 75 is like having a 113 gallon tank.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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I beg to differ

If you can buy a Bradford White - do so.

We have been having nothing but fits with the bradfords...

I got the Rheem heaters out there still chugging along since 1998
no service done to them and they just keep going

this week alone we have changed out 3 bradfords under warranty
that were installed back in 2008-9... all had thermal tanks on them
and all had soft water.... T

he bradford has good quality parts that dont
seem to break down but I think the Steel or the glass liner inside the tanks
are not as heavy duty as the Rheem units.....

the customers are not happy to pay me the labor to change them out
and presently I got one guy that is going to switch from his third bradford
heater since 1999 to a Rheem pro.... I am giving him a 12 year warranty
just to appease the fellow... He is none too happy with them and we should
be doing the change out next week...unless he goes another direction
 

DonL

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The Rheem should be fine.

Both unit seem to have the same warranty.

The Rheem may be easier to find parts for down the road.

The BW model number listed does not have a service manual available. What is up with that ?
 

hj

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I had an American heater that "chugged along" since 1999 but that has NOTHING to do with how long ANY heater will last in a specific application. If you check the dumpster of ANY wholesaler, you will find almost the same number of heaters returned under warranty, INCLUDING Rheem/Ruud/GE/Richmond/Vanguard, etc. which are ALL the same heater under different nametags. If you buy a heater with a 6, 9, 10, or 12 year warranty, you get EXACTLY the same water heater, except the last three have an "extended warranty" which you pay for. The heaters may still fail and the customer will get a new heater with the remaining warranty on it, but they will also have to pay the installation costs, (each time),whether they replace it once, twice, or more, during the warranty period. So over the 12 year period, you may NOT have a more satisfied customer.
 

DonL

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If you buy a heater with a 6, 9, 10, or 12 year warranty, you get EXACTLY the same water heater, except the last three have an "extended warranty" which you pay for. The heaters may still fail and the customer will get a new heater with the remaining warranty on it, but they will also have to pay the installation costs, (each time),whether they replace it once, twice, or more, during the warranty period. So over the 12 year period, you may NOT have a more satisfied customer.



Just like automobile batteries, Just have different stickers.

If you can not fix something yourself then the extended warranty may be worth it. Parts availability is great for the DIY'er.

If a company is still in business when you need the extended warranty coverage then you are in luck. If not then you may need replacement parts, or a new unit.
 

Dj2

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There are only 4 manufacturers of water heaters: American, Rheem, OA Smith and Bradford White. These 4 make all private brands that we know.

When you buy a water heater, your chance to get a lemon from American is the same as from Rheem, AO Smith or BW.

After all those years, I've had my share of water heater problems to deal with. To get any of those manufacturers to stand behind their products is more difficult than climbing the Alps.

My advice: buy only a 6 year WH and hope it lasts 10 years. If you need warranty, call them 3 times a day, even if it takes you a month, until you get results. Remember: the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
 

Jdavis37

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I somehow got left off the update list and lost track of the post I started! Our bathroom remodel schedule has gone to Hades and so now getting back to the what water heater to buy piece since I have time to think about it again!

Every time I give thought to going tankless I end up shaking my head and going back to that which i know better. I know there is a ton of expert help on line but what I often find in reality is that it is often difficult to find installers that have same degree of knowledge. They are there but often takes a lot of effort to find them. Given tankless truly needs to be done *right* and also fact there is no hot water if power is lost, my final decision has been made to stay with paying to heat warm water all day and use a tank!

There is a lot of discussion on warranties throughout this site though in general reliability is the more important issue. But, neither are my primary concern at this point anyways. My now starting to age and under sized 50 gallon heater is making my tub life more complicated. We have a Kallista Small Perfect tub, fill depth (without a person in it) of 75 gallons. Obviously I displace a few gallons... using 8# per gallon means I am displacing about 18 to 20 gallons assuming not all of me is submerged). On a good day our 50 gallon water heater can almost do the job. More often than not it means 2 different fills. On top of that my wife has recently turned into a 2 shower a day person and while she uses little hot water she does use some.

I am pretty much set to go with a 75 gallon Rheem WH, and may have found a really good deal on the RHG PRO75F model. The first obvious question will be if this size and heater will do the job. I would like to be able to turn the water on and allow tub to fill, cut water off without having to do start and stop fills. I gave some thought to a 100 gallon WH but (a) is a lot of water to keep heated and therefore wasted and (b) the cost of going from 75 gal to 100 gal is large.

But a slong as the 75 gallon models have enough in the tank to do the job I think we will end up with the Rheem.
 

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The Rheem 75 would be a good choice. You have the needed 4" vent for it too.
They tend to be a little taller, so I would check that spec too.
 

Jdavis37

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Thx Terry and Happy Thanksgiving. I have a lot of height in my garage so that won't be an issue for me BUT is a very good point for anyone in future reading through the threads. The devil of course is always in the details! Now I need to verify the price I found on that beast as it seems to be too low which means of course :) In the end I'll buy it locally anyway just to avoid any bad surprises and so on. The BW costs a little more and they aren't quite as readily available. Just looking forward to being able to fill the tub without having to do start and stop fills!

The Rheem 75 would be a good choice. You have the needed 4" vent for it too.
They tend to be a little taller, so I would check that spec too.
 

Jadnashua

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One thing that makes a WH 'look' bigger, is to run it higher in temperature. To keep things safe, you should install a tempering valve at the WH to drop the outlet temperature to a safe level (typically 120-degrees). This ends up mixing some cold into the outlet to bring the water down to a safe level.
 

Jdavis37

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At the risk of showing my stupidity, how is that any different from mixing in cold water at the faucet? ( other than of course at faucet one could turn cold water off first). It just seems like the heat losses throughout the lines would come into play more if the temp is reduced to 120 degrees versus the full temp at the start. Mine is currently running around 140 degrees give or take. Appreciate the input. Contractors usually love me after I read things for a while.. just enough knowledge to irritate probably but then I have learned many who do this stuff for a professional living don't know as much as they should!


One thing that makes a WH 'look' bigger, is to run it higher in temperature. To keep things safe, you should install a tempering valve at the WH to drop the outlet temperature to a safe level (typically 120-degrees). This ends up mixing some cold into the outlet to bring the water down to a safe level.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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Rheem Pro 75

At the risk of showing my stupidity, how is that any different from mixing in cold water at the faucet? ( other than of course at faucet one could turn cold water off first). It just seems like the heat losses throughout the lines would come into play more if the temp is reduced to 120 degrees versus the full temp at the start. Mine is currently running around 140 degrees give or take. Appreciate the input. Contractors usually love me after I read things for a while.. just enough knowledge to irritate probably but then I have learned many who do this stuff for a professional living don't know as much as they should!


The rheem pro 75 is a great choice cause you are getting an
8 year tank warranty with them ......they are rather large ,
I think the specs put. them at 26 inches round...

If you are installing a normal wall mount type Delta 1700 faucet
you will already have a pressure balanced faucet which keeps
you from getting scalded.....

and unless you are a total moron
that would jump into a tub full of hot water without testing
the temps with your hands or feet, I seriousley doubt that you would need
a mixing valve at the water heater....that is overkill

I do suggest that you hook the 2 heaters up in series....
if you do it that way you can always turn down the #1 water incomming heater
to a much lower temp if you so chose to and let the #2 outgoing heater stay at
the hotter temps.......that would be the most efficient way to maximize savings

I would also install a low cost water heater blanket on both of them

I told you about these two things just to twist your tail.
and confuse you more..
:confused:
:eek::eek:
 

Jdavis37

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Always good to get more ideas on top of semi confusion lol :)

By the way there will only be a single water heater.. the existing 50 will be removed. Tonight the older 50 actually performed pretty well giving me confidence that a new 75 will easily do the trick. My biggest concern is getting anew water heater and still having inconsistent performance. I guess that is one area tankless holds an advantage. Often I will run some hot weater to wash dishes, etc about half hour before bath or shower.. seems to ensure fresher hot water in the tank!

I am seeing several places on line with really good prices on this water heater so perhaps a new model is forthcoming, etc. I'll call Fergusons next week to see what type of contractor price i can get. If it is reasonably close I'll buy locally to avoid the yikes if it arrives defective. The width is a bit of a concern as it will be right on edge of my existing brick/concrete stand in garage. Height at least is of no concern. The jacket will be something I'll look into though. Thx for the suggestion.

And yes shower valves are anti scald and seem to be handling even toilet flushes quite well :) Tub water I like hot... can always cool down fairly easily if needed!


The rheem pro 75 is a great choice cause you are getting an
8 year tank warranty with them ......they are rather large ,
I think the specs put. them at 26 inches round...

If you are installing a normal wall mount type Delta 1700 faucet
you will already have a pressure balanced faucet which keeps
you from getting scalded.....

and unless you are a total moron
that would jump into a tub full of hot water without testing
the temps with your hands or feet, I seriousley doubt that you would need
a mixing valve at the water heater....that is overkill

I do suggest that you hook the 2 heaters up in series....
if you do it that way you can always turn down the #1 water incomming heater
to a much lower temp if you so chose to and let the #2 outgoing heater stay at
the hotter temps.......that would be the most efficient way to maximize savings

I would also install a low cost water heater blanket on both of them

I told you about these two things just to twist your tail.
and confuse you more..
:confused:
:eek::eek:
 
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