Hot water heater brands? Plumbing supply vs. Big box?

dja4260

dja4260

Joined
May 16, 2011
Messages
1,518
Location
Greenville, SC via Chicago, IL
My 40 gallon gas heater is 27 years old and works great. The other day I ran a garden hose to the plastic drain valve to fill up my daughters pool with hot water and now it leaks. I've tried everything to stop the drip. I was on borrowed time anyways so I'm not upset, but should have known better.....

I'm going with a 50 gallon, natural gas unit. The simplier the better.

I notice there are three main brands: AO Smith, Rheem, Bradford White.

Then I have purchase options. Big box store vs. Plumbing supply.

All models and stores are within $100 of each other.


Any professional plumbers around to give me some feedback?

I will be installing, flushing every 6 months, and changing the anode rod every 5 years/when necessary. I'm on a well with some excellent water.
 
The plastic valve probably has a chunk of mineral sludge wedged into it. See my cut open water heater post. I had about a gallon of mineral sludge in the bottom of my old electric heater. How about cutting off the gas and water, unscrew the existing valve, and replace with a steel pipe nipple and full port brass ball valve. If you work quickly you will not lose more than a gallon of water. Use several wraps of Teflon tape on all pipe threads.

Done! cheaper than a new heater, and the brass ball valve is much less likely to jam with debris and leak.

I am not a professional plumber, just a landlord who has swapped a lot of heaters. Please do not tell my Mom I am a landlord, she still thinks I am a piano player in a house of prostitution :)
 
Originally Posted by Oldtom
The plastic valve probably has a chunk of mineral sludge wedged into it. See my cut open water heater post. I had about a gallon of mineral sludge in the bottom of my old electric heater. How about cutting off the gas and water, unscrew the existing valve, and replace with a steel pipe nipple and full port brass ball valve. If you work quickly you will not lose more than a gallon of water. Use several wraps of Teflon tape on all pipe threads.

Done! cheaper than a new heater, and the brass ball valve is much less likely to jam with debris and leak.

I am not a professional plumber, just a landlord who has swapped a lot of heaters. Please do not tell my Mom I am a landlord, she still thinks I am a piano player in a house of prostitution :)


I can't get the plastic valve to budge. I'm scared that I'll snap it off and be SOL. I've already ran this scenario by my wife and she said no. We need hot water.
 
Originally Posted by Oldtom
Cap the valve with a metal garden hose cap. Make sure the cap has a nice rubber gasket. Done.

I am really cheap :)


I've already done that. It leaks. It leaks less with the plastic garden hose attachment that's currently on it.
 
Time for a new one then. If you are flushing frequently and changing anodes every 5 years, any heater tank should last nearly forever. The controls may give problems. I do not have gas heaters in my units, but, other owners have said the igniter goes bad periodically. The igniter is supposedly an easy and cheap fix.
 
Originally Posted by dja4260
Originally Posted by Oldtom
Cap the valve with a metal garden hose cap. Make sure the cap has a nice rubber gasket. Done.

I am really cheap :)

I've already done that. It leaks. It leaks less with the plastic garden hose attachment that's currently on it.

I've done the same thing. You may be surprised how much longer the water heater lasts.
 
I just installed an AO Smith from Lowe's as that's what was available on a Saturday morning. Old gas water heater went to Memphis on a Friday night 2 weeks ago. No plumbing supply houses here opened on the weekends.

The worst I've read about AO Smith has units are the same I've read about most other gas units despite the brand......the problem isn't with the tank itself, but with the newer style Honeywell gas controls going bad.
 
No problems with my Rheem, about 8 years old now. The old heater was a Bradford, and split while we were at work, filling the basement with water. For $800 every 10 years a new one is much much cheaper than what we went through, so Ill be sticking with that.
 
I recommend Rheem or AO Smith. I have installed a lot of them. Stay away from Bradford White.
 
Originally Posted by KeithS_NW_Ohio
Join this forum: https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?forums/water-heater-forum-tanks.16/


That site is awesome, but even there you can have one or two members that sway the "group think". Many of the pros there believe that all the brands are very similar now (commodities), use similar construction and components, and will only last 10 to 15 years maximum. But, you do get a few pros that claim one brand is best over the others, the Ford/Chevy/Dodge type of comments. I get the slightest hint that maybe Rheem has a slight edge over A.O. Smith and Bradford White, but it is nearly impossible to confirm any type of consensus. And, some of the Rheem lovers claim you can get models with better controllers (vs. the intermittent problematic Honeywells).

Things I have read there (opinions):
- The AO Smith at Lowes is a very "dumbed down" version.
21.gif
https://terrylove.com/forums/index....water-heaters-rebranded-whirlpool.70719/
- the 6/9/12 year models are mostly the same and you are paying more for an extended warranty.
- They're all the same, buy the cheapest one.
- Supply house heaters may or may not be better than the Big Box ones (same brand)
Yea, study that site and see what you come up with. There are so many variables in each home (installation quality, water quality, etc.) that it's tough to judge the "don't buy this brand because......" comments that drive the "group think" scenario.
21.gif


A typical "which brand" thread: https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/gas-water-heater-recommendation.75292/

A "bad" Rheem thread: https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/rheem-quality-control-from-home-depot.72129/ .... I could post a bad "insert brand here" thread for every brand made.

A "bad" A.O. Smith thread: https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/7-year-old-a-o-smith-water-heater-tank-rotting.48842/

You get the picture....
 
Originally Posted by Oldtom
The plastic valve probably has a chunk of mineral sludge wedged into it.


I opened and close my valve a few times and I think a day and a half later finally worked itself free and it stop dripping.
 
Try replacing the drain valve in the morning. If you break it, install a new water heater. I changed out a bunch of anode rods at one point and I was expecting to break one at some point, but they all survived even though I had to use an extra 3' pipe for an extension on my 1/2 inch extension bar. I would just go with Rheem as they're at Home Depot and they're easy to get. You should swap the drain valve when you first get it.
 
Originally Posted by Donald
Have you considered tankless? It seems the rage.


I sell lots of house and I see lots of them. People must talk about them, but you don't actually see that many out there. Mostly in new construction in high dollar areas. Two problems with them, parts warranty, typically only 5 years. There doesn't seem to be one brand that everyone has, different brands everywhere so no assurance that the part you need, you will be able to find. Plus if you do the math, you don't actually end up saving that much in gas, they cost more to install especially if you need to upgrade from 1/2 pipe to 3/4 and it's harder to find someone who knows how to fix them. It's pretty easy to either DIY a water heater repair or just pick one up at Home Depot and have a handyman install it. You see more tankless loops off a boiler than you do a pure tankless system. But the tankless systems off a boiler have their drawbacks too, if you need a storage tank then it's almost as bad as needing a water heater but a storage tank will last longer than a regular water heater.

As for those 6/9/12 year water heaters, the difference is also the anode rod. The cheaper 6 year ones might just have a thinner rod, maybe just 5/8's thick and maybe shorter. The longer warranty ones have longer or thicker anode rods. I always replace the rod with the thickest one I can buy and that's usually the .9 inch ones.
 
Originally Posted by Donald
Have you considered tankless? It seems the rage.


My gas bill to run the h20 heater is less than $20 per month. My break even for the additional cost of a tankless is something like 10 years....
 
Originally Posted by 97f150
......the problem isn't with the tank itself, but with the newer style Honeywell gas controls going bad.


^This. Stay away from any water heater that has the new Honeywell valve on it. A simple Google search on this should convince you.
Despite what youtubers say about fixing it, once you get the code 4 overtemp on it, the valve is a throwaway. Any attempt to repair it will be frowned on by your insurance company.
 
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