Water heater advice

SOUNDMAN5000 said:
My story...
A few years back my old (1996) 80 gal electric hot water heater started doing whats yours is doing so I called to get some quotes. I was given many suggestions from the tankless ( My Main Panel box is limited so $$$ to upgrade power ) I considered tankless Natural Gas ( my house does not have gas but its at the street ) Lots of trouble and time involved.
A few contractors suggested smaller 50 gal, one guy suggest (2) 50 gal (was a time 80 gal was hard to find or the only option was a big 80 gal hot water heater that had a heat pump on top but lots of space like a garage is required for that , My existing heater is under the stairs in a closet, Is 80 gal as I have a garden tube and at the time a big family so I had to have 80 gal and one that would fit in the closet!

After some research I decided on the ( it was a 75, 80 or 85 gal I can't remember ) Marathon Brand Hot Water Heater!
It has a (poly tank) and a great warranty so less chance of leaking and NO RUSTING!

A few years back it was $2,400 installed ( More now i'm sure )
I did not originally go through Home Depot as I called the install Company direct but when I asked do you offer any 0% he asked if I had a Home Depot Card ( I did ) He was able to do 24 months at 0% so I paid $100 a month and it was paid off in 2 years! PERFECT!!!! Still working great and I noticed my old 80 gal was warn to the touch this Marathon is cool to the touch!

I was very happy with my choice and is still working PERFECT!
Look into the Marathon!

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They do offer this tank, with a lifetime warranty, still. Home Depot doesn't have any deals going right this second, but they are going to be offering the 24 month no interest deal I guess shortly, the guy told me about that as well.

There's definitely a certain appeal to having a tank that won't rust out. How old is yours now, have you had to have any repairs done to it?
 
By the way, that Hybrid Heat Pump water heater at Home Depot also has a 10 year warranty and usually a good government and utility rebate.
 
OVERKILL said:
They do offer this tank, with a lifetime warranty, still. Home Depot doesn't have any deals going right this second, but they are going to be offering the 24 month no interest deal I guess shortly, the guy told me about that as well.

There's definitely a certain appeal to having a tank that won't rust out. How old is yours now, have you had to have any repairs done to it?
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My tank is about 4-5 years old,,, No problems at all... I love it!
Marathon water heaters do not require an anode rod. They are designed with a seamless, blow-molded polybutene inner tank that is impervious to rust and corrosion, eliminating the need for an anode rod to prevent tank corrosion. This feature also helps to prevent smelly water, which can be caused by chemical reactions with sulfates in the water.
 
OVERKILL said:
Gas is a direct swap, but I am setup for switching to electric, as noted in the OP.
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IMO, Changing from Gas to electric would be a hard choice, all dependent on your local area.
My hometown area ( only 150 miles from home now ) the electric was purchased and resold by the City and was one of the most expensive $ per kWh in my State so everyone used Natural Gas HVAC and hot water.
I moved to the lowest $ per kWh area in my State 22 years ago so everyone used electric everything. Now 22 years later my power company started closing the coal power plants then population growth exploded so a few months ago my electric power company now has high demand peak hours 3-6 pm Summer 6am to 9 am winter when the rate increases so the "fixed budged" folks actually turn things off during those hours and was just announced a full across the board rate increase is on its way...
Do you research OP and good luck!
 
SOUNDMAN5000 said:
IMO, Changing from Gas to electric would be a hard choice, all dependent on your local area.
My hometown area ( only 150 miles from home now ) the electric was purchased and resold by the City and was one of the most expensive $ per kWh in my State so everyone used Natural Gas HVAC and hot water.
I moved to the lowest $ per kWh area in my State 22 years ago so everyone used electric everything. Now 22 years later my power company started closing the coal power plants then population growth exploded so a few months ago my electric power company now has high demand peak hours 3-6 pm Summer 6am to 9 am winter when the rate increases so the "fixed budged" folks actually turn things off during those hours and was just announced a full across the board rate increase is on its way...
Do you research OP and good luck!
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Our electricity is reasonably cheap, but so is the gas. How long does it take your Marathon to recover?
 
The Marathon uses a 4,500 watt element. So about 15K btu. It takes a while. If you go that route get the 85 gallon unit so that you have plenty of reserve. I don't know what your incoming water temp is but I imagine it is pretty cold in the winter so I recommend the large unit.
 
SC Maintenance said:
Has anyone that has ever had a tankless gone back to a tank? That is the question, not "do you like your tank"

I certainly would not go back if I had a choice.
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Many new construction homes would be expensive and difficult to switch from tankless to tank where we live.
The units are hung on the outside of the home on many older and almost ALL new homes. Looks sloppy but is what it is. At least it's with the rest of the utilities and mostly hidden by the HVAC inclosure required in our community.

Other communities some have them hung inside the garage wall vented outside I suspect might be easier if there is room.
Rinnai sells an "extension" cover to cover up that mess of plumbing at the bottom. Someone in my community looked into it, seems like this model not mentioned I am told. I still might look into it. Even though you can only see it, looking directly from the side.
This is downright cheap looking to me. Anyway with that said, some of the price quotes to replace them when people who are in older homes get quotes seem nuts. Like over $3000 and more. I suspect though, those are people who pay more for everything, meaning not shopping around.

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OVERKILL said:
Our electricity is reasonably cheap, but so is the gas. How long does it take your Marathon to recover?
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We don't normally run out of hot water so recovery time is a no issue for us but it would not be anything like gas I wouldn't think.
If I had already had gas run to the house I think I would have gone gas but my choosing the Marathon was a decision based on a few things,,,
#1 the fact my heater was slowly leaking ( no damage to the house but I wanted the old 80 gal gone asap )
#2 getting gas ran from the street to the house and then the expense of tankless gas on the outside of my house was more of a pain and "time" than I wanted to do.
#3 I had a company that could change out my old 80 gal tank to new Marathon that same day and the 24 month 0% at Home Depot at $100 a month. Was a EZ choice for me but I had gas early in life and gas everything is nice IMO, I alwasy wanted a gas cloths dryer, never had that but if your rates are low, electric stuff is not better but sometime just EZ!
 
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