Water Heaters

[hxbernal]

Anyone have some good insight

I have a 14 year old 50G 40BTU Gas A.O. Smith. I'm having to remove and clean the burner unit every 6 months to keep it going. I'm not even sure what's fixing the problem I just know it works and I'm just ready to get a new one before I have a big puddle inside the middle of the house

What I know as of now:
HD carries Rheem - good reviews
Lowes carries A.O. Smith - good reviews
Plumbing Supply House carries Bradford White - bad reviews

WTF - I thought the place were the installers shop would have the best stuff with the best reviews.
I understand the whole you can't trust reviews b/c you don't know which numbnuts is writing them but still...

So I asked a licensed plumber buddy and he said they're all equally bad now and you're lucky to get 5 years trouble free from any of them

What do you guys know?

[Rick Modena]

This info I got is from my friend who is a plumber, the key to longevity is cleaning out the sediment in the tank once a year and maybe twice of year if you have an area with hard water which is what we have here in N. Texas (your results may vary). You hook up a standard water hose and drain it. My first A.O. Smith lasted 7 years, I never drained it. My second A.O smith lasted 13+ years, I moved out and it was still working.
My second A/O.smith, I had issue with the it not re-firing, I think it was Bcoop that told me to take it apart and clean the peizo fire starter and it worked fine (4 years) til I moved.
I drained my first one once twice a year since we had 6 people in the house, it seemed the washer was going all the time and everyone showered once a day. The second one a year and never any problems.
I now have a couple of tank less water heaters, so who knows how long those will last.
From what I gather, there are only a couple of mfgs that make the tanks and the companies use their own burners and parts, most are universal which makes me think they are all generic is some sort or fashion.
Soooo, with all that being said, I would go with the cheaper one or the A.O Smith since that seemed to be a good price and parts are easily available.
Though if your going to replace it just because of having to clean the mechanism every few months, I would just buy the entire assembly new and you may never have another problem. That tank and heating mechanism have nothing to do with the different problems like it leaking, the tank will rust out and leak from it not being drained, something to do with the sediment getting hotter than water and causing it to leak/fail. The heating mechanism just gets crude built up on it from the sulphur in the natural gas.

[juiceweezl]

Spend the coin and get tankless.

[hxbernal]

I've gathered that as well. Any new water heater will need to be drained twice a year. Something I never did once on the current one

Entire assembly has been replaced 2 times now. After 14 years (might be 15) my concern is the bottom giving way

Tankless is not an option here. The house will more than likely be sold within the next 5 years. Original houses in the Lake Highlands area are being completely gutted and redid so no sense in going that route

I just got back from the supply house. I figured they'd be $100 cheaper but no. They're right inline with everybody else

It's looking like another A.O. Smith from Lowe's at this point

[Rick Modena]

It's looking like another A.O. Smith from Lowe's at this point

That's what I would do, right before Bcoop told me to clean my heat assembly, I did a lot of research and kept coming back to A.O. Smif...

[slow84lx]

The AO Smith water heater in my house lasted 17 years before going out last year. Never once drained it during its lifetime, but it did have a lot of sediment in it when pulled, took forever to drain all the water out. I weighed the options and went with the Rheem from HD. We didn't realize how bad the old water heater was performing, it just seemed normal to have the water temp fall off during a shower. No longer, the new one never runs out of hot water. I would make the same choice again. You probably can't go wrong either way that you go.

[Rick Modena]

The Rheem did have good reviews, but was a hundo or more than the A.O.Smith.

[hxbernal]

The AO Smith water heater in my house lasted 17 years before going out last year. Never once drained it during its lifetime, but it did have a lot of sediment in it when pulled, took forever to drain all the water out. I weighed the options and went with the Rheem from HD. We didn't realize how bad the old water heater was performing, it just seemed normal to have the water temp fall off during a shower. No longer, the new one never runs out of hot water. I would make the same choice again. You probably can't go wrong either way that you go.

The Rheem did have good reviews, but was a hundo or more than the A.O.Smith.

Yup, same specs and everything just $100 more

My plumbing buddy did say just go with a Rheem but unless it's in the clearance section, I think not

Good info all around. I appreciate everyone's input

[kingjason]

When I moved in 9 years ago mine went out. The warranty company put in a Bradford White and it has been flawless. I have never drained it or anything. When I moved in the house had the original one from 84. I was told when they swapped it out that the gas ones just last a hell of a lot longer than electric ones for some reason. At just under half temp it will take the skin off of you if you would like it to.

[bcoop]

I have had zero issues with Bradford White. I maintain mine, though

[Gasser64]

Get on of them hybrids. Save some money

[hxbernal]

Ended up with this one from Lowes:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/A-O-Smith-S...ter/1000542561

[txstangnut]

Don't forget to change the anode rod every so often too

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

[krazy kris]

I just replaced my 30gal gas water heater in my lake house to a 40gal electric Rheem. Very simple and easy to do just grab some 10 gauge wire and a double pole 30 amp breaker. No more worries about keeping a pilot lit or any of that stuff.

[lincolnboy]

Any one run double water heaters?