Which gas water heater to buy?

16 years ago

My water heater is leaking and I am going to change it soon. I am not sure what to buy. I am looking at the Kenmore and GE. I dont know if I should get the 40 or 50 gallon heater. I think I currently have a 60 gallon that I bought about 10 years ago. It was an over kill but I hate taking cold showers. There is only to of us that live in the house but may be more in the future. Sears gave me the specs on there water heaters but GE doesnt give there specs out. I was at H.D. and they had no paper work and there is nothing listed on the internet. My 2 concerns are energy usage and a hot shower. Any advise?

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Comments (7)

randy427
16 years ago
I'd say that the Better or Best models of any of the three choices are fairly comparable to the others of the same price-range. The last three I've bought (for different installations) were 'scratch and dent' markdowns at Sears with decent percentages taken off the price.
A 40 gal WH suits the three of us, but, as always, YMMV.
jakethewonderdog
16 years ago
What's important to you? The only thing I know for sure is you hate to run out of hot water.

Is there any thing else? Installed cost? Energy use?

What do you mean they wont give out the specs?!? I would tell them to shove it up their A$$ if they don't want to give me the information on it. Do they expect you to just trust them?

Look, there are all kinds of outrageous claims made by water heater makers. In order to make a rational decision, you need facts, not marketing hype.

The only gas water heater that I have heard problems with is the Whirlpool.

All water heaters will last 8-12 years... don't spend a lot of money for extended warranties. Save it and replace the heater instead.
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for 2 I would say stay with at least a 50 gal electric. and about the split power rate thing I had that at my last house that was all electric. the off peak rate was 8pm to 8am and all day on weekends. the house had a time of day meter and the water heater was controled by a small box next to it that was wired to the meter. it had an overide so if you needed more water during peak time you could get more. If you bathe and do your washing in the mornings and eveinings mostly your fine the tank will store the water and it will be plenty to wash your hands or fill a sink with dish water. The problem is when more than one or two wants to shower outside of the off peak time when the heater is on or you want to do laundry. I had a 50 gal bradford-white with 3 in the house, I would always run out early in the evening when washing and all happened before 8pm. now I have gas, I love the way it recovers faster and no on/off-peak rates.
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Snidely, You are partly right but miss an important aspect of the Walmart Effect... while many consumers demanded products/services be ever cheaper and cheaper no matter what, a portion of consumers were and are still willing to pay more for better quality. We used to be offered that option but as cheaper and cheaper was more widely adopted the companies making higher quality products were forced to either lower their quality in order to maintain sales or folded cause they wouldn't. Now we often don't have the option of a better quality product and are stuck buying lower quality products and having to endure the compromises that come with doing that. Water heater Brands like A.O. Smith and Bradford White are only available through the plumbing supply channels and not through the mass market or discount channel. People I know who own a plumbing supply company tell me that they see plumbers recommending whichever brand realizes them the most profit, but using the story to their customers that they'd stopped carrying several brands - insert brand name here - because they were getting too many call backs to replace defective units. The plumbing supply owners don't care what the plumbers sell cause they carry both brands but they chuckle when the other brand has a better price now and the plumbers have to backstroke on what they told their homeowner customer regarding brand x being less reliable than brand y, but now brand x gets the plumber more profit so that's what the homeowner should get now. The problem with some plumbers is that when they lie to a customer they can't remember a month later which lie they told the customer when they ask the same question again. Whether you believe it or not all water heaters are not the same quality. Cut a few different brands open, as I've done, and the difference is obvious even to a homeowner.
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The purchase and operating costs differences between 40 and 50 gallon tank models are not significant. For a house with one unit, I think the 50 gallon size would be the minimum to consider and for many, larger sizes are more appropriate. It happens I have not one 40 gallon tank but two in one house - the house's hot water plumbing is split into two separate and unconnected zones and I have a 40 gallon unit for each, a total of 80 gallons in the house. It's not too much for a house with two adults and a few kids. If I had just one system, it would be either tankless or not smaller than 75 gallons. Water heaters like many things in the HVAC world -all brands function about the same more or less but from brand to brand, it's hard to know much about which are better and which are worse. Other than from pros who install, service, and replace them. And sometimes even then, what they prefer can depend on which brands are easier to work on, which they get better discounts on, or more incentives, or even just personal preference to what they know and work with most. Rheem seems to be a reasonable brand but who knows? I asked one of the plumbers about his preferences and he had a quick answer - Bradford White for tank models and Bosch for tankless. Because, he said, each in its type seemed to have better quality control and that meant happier customers and fewer callbacks than other brands. I took a look at my most recent 80 percent atmospherically vented furnace install (in a coastal SoCal location, subject to the highest standard). It was done in Spring, 2019, so I suspect it may not an ultra low NOx model. I know it complied with whatever standard was in place at the time because the work was done by a licensed contractor with a proper permit and was subject to a city inspection.
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Original Author
16 years ago
Im not worried about the installed cost. I am installing myself. I am concernd about energy usage and efficency. As far as extended warranties, they are not for me. I have heard the Whirlpools have problems and there is or was a class action suite against them so they are out of the picture. The recovery rating and energy useage are a concern along with buying something that wont fail in 2 years.
dan_martyn
16 years ago
Rheem makes water heaters for many companies. If you look at the equipment data plate of a GE water heater you will find that rheem made it. 2 people would typically require a 30 gallon tank type water heater. You would also be a good candate for an instantaneous water heater. While instantaneous water heater burner inputs are typically 3-4 times greater than a tank type water heater, they only fire when flow is detected in the hot water line. This eliminates all stand-by losses and will result in a cost savings.

Dan Martyn
anthem
16 years ago
IMO, the best water heater manufacturers are Rheem and Bradford White. Both seem to make a slightly better product than the others (State, AO Smith, etc).

In terms of instantaneous - yes there are no standby water losses. However they aren't 100% efficient (far from it). Most are only 65% efficient. So essentially you trade operational efficiency for storage efficiency. Also, standby water losses are quite low in water heaters these days as they are all insulated.

Basically, from most calculations if you utilize hot water every day, a tanked unit works out best. If its a 2nd home, then an instant water heater may make sense.

The other thing one must look at is the duration of expected use of water heaters. Since many tanked units are in the hundreds of dollars, and tankless is usually $1500 or so. And standby loss cost is usually in single digits - you may never recover the cost of a tankless unit vs a tanked unit with the additional cost involved.
shannonplus2
16 years ago
Dan, the OP is doing a DIY installation. If he were to follow your suggestion, to replace his tank heater with a tankless, he'll need a bigger gas line, AND new venting spec'd to the tankless he chooses. That's not a DIY job. So your suggestion would be to choose a $1500 tankless PLUS add the cost of gas line/venting/labor, instead of the quick switch from his old tank to a new one? I wish I had your expendable income LOL!

To the OP, I recommend the 50 gallon heater - the increase of 10 gallons won't add much to the cost of the tank or its operation, and you'll rest easier knowing you'll be less likely to run out of hot water. I actually think a 40-gallon is not adequate for 2 people. As to brands, Bradford White is tops, but I don't know that it's worth it to pay the high price for it.

I am linking below to a Consumers Reports article. There is a correlation between warranty periods and quality of the heater.

Here is a link that might be useful: Consumer Reports on Hot Water Heaters
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Original Author
16 years ago
I went with Sears best water heater 40 gallon. The best water heater have more insulation making them larger in diameter. The 50 gallon would not fit in my allowed space. So far, I have plenty of hot water.

Which gas water heater to buy?

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