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Richmond Gas Hot Water Heater

14 years ago

Does anyone have experience with this brand? It is a cheaper unit than GE or Whirlpool, but still has similar features from what I can tell. An internet poster said their Richmond water heater electric line caught fire, but that was several years ago. I would like to buy a quality unit, but is there a difference or is it just in the name that you are paying a premium for? Thank you for any input.

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Comments (4)

wisehvac
14 years ago
its a water heater not a sports car. it produces water all thats all every water heater does, what is the rate of the hot water being produces is what counts. another thing is that its not a hot water heater, you do't heat up hot water you just heat up water. so its called awater heater, I would go with my two brand of choice a.o. smith or rheem.
zl700
14 years ago
Richmond water heaters are manufactured by Rheem and labeled Richmond for the hardware chains.

However many times such as gas they may be de-rated, fired at 32,000 BTU's instead of 40,000 that are labeled Rheem and sold through plumbing distribution. This difference reduces recovery rate and first hour availability.

Regarding the electrics, components are basically the same, but the insulation factors of the tank and perhaps warranties may be less.
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latteluvr
Original Author
14 years ago
The unit that was on sale this weekend was a 40 gallon 6yr warranty heater. It turns out the 9 and 12 yr units don't need annual draining for sediment, so we prefer to install one of those. The better Richmond units are comparable in price to GE and Whirlpool. I haven't considered Sears brand. Any thoughts there?
zl700
14 years ago
Sears Kenmore water heaters are made by State Water heater Co, which was bought by A.O. Smith 5-6 years ago. These are just as good.

There are only about 5 tank manufacturers and 25 labels???

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