Bradford-White is highly thought of but you won't find them at the box stores.

Thanks - my searches for "hot water heater" mostly returned "tankless" subjects, which we decided not to buy this time. I appreciate your input. With a B-W search, I just discovered it was made in the US, so I wouldn't expect to find them at big box stores - neither was the made in the US SpeedQueen washer we bought last week!

You might Google "water heater" cause there's no such thing as a HOT WATER HEATER. Hot water is already hot and doesn't need to be heated ;-)

Bradford-White is made in the US and when you call tech support they speak English.

Justalurker,,,

Quote"You might Google "water heater" cause there's no such thing as a HOT WATER HEATER. Hot water is already hot and doesn't need to be heated ;-) "

You made me laugh with that one as I remembered one of the most heated arguments I have ever witnessed.

When I was in college one of the guys in the class failed the final exam by one point. As we were reviewing the exam the correct answer for one of the questions was "Water Heater". With that, the guy who failed jumped up and says, "professor, there is a mistake on my exam, I had the correct answer and you marked it wrong!!"

The Professor says, "Bring it up here so I can see your exam, if I made a mistake we will correct it."

The Professor looked at the guys exam and says, "I did not make a mistake, the correct answer is WATER HEATER, but you answered HOT WATER HEATER, and they are two entirely different pieces of equipment. A WATER HEATER heats cold water to a desired preset temp, whereas a HOT WATER HEATER, heats hot water and is properly called a BOILER so it still stands, your answer was wrong!"

lazypup,

Will a double boiler make water twice as hot or hot water just hotter?

We went with a Rheem Pro instead of a Bradford-White for several reasons. First, the plumbers I called for estimates didn't know much about the B-W, so I got few good technical responses from them when I asked. That meant they would also have few good answers when I needed service. Second, from the web I gained the impression that while the B-W design was well thought out, the parts might be somewhat non-standard, requiring ordering. Third, The Rheem pro uses a magnesium anode (with an electrical resistor to slow galvanic action down) to one made from aluminum; I prefer magnesium.

Since I keep the water temperature at 140âÂÂ, it seldom falls much below 120âÂÂ, which is still pretty hot. Thus, this new purchase is indeed a "hot water heater," every time after its initial fill.