Hot water tanks

[Rat Rod Mac]

I need a new 40 gallon gas fired hot water tank. Nothing fancy, just your basic. I have it down to two manufacturers, Rheem and A O Smith. Any pros or cons on either one of these. Prices are close enough not to be an issue. Or maybe there is a better one than these two out there? RRM

 

[reb]

What area the chances that they are both made by the same manufacturer? When I replaced my electric water heater a few years ago, I found that mine were different brands, but made the same place.

 

[mddorange]

No, AO Smith and Rheem are NOT the same company. Both make good water heaters. If you just want a basic water heater, then go with which one is cheapest but has the longest warranty.

 

[mikester]

Buy the one with the longest/best warranty

 

[Ritothebull]

Don't know much about Rheem's water heaters but I do see more A O Smith around here than any other brand, I had one in my last house and the one I have now is 16 years old and works fine. Also AO Smith specializes in water heaters and boilers so that's usually something I look for in a manufacturer whenever possible.

 

[prichard]

Rheem, A O Smith and Bradford White are 3 separate and only US manufacturers AFAIK

 

[mddorange]

I remember in the 1960's when Sears switched it's Kenmore water heaters from being supplied by AO Smith to Rheem, that it hurt AO Smith enough that they had to lay some people off and the laid off people swore that they would never shop at Sears again. :laughing:

 

[RNeumann]

We stopped installing AO many years ago because of early failures. I’d avoid AO. Rheem, BW are both good. BW had some nicer parts like a curved dip tube but I don’t know how easy they are to find outside a wholesaler.

 

[tjkubota93]

I installed an ao Smith 50 gallon gas 6yr 3 years ago. I bought at supply house. Cheaper than Lowe's and had a metal drain. Lowe's had plastic drain.

 

[Rat Rod Mac]

Now this came up at work today,,,, in front of the Lowe's store is a row of John Deere garden tractors, but according to two guys at work these are not the real deal, these are made by MTD. The real John Deere tractors are sold by a JD dealer. So my question is,,, are the A.O. Smith water heaters sold at Lowe's inferior to ones sold at a supply house to plumbers? Are there good Smith water heaters and cheaper ones sold by the big box stores? RRM