Water heater recs please

[deserteagle71]

General statements like "last about 6 1/2 years" can be scary.

Exactly!
I had to change out my water heater a few years ago. It was 27 years old...and had never been drained nor any maintenance performed on it.

 

[two_bit_score]

ust for the record.. They are ''water heaters''.... Not.... ''Hot water heaters''
Just wanted to clear up any confusion !

Thank YOU! That always bothers me too.

 

[ning]

6 yr warranty means the anode should last 6 yrs. So they only provide a 6 yr tank warranty. You can always buy a larger anode ,or just keep one on hand and replace it every 5 yrs
I really don't understand your comment about tankless being no good for showers .
Never had an issue with mine . I installed it 5 yrs ago

My tankless is "ok" for showers; occasionally the hot water stops and I only get cold, but I think that's because it's a very low-flow shower head (particularly because of water deposits making the holes in the shower even smaller) and depending on the heat your "hot" is set at, mixing it down you may have the hot water flow be below the cut-in for the tankless, so it stops heating a very low flow of water. This is part of why I consider tankless to be "possibly energy efficient but not water efficient" since it encourages you to use more water to keep the hot engaged.

 

[etpm]

Thanks Everyone! I am going to reconsider the tankless. In the past all the ones I used were very temperature and flow sensitive. They would either be too hot or just cold. It may require a bigger gas line as others mentioned. A heat pump would require running wire which in my case would not be easy or cheap. But I'm gonna look at them anyway.
Eric

 

[Mtsoxfan]

Whichever way you decide to go, take the initial install charges like larger gas line or running wire with a grain of salt. Those "extra" charges may pay themselves off in a very short time. Unless it's special circumstances like digging and running very long lines. IIRC, the wiring needed to install our HP water heater was 10', so not much $$

 

[lman]

Wat. You don't have cold water for drinking? I love how cold my cold water is, in the 50s in the winter, rising into the low 60s by the end of summer.

I have cold water coming from my well to all of my taps. I also have a line that is recirculated through my geothermal to preheat for hot water. Basically, I already have water that is heated by a heat pump. It's just not quite hot enough. I have two water heaters, but one is not connected and does not heat. It is used as a reservoir for the excess heat that my geothermal makes and my 30 year old water heater draws water from the that preheated water heater tank.

 

[ericm979]

Thanks Everyone! I am going to reconsider the tankless. In the past all the ones I used were very temperature and flow sensitive. They would either be too hot or just cold. It may require a bigger gas line as others mentioned. A heat pump would require running wire which in my case would not be easy or cheap. But I'm gonna look at them anyway.
Eric

If you have 120v near the water heater location there are heat pump water heaters that can run off 120v 20a (maybe even 15a) circuits. They're made especially for replacing gas heaters.

 

[grsthegreat]

If you have a water recirculating pump like I do, tankless don’t work without some juryrigging a small standby tank or some such nonesence. I have twin 40 gal direct vents that are 10 years old, have replaced anode 2 times. Have another set sitting in WH room. I’m thinking about getting another pair of them and storing them because I don’t know what nanny state will do in near future with propane water heaters.i don’t want heat pump or elect units. Ive been called out to too many heat pump water heater failures over the years. And while elect units are ok, my standby isn’t large enough to add two elect water heaters to it.

 

[4570Man]

I’m not that sold on tankless water heaters. Electric ones are garbage. They strain a regular 200 amp service for the first problem. Putting that aside they struggle to produce hot water. Gas ones do produce plenty of hot water but the upfront cost is high. The heater itself cost nearly 3x what a regular 40 gallon water heater cost. The plumber also charges a good bit extra. If you have a lot of people in the house maybe it would be worth it but a 40 gallon heater should provide plenty of water for at least 4 people. If that’s not working you could piggyback 2 of them and still be cheaper than a tankless. My last complaint with the tankless is they require electricity to work. A tanked gas heater will continue working without electricity. I’m really not sold on the energy saving aspect.

 

[newbury]

If you have 120v near the water heater location there are heat pump water heaters that can run off 120v 20a (maybe even 15a) circuits. They're made especially for replacing gas heaters.

The Rheem line of 120V heat pump water heater seems to start out at about $2K (at HD) vs a basic Rheem Natural Gas for < $700.