Any Plumber's? Hot Water Heater Question!

gudnoyez

So finished watching a movie last night around 11 pm it was over the wife briefly goes into the laundry room says there is water on the floor come to find out the hot water heater is leaking it was late turned of the water going to it shut the pilot off and the gas off to it clean up mess. I a buddy who can get me a new one a little over cost the choices are 40 gallons natural gas the brands to choose from is Ao Smith or Bradford White he told me the 6 year warranty ones are pretty much the same as the 10 year warranty ones the only difference is the model # and the price difference is the cost of the extended warranty.

He can help me install it tomorrow evening or should I say he will install it with me helping which will cost a rib dinner and a few beers. He says Ao Smith is the better choice than the Bradford White the old one was a Menards cheap 30 gallon one but it lasted 21 years, but with the deal for a name brand one I will settle for one of the two mentioned. I ask your opinions plumbers which one Should I get Ao Smith or Bradford White?

trav0810

I used to sell both brands. We took back less warranty parts on the AO smith than we did Bradford White.

Mikey081057

Toss up... I had an AO smith that lasted 17 years and then I sold the house.... BW is very good too.... Take a look at efficiency tho. AO Smith has some that are very efficient and can save you a lot over the long haul... Also have you considered a Tankless HW heater? If you don;t have kids they can be VERY efficient and save LOTS of money over the long haul... Most conventional plumbers will tell you bad things b/c they last forever and they don't put their kids thru college.... Sizing is very important.

rpf65

I'd probably go with A O Smith, of the 2. I've seen a lot of them that lasted 15+ years.

Draw back of tankless heaters is during power outages. They can freeze up, and not all plumbers can/will work on them. Had a freeze a few years back, and the plumbers where I work we're repairing them for weeks.

Again, not all plumbers can/will repair them

mrbiron

I've seen a LOT of boards go on Bradfords. With that said, I know virtually nothing on the Smith.

The masses have spoken. Smith

tonyb

Neither brand is familiar to me, but I find little difference in gas hot water heaters anyway. Thing is, don't undersize it. 30 gallons wouldn't be nearly enough for me and 40 gallons was on the light side too. I bought a 50 gallon and never looked back.

They are easy as pie to install too.

Polkie2009

Is your water heater located in your laundry room or above it in the attic? Obviously, those in the attic are more of a pain to r&r. I have a A.O. Smith 40 gallon going on it's 14th year, although I did_ have to replace the thermocouple 2 years ago. Doubt any__ of the new models of water heaters now out there last over 15 years. Just don't make them like they used to.

ZLTFUL

I guess my question is, if your water is already hot, then why do you need to heat it? "hot water heater"

george daniel

AO

tonyb

Yeah, your lucky to get 8 years out of a newer HWH. 10 years and you've won the lottery. A lot also depends on the hardness of your water. Plus it's a good idea to flush them out every 6 months or so, kinda like you do with the radiator on your car. Gets all that rust and corrosion out.

Mikey081057

Also a good idea to install a tray/pan underneath the new HWH with a drain hose to your sump if possible

gudnoyez

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. They have V bulletin forum's on HVAC discussions, a bunch of guys talking about thier passions which is hot water heaters who would of thought. The 3 best major contractor preferences are Ruud, AO Smith, and Bradford White.

One of the guys who everyone says to ask his opinion says any of those 3 would be good choices with the AO his choice he compared them to cars such as Cadillac, Lincoln, and Lexus so I'm getting the Cadillac which he refers to as the AO Smith. It seems most of you recommend that one also so AO it is. I can't fit a 50 gallon in the space it's going due to the width so have to stick to the 40 gallon.

Thanks again everyone for helping me make up my mind don't think the wife can live more than a day without hot water, she left to go to the daughters to shower I can shower at work, now that she's gone I can crank the tunes. I now can go to the HVAC forum hang out and ask a bunch of newb questions.

seabeerob213

Go with the AO, you can possibly save some gfuture headache by running an inline to one or two of your high demand items, and a smaller tank style for the house. Constant supply to shower or whatever, no wait for hot water, and you don't have yto pay to operate a big tank for a shower.

I happen to be a plumber and UT(hvac/r tech) in the navy seabees, and been working in or around construction my whole life.

charley95

Bought a Whirlpool 40 gallon from Lowes in 2011. It's one of the worst on the market,I've had to warranty nearly every part. Good luck!

steveinaz

So why are you heating hot water?

rpf65

charley95 wrote: »

Bought a Whirlpool 40 gallon from Lowes in 2011. It's one of the worst on the market,I've had to warranty nearly every part.

Plumbers always tell my to buy all my plumbing stuff at a plumbing supply house. There is a difference, and the extra money is worth it

gudnoyez

The job is done got the AO Smith my buddy is an ex plumber but works at a plumbing supply store got it 10% over cost he bought it at his discount and I get to pay him next payday he saved me about a hundred with him buying it.

He came over after 5:00, I had already disconnected the old one and had it off to the side we carried the old one out, brought the new one in and because it was taller than the old one he had to cut the water lines going in and out added elbows to line them up because it was wider it was installed in an hour and is ready to go. I told him everyone here said to get the AO over the Bradford White and he said told ya. I owe him dinner and a few beers so thanks to all for the suggestions on my heater that makes water hot.

charley95

rpf65 wrote: »

charley95 wrote: »

Bought a Whirlpool 40 gallon from Lowes in 2011. It's one of the worst on the market,I've had to warranty nearly every part.

Plumbers always tell my to buy all my plumbing stuff at a plumbing supply house. There is a difference, and the extra money is worth it

That will be my next route for sure when the Whirlpool dies soon. Just bought a Honda 2 stage snowblower and paid a lot more than your average brand snowblower. Got 28 yrs. out of the old MTD, that won't happen with MTD's of today.

obieone

Aside from flushing the system twice a year, you'll want to change out the sacrificial anode every 5-7 years to get the longevity out of it.

kevhed72

obieone wrote: »

Aside from flushing the system twice a year, you'll want to change out the sacrificial anode every 5-7 years to get the longevity out of it.

Is this relatively easy? I see this post is 5 years old lol but this caught my eye. Our heater is in our utility room and in the adjacent room to my audio room/office.

treitz3

You can always check for corrosion on the anode whenever you go to drain the water heater. If it's good, don't worry about it. If there is corrosion, replace it. After 10 years, it may be wise to simply replace the whole unit and bring it up to current code.

Tom

pitdogg2

Yes it is as long as the heater is fairly new. Once they get years on them and not drained in several there could be enough sediment to block the hose bib at the bottom. Best thing to do is shut incoming water supply off, turn heater itself off and then open all the hot water sides of your faucets, then just open the hose bib at the bottom. If nothing comes out then it is clogged. if it flows freely then let it drain and at the very end open the incoming water supply and that could flush out the rest. If it runs clean then shut bottom hose bib off and let fill until it comes out the faucet the farthest away from the heater. Then relight the heater.

Run a hose from bib to drain unless you have an unfinished basement and a drain near.

kevhed72

Awesome....this gets added to "the list".....thank you

DaveHo

Good luck getting the anode rod out if it hasn't been removed regularly. When I replaced my last water heater, I attempted to get the anode out of the old one just to have a look see. I twisted the bung out of the tank before I ever got it to break loose.

charley96

Just drained mine today. Put in new this time last January and no sediment came out. I know there has to be some in it and I even flushed with more water from the shut off valve. I remember on my old one you had to stick a screwdriver into the bib to loosen the sediment to get water to come out of it. The old one was a Whirlpool and had a digital gas valve on it. I probably had warrantied 4 valves for it. This time I bought the cheapest Menard's with a mechanical valve.

EndersShadow

Gotta love a thread from 2015 being brought back from the dead by an apparent spam bot lol.......

motorstereo

I was getting about 3-5 years out of my electric hot water heaters and I would flush them several times in the winter months. On a whim I stopped flushing several years ago and I'm at 10 years on my current one without ever having flushed it. A bit of sediment isn't a bad thing in my case as I was getting really good at swapping hot water heaters.

charley96

10 years is pretty good by todays standards. My previous Whirlpool gas heater only last ed 8 years with annual flushes. A plumber I know says there really isn't good quality heaters anymore. He said just buy the cheapest and cross your fingers. They've gone up about a 100 bucks in price since I got the Whirlpool back in 2012.

aprazer402

At least you caught it before it got bad. I replaced a 40 year old Ruud water heater last year. My plumber friend installed a 40 gallon State brand water heater, this is one of many brands made by A.O. Smith. Very nice heater. Plumber said don't expect it to last as long as the old Ruud. All are pretty similar anymore. Like tonyb said if you get 8-10 years... you're golden. EDIT: Yikes, I need to look at dates on these threads!

VR3

The best money I have spent recently was installing a mixing valve on my water heater. This allowed me to crank the tank to 140 and at a later state mix in cold water to make it 120. It makes it seem like unlimited hot water, haven't ran out of hot water since. Also don't have to play with the faucet for a shower as 120 is the perfect temp! Haha

verb

Been thinking about a recirculating pump. The water heater and master bathroom are on opposite sides of the house, and it takes minutes for the hot water to come through.

Anyone have experience with them?