Water heater is leaking, what new one should we buy?

[Tigger1]

Son called for advise on new water heater. I have no idea what he should get. Looking at buying at Lowes or Home Depot. Looked at Whirlpool and Rheem.

Any advice?

 

[Gumbo4x4]

My advice? Make sure it's not just leaking at the element. Happened to a coworker last week. $15 repair rather than a whole new WH.

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

Ours was leaking - until it failed and flooded the basement all around the edges. We needed a shopvac to pick up the water. Whatever it needs, fix it fast!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We have the water heater that "recirculates". Also you want to look at the refilling time/capacity.

It is true that with some minor repair it may work again.

 

[CMDTA]

Son called for advise on new water heater. I have no idea what he should get. Looking at buying at Lowes or Home Depot. Looked at Whirlpool and Rheem.

Any advice?

I just went through this. It was more expensive but I bought an on demand Rennai. It's awesome! No more storing hot water. That was a big deal for us because we live in a cold climate and our basement isn't heated.

 

[WVMomof3]

Our hot water heater just flooded the basement this weekend. Since we needed a new one pronto, we just went with what the plumber had in stock. The old came with the house, so it was about 23 years old. The plumber said we will be lucky to get 5-10 out of any new one. Not happy with the disposable appliances these days.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Does he plan on doing the install and repair himself?
Unless he knows a plumber, I would think he would need to call a plumbing service.
I would be inclined to find the most reputable plumbing company, unless I knew that a place like Lowes had excellent service.
We would not go with Lowes for carpeting, but found out that they had a great contractor for roofs in our community, and good prices, so we went with them for our new roof, and they did a great job.

If Lowe's does the install, and he trusts Lowes, I would be inclined to go with Rheem over Whirlpool.
But I really am not an expert, and I don't know.
I just know that I am not too impressed with some Whirlpool products.

Have you tried doing some general searches like 'best hot water heaters', 'most reliable hot water heaters'.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

No advice except when we had to replace ours, we opted for a larger tank. It was nice to not run out of hot water with showers in the mornings.

 

[Cadiewampus]

Ours went out couple years ago. Went with the Whirlpool from Lowes 85 gallon capacity. There really is nothing hard about putting them in if he can and wants to save some money. Also with the new "sharkbite" connectors that are out there is not need for soldering though the cost more are worth the convience

 

[aquabone1109]

Son called for advise on new water heater. I have no idea what he should get. Looking at buying at Lowes or Home Depot. Looked at Whirlpool and Rheem.

Any advice?

Do you have gas or electric

 

[mjkacmom]

We had a "tankless" put in years ago, on the advice of our plumber (friend and neighbor). About twice the cost of traditional, but last longer, and with a family of 7, it's nice to never run out of hot water!

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

If our teenagers didn't eventually run out of hot water they would never get out of the shower. Sometimes running out is a good thing!

 

[mjkacmom]

If our teenagers didn't eventually run out of hot water they would never get out of the shower. Sometimes running out is a good thing!

All 5 are teens, we have 1 shower. If someone is waiting for the shower, the occupant is at risk of being removed by force!

 

[HM]

When ours was found to be leaking, it turned out to be too high of water pressure coming into the house. There was nothing wrong with the heater itself. Have a plumber check on the house's water pressure and if it's too high, adjust it and see if that does the trick. (we've been using the heater for years now after that incident)

 

[GaryDis]

When we converted from electric to oil, some 30 years ago, the conventional wisdom at the time was that the tankless heaters were never adequate. We like our hot showers. It's good to see that may have changed.

I have two places to go to for questions like this, the Houzz forums and reddit.

 

[ImDMous]

We just got a new one last month. We went to Home Depot and got the Rheem Performance Platinum. Best advice we got was to stick to the ones with the 12 year warranty instead of just 6. They have much better quality parts in them.

 

[McKelly]

We just had to get a new one too. It started to leak and we didn't want to take any chances. A couple of years ago our sump pump stopped and we had a flooded basement. Don't want a repeat of that! Anyway, we opted for a longer warranty and a bigger tank this time around.

 

[Tigger1]

Thanks for the advice. Disboards always is my source for good advice. I sent pics of all the threads to son and he is installing a new tank as I type. I picked up a few couplings for him but forgot to ask which brand he went with. He did mention 40 gal and I think its a gas. I am thinking small tank but thats likely what he wanted (bet he liked the thread mentioning that the bigger the tank the longer the shower and bought a smaller).

Next tank i buy will likely be the tankless. We bought a Kenmore some years back and it went out in 6 to 8 years. It was still under warrenty but was a hassel replacing at Sears. I think that was more about the management at that particular store.

Thanks again for the advice.
Love ya Disboard friends

Tigger

 

[low-key]

mine is getting old, so I just got insurance on it, 5:50 to my water bill every month, and if it breaks they get me a new one

 

[tvguy]

Seven year old thread, but the way they make water heaters these days OP may be about due for another one!

I discovered when I replaced mine 2ish years ago that they don't make what I want. I wanted a water heater with a 10 year warranty. I ended up with one with a 10 year EXTENDED warranty. Same water heater as the six year warranty one, just with a 4 year extended warranty tacked on.
Don't forget to check your local codes. I had to have a building permit and inspection, add some kind of expansion tank to the water heater, and put earthquake straps on it.
Never understood water heaters installed in places where they could do damage when they leak. My parents house had the water heater inside the house, but it was a raised foundation house, and there were drains in the floor of the water heater closet. Mine is in the garage.