best hot water heater

mb_2

try phoenix by heat transfer products or polaris by american water heater, hi efficiency,hi output

mike jones_2

bes

Gas Water Heaters

* AO Smith
* Rheem

mike jones_2

best hot water heater

we are shopping for a new Gas Water Heater
around 100 gal. 199,000 btu

we've been told that they are fairly standard in quality and price and have been directed to

* AO Smith
* Rheem

does anyone feel strongly about another company besides these 2 or do any of the companies out there have superior tech versus the next guy?

we tend to favor companies who make an effort in their tech support, since it can be a guage of how well a company is run and cared for, when all else is the same.

bob eck

water heater

what do you need the water heater for commercial or residential job? A O Smith and Rheem are good units. I sell A O Smith and it sounds like a commercial job. If so make sure you install a commercial water heater. When installing A O Smith residential water heaters in a commercial job the 6 year warranty goes down to 1 year warranty. We also sell NORITZ tankless gas waters that hang on the wall and are direct sidewall vented or vented vertical with NORITZ stainless steel vent pipe. you can not vent it into a chimney. NORITZ has units that are made for residential jobs with 10 year heat exchanger warranty and 3 year parts warranty plus ASME commercial models that have 5 year heat exchanger and parts warranty. you can quick connect two models for large residential jobs and on the commercial side you can connect up to 24 units together. check out their web site at www.noritz.com tankless gas water heaters only use energy when you need hot water the unit does not maintain a tank full of hot water all the time like a tank type water heater. alos when a 100 gallon tank type water heater tank burst there can be a lot of water damage. every job is different some jobs are better for tank type water heaters and other jobs tankless is better. this is where the professional contractor knows what best to use on each job.

Bruce M

Aren't they really just

A glass lined tank and a gas valve probably made by Honeywell? Go for the best warranty especially if you have aggressive water. Buy whatever your closest wholesaler sells in case you have a problem...

tim smith

Residential or commercial??

If commercial, the best way to do this is with a storage tank and boiler. Gives you by far the longest longevity. Direct fired commercial gas water heaters only have a life expectancy of 10 or so years and are quite expensive. You will pay more for the split set up but will outlive the direct fired almost 2 to 1. Better efficiency usually depending on set up. If you want to go the cheaper way, I have found dual residential tanks to be the more economical way to go. They are not made that much different and you will get almost the same life out of them as long as sizing is right and will cost you much less $$. Even if they fail in 7 or 8 yrs you will still be ahead in $$ due to cost of units. It also gives you redundancy so even if you lose 1 you still will have one on line for some hot water. If you really need 100 gals 199,000 btu, maybe go with 2 - 75 gals 75,000 btu tanks. Check on price and you will see how much difference in cost the res tanks vs commercial tanks are. True warranty is way reduced but I have never found this to be an issue. Tim

bobbyg_10

Lochinvar \"better idea\" system

I would go with this!

Lochinvar Armor water heater
http://www.lochinvar.com/product.asp?cat=WH&cls=COMM&prod=AWN&ln=AWN

with a storage tank.

http://www.lochinvar.com/product.asp?cat=ST&cls=ALL&prod=RJS080&ln=RJ

mike jones_2

best hot water heater

this gas heater is for 5 apartments totaling 10 people in 1 building. the current 100 gallon 199,000 btu is adequate, it must be chimney vented, and there is no room for twins.

it only costs 100/mo. to run the old one we are replacing, so we're not real concerned with cost to operate. the main issue is rheem, ao smith, amer. standard or someone else. amer. standard is 3000 to purchase versus 3500 for rheem or ao smith for the same size, but we were told we should get a better price on any of these and we're trying to find out where to buy them, in new york or on the net.

obviously, the american standard sounds good for the 500 dollar savings, but no one has been able to verify if it is a good unit. we were told that all units this size are commercial units, and that we don't need asme cert.

thank you for your input

mtfallsmikey

All good choices

I sold Rheem, Bradford-White residential; I have Lochinvar 50 gal. electrics in both of my buildings, been doing ok.

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

American Water Heaters

I have been using these for a long time and have only had a couple of problems. The last leaker I had that was under warrantee had to be 10 years ago. I use the model with a 12 year warrantee, and I expect them to last about 15 years. And most important, they are "Proudly Made In The USA."
Thanks, Bob Gagnon

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

mike jones_2

american standard water heater - great prices

thanks for your input, but the more dealers we call charging 3500 dollars for these other brands, the more amazed we are that no one has anything bad to say about the american standard for 2500, so hopefully we are not being penny wise and pound foolish

bamand62014046

Sizing

You might want to look at the AO Smith sizing program that you can download here:

http://www.hotwater.com/accusize.html

You might decide from this program that you actually need a different size water heater. Very often the heater that is in place is not sized correctly. I am not saying that is true in your case

[Deleted User]

smith's storage tanks

aren't worth much, i replaced 3 within their 5 year warranty period, but their warranty is top notch. the 4th one was just over the 5 years and they said no. but 3 out of 4 isn't bad. and of course, the customer ate the labor

Larry Weingarten

Whatever...

... you get, make sure it is installed using side fittings so you can get easy access to the anode rods hidden under the top. Change those anodes as needed, keep the water pressure in line and combustion air clean and you'll get triple or better life from your new tank assuming it's sized correctly. I've got commercial heaters out there over over 30 years old.

After all that, I'd still look into the Phoenix by HTP. Energy prices are going up!

Yours, Larry