Rheem or Bradford White ?

SteamHeat

Rheem or Bradford White ?



I posted this question in the Domestic Hot Water Forum, but did not get any information, so I am reposting the question on the Main Wall in hopes of getting some feedback.

 

I know that this question has been asked before in different ways, but

quality and company ownership changes over time and I do not find any

recent discussions on the forums in The Wall.



I will need to be replacing my old standing pilot, storage, gas fired hot water heater.

I want to stick with a pilot light + storage system so that I can still have hot water

during a power outage. I need a high recovery unit to handle "shower

time."



From reading around the net it seems that many brands are all made

by one of three companies. Even though my current unit is AO Smith, I

am not inclined to get another. Current AO units seem to have a lot of

difficulty keeping the standing pilot lit. My old unit's pilot, while staying lit,

seems to burn very inefficently, (very slight but noticable methyl

mercaptan odor), but in fairness it is about 8 years old. It was checked

by my pro.



According to my pro, I can fit units between 50 and 65 gal storage tank.

So far that I can tell, Rheem and Bradford White still seem to be

independent manufacturers with good reputations. Rheem purports to have

the advantage of generic gas valves, and a longer warranty

available. Bradford claims to have a more sophisticated pilot system and button reset if there is an internal burn. I do not know if this is a good thing or bad. I tend to shy away from computers for things like heating. I find a fewer number of consumer complaints about Bradford, but that may be in part because Rheem units are often

installed on contract to big box stores under the GE brand. I read that the units are not quite the same as those sold at the supply houses for pro installation. I have found complaints of leaking tanks, dismal tech support, and awkward warranty service about both brands.



The units I am considering are:



Rheem Professional Heavy Duty:

RHG Pro50-65F

RHG Pro60F

RHG Pro65F



or



Bradford White Extra Recovery

M-2-XR504T6FBN

M-2-XR65T6FBN



Does anyone have any experience with any of these units either positive or negative ?



Any general comments on Rheem vs. Bradford are helpful too.



If this helps further the discussion, this is what I find currently on who makes what.



Rheem: GE, Rudd, Marathon, Rheem and Richmond.



A.O. Smith: American, Apollo, Cirrex, E-Tech, Glascote, GSW, Kenmore,

Maytag, Permaglas, Reliance, State and Whirlpool. They recently

purchased Lochinvar too.



Bradford White: Bradford White, and Jetglas.



Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

Steve Whitbeck

Bradford White

Sold them for years with very few problems.

SteamHeat

Is Your Experience Current ?

I'm sorry, but I can't tell whether you mean that you sold them without problems in the past, or that you sold them without problems in the past and still do so.



The reason I am trying to make this distinction is that a lot of companies in this country have outsourced their manufacture and unfortunately the quality of offshore parts and assembly is not always the same quality standard as what was before.



Are you still handling the Bradford water heaters and do they still measure up to the quality that you saw in the past?



Thank You For Your Help.

Steve Whitbeck

Bradford White

I have used and still do use them. They are actually built only about 15 miles from where I live. Middleville Mich. Very few problems.