Replacement gas WH

vaporvac · February 2015

Hey folks! So it looks like I need a new gas water heater. This one started leaking today enough to extinguish the pilot. I relit it and there's quite a bit of rust in there...I have never done any maintenance on it. Anyway, what should I be looking for in a new one? I'm not sure they've changed much, but this one has a standing pilot and is vented through a dedicated chimney. I'd like to keep the latter se-up. Any and all help would be most appreciated.
P.S. I'm assuming there's nothing to be done once they start leaking. Correct? Colleen

Steamhead · February 2015

We've installed quite a few of these, and they've done well:

http://www.bradfordwhite.com/defender-safety-system-high-ef-atmospheric-vent-models

Robert O'Connor_12 · February 2015

I did like the Bradford White's until just the other day when I got a bad one. Leaked as soon as I filled it. Of course this was a job for a friend and who's sewer was 4 feet above floor and a very inaccessible basement where I had to remove 2 doors and the railing.....
I still like that they're made in the US and are about the same price as the AO. In 35 years, this was only the 3 leaker I've had right out of the box.
Whatever you choose, do it fast. After April everything is going to change if your over 55 gallons.

Snowmelt · February 2015

My 2 supply houses carry a.o. Smith and Rheem.

WillieJ · February 2015

Robert O'Connor said:

Whatever you choose, do it fast. After April everything is going to change if your over 55 gallons.

Does this mean we will see mfrs. offering a line of 54.5 gallon water heaters starting in April?

icesailor · February 2015

@WillieJ:

"" Does this mean we will see mfrs. offering a line of 54.5 gallon water heaters starting in April? ""

It means that people that always installed 50's and below won't be affected.

WillieJ · February 2015

icesailor said:
@WillieJ:

"" Does this mean we will see mfrs. offering a line of 54.5 gallon water heaters starting in April? ""

It means that people that always installed 50's and below won't be affected.

Got by with no problems in a 4 br, 4 bath 3400 sq ft house with three kids on a nat gas 50 gal. I've got to think this isn't going to affect most people in the average 1600 sq foot 3br, two bath house.

kevin_58 · February 2015

I here 40s and 50s will be 3 inches taller and 3 inches wider so some installs will be more complicated

ChrisJ · February 2015

kevin said:
I here 40s and 50s will be 3 inches taller and 3 inches wider so some installs will be more complicated

Is that due to insulation?

I installed a Bradford White 50 gal power vent in late 2011 and so far am happy with it. My dad had an older version fail after only 6 years but he never checked the anode rod and his well water is apparently slightly acidic. He replaced it with the newer version and has 4 or 5 anode rods on hand this time.

I've heard many pros say they feel Bradford White is the best out there. Of course, I've heard many arguments on tankless vs tanked vs indirect. Personally, for now, I like keeping the water heater separate from the boiler.

This way I can mess around with the boiler without effecting showers and the kitchen.

Colleen, are you sure it's leaking? If you ran it very low and have ice cold water coming in it could've been condensation dripping on the pilot.

Amir · February 2015

Hi all,
My current gas-fired water heater is leaking. I would like to have recommendations re replacement heater ( natural gas, Energy-star, 50 gal. min. ,looking for good quality and efficient product
Thanks for your advice
Amir

vaporvac · February 2015

So the Smiths are all too large. I only need 40 gal. The Rheem at HDepot seemed super cheap (and not price). Lowe's carries Whirlpool and Sears does Kenmore. The latter seemed pretty nice online. Thank you @Steamhead it's way more confusing than I would have thought. It's hard to determine what's really important. Some have the millivolt which would be acceptable...just don't want to be wi/out HW AND electricity at the same time. Those BWs do seem about the nicest, but I'll have to see if I can get one locally without bother. If not, it's probably Sears. Oh well, Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

vaporvac · February 2015

Ok , so after much confusing research and looking I finally got one...not what I REALLY wanted, but pretty nice. We got dumped with snow and everything closed yesterday, there was wait for what Iwanted and this current one is leaking continually from the bottom and putting out the pilot. No happy campers. Anyway, we'll install tomorrow.

So, the instructions call for a heat trap on the hot water outlet line. My old heater doesn't have this. I assume this is necessary, but what exactly does it do? The HW heater is "high efficiency" and already has valves integral to the hot and cold sides; do I still need the loop in the pipe? It complicates my install, but I won't shortcut if it's needed. the instructions aren't clear.

vaporvac · February 2015

Hi all. Just wanted to give a big thank you to everyone that helped. Unfortunately, I couldn't wait until Monday to get the BW; the old one was leaking out the bottom. I ended up with a Rheem 50gal. HE push-button pilot. After some "live chat" with Amber at Rheem (that sounds really bad), I fully understood the heat trap issue and piping. It ends up that with the HE the heat trap is integral to the nipple and the piping loop isn't necessary. Fast forward through two snow storms and it's in and working well.

This was a crash course in HW heaters. The amazing thing for homeowners to be aware of is that a less expensive model can have the same features as a more expensive one...it fact they may be the same boiler, but one is special order or online only. That was frustrating with Lowe's so didn't get it there. Make a careful reading of specs. It seems one has to become the expert, as is the case with most things these days.

ChrisJ · February 2015

vaporvac said:
Hi all. Just wanted to give a big thank you to everyone that helped. Unfortunately, I couldn't wait until Monday to get the BW; the old one was leaking out the bottom. I ended up with a Rheem 50gal. HE push-button pilot. After some "live chat" with Amber at Rheem (that sounds really bad), I fully understood the heat trap issue and piping. It ends up that with the HE the heat trap is integral to the nipple and the piping loop isn't necessary. Fast forward through two snow storms and it's in and working well.

This was a crash course in HW heaters. The amazing thing for homeowners to be aware of is that a less expensive model can have the same features as a more expensive one...it fact they may be the same boiler, but one is special order or online only. That was frustrating with Lowe's so didn't get it there. Make a careful reading of specs. It seems one has to become the expert, as is the case with most things these days.

Do you have Amber's number?

vaporvac · February 2015

Replacement gas WH

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