Water heater is dying a slow death, looking for suggestions

[oly884]

So, today I wander into the room to my crawlspace that holds my water heater and notice a nice red-brown color coating the floor. Come to find out the upper element on my water heater started to leak a bit. I thought that just replacing the element was the way to go, but after more thought (and after I saw what the water in the bottom of the tank looked like) I decided I'm far better off just replacing the darn thing. It's probably 8+ years old, if not older, so it's definitely due.

It's a Rheem 80 gallon 4500 watt water heater. Ideally, I'm looking for something similar, but I may go with a smaller 50-60 gallon tank and bump up the water temp to 130+ if I find that I don't have the capacity anymore. I've checked out Home Depot, Lowes, and Sears. All seem to have roughly the same prices. So, who has had what, and how did you like it? Good, bad, any of it will help make the decision a bit easier. I'd rather not try to spend over 700 or so since I'm also painting the exterior of my house right now.

Thanks for the help!

[Crinale]

im not sure on the brand, but a friend of mine has one of those new tankless water heaters and it works great... i dont know how much they cost though either

[corax]

Go with a On Demand / Tankless & never worry about running out of hot water again + it only runs when you use hot water + you may be able to get some money back since this is a "green" improvement

They do cost a little bit more, but it's only a couple hundred - over the long term you should easily make it back in appliance efficiency

[oly884]

Thanks guys, but I'm going to pass on instantaneous water heaters for a few reasons:

1. I don't have access to gas or LP, only electricity. To provide my needs, I'd have to use more than 25,000 watts to power an instantaneous. I'd have to rewire and I'm not looking at doing that.

2. Instantaneous isn't always better. Yes, they can be as you are not heating the water constantly, but a properly insulated tank should not loose heat in a significant manner. Also, if someone uses a lot of hot water, an instantaneous can actually use more energy than a tank type. Right now, I have a 4500 watt water heater, if I had to go with a 25 kW or even a 30 kW water heater, it is possible that I would actually be using more energy over a month.

Instantaneous type water heaters have their applications, cabins, restrooms, or areas where hot water isn't constantly needed, but they can end up costing users more if they are not installed in appropriate situations. And to take it a step further, electric instantaneous water heaters have even a smaller application.

Don't mean to stomp on them, but to get the most use out of them, you have to have gas (LP or NG), and you need to make sure that you're not using too much hot water to take advantage of the savings.

[Seanz0rz]

yeah, for electricity, tankless is not really an option for you.

in the house i rented a room in last year, the 3 year old GE NG waterheater chucked its thermocouple. coustomer support was OK (not good or bad, overnighted parts when i think they should have had a service truck deliver them same day... its the one appliance in a house that MUST WORK) it had a 7 year warranty. not sure why it died after 3 years...

the one we have in my parents house has been there for 30 years, maybe more. flawless, except for a good buildup of the crusties, but that just needs to be flushed. not sure of the brand.

are you looking to install yourself or have a contractor do it for you? you likely need a permit, and they need to be properly braced. if you are having someone install it for you, they should take care of that, and see what other brands they carry. FWIW, total to install a water heater here starts at about 1200 with the water heater. not that hard to do it yourself.

[oly884]

Definitely do it myself. It'll be an easy replacement and don't foresee any issues.

[04 Rocko Taco]

braced? here in the southeast, every hot water heater I've ever seen is just sitting on the floor, or slightly elevated on 2x4's.

[Seanz0rz]

from what ive heard, they pretty much all suck these days. get the one with the best warranty, its worth the money.

as for bracing, in seismic zone 4 and i believe 3 (not sure which you are in up in washington) they are required to be strapped to the wall. and i think braced between the wall and the tank from falling against the wall. just part of living in earthquake country

[CJM]

Yea, mine sits on the floor too.

[Crinale]

braced? here in the southeast, every hot water heater I've ever seen is just sitting on the floor, or slightly elevated on 2x4's.


Yea, mine sits on the floor too.

ya you guys dont have earthquakes to worry about :-P theres been about 3-4 in the last 5 years that would have definitely knocked our water heater over if it wasnt strapped to the wall, and that would have made a big mess

[Erich_870]

Don't forget to check your sacrifical anode. It's just like anodes on aluminum boats to redirect electrolysis to the sacrificial zink bars. My dad never replaces his and the water heater rusts out after 10-12 years.

Some come in solid rods like this:
http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/images/lranode1.jpg

While others are multiple little rods joined end to end with a chain (think metal sausage links). Those are for hard to reach water heaters where a single rod is too long to get in the tank.

Erich

[Crinale]

huh.. i was just watching a show on history where they were talking about the anodes on military vessels.. i didnt know they did that for water heaters..

[L33T35T Tacoma]

I have heard REALLY bad things about the Whirlpool water heaters sold from lowes. I've read that basically their thermostats go out ALL THE TIME. And it takes a week to get one of the warranty guys out, another 2 weeks to order the part, and another week after that to install the part.... or you can go buy it yourself online and install it yourself, on your own time. A month without a water heater? Unacceptable.

We found a local plumbing company (Coast Plumbing) that was having water heater specials... it was like 800 installed with permit and a great warranty. Plus they handle all their own warranty work. In fact, the high pressure/temp safety valve was defective and leaked out a couple months after we had it installed. They came out same day and fixed it. Obviously this work work for you up in Washington, since it's a local company, but maybe try and find a local place that sells/installs/warranties.

[L33T35T Tacoma]

Oh and for what it's worth, our water heater is Bradford White. It kicks serious ass.

[wifesaysimadumbass]

I have worked on just about every ng water heater. I know very little about electric. I wish you were talking lp or ng i'm an expert when it comes to that.