Which water heater?

[thewishman]

After a few months of manually lighting my water heater, several times a day, I'm going to buy a new one. Looking for a 50ish gallon gas model and a budget of $600 or less. What would you recommend?

 

[Jack Parker]

I'd seriously look at one of the tankless solutions. I put one in the last house that we had and will put one in this house when the current tank goes.

 

[Ted iin Michigan]

Unlikely you can get an on demand heater installed for less than $1000. Prob quite a bit more for a decent brand. They can be wonderful and they save energy but the initial investment is high. Plus, your usage needs to meet the profile of the heater - many of them will not heat a "trickle".

And a 50 is going to be pricey, too.

 

[Jim Smith]

I actually won a 33K home makeover contest on a local radio station about 10 years ago. Included from one of the vendors was a tankless water heater and it is fantastic. If there is any way you can scrounge up the extra cash get a tankless. With natural gas heat like you have it will spay for itself over the next 10 years. Just a thought...

Jim Smith

 

[jleiwig]

I've had really good luck with Rheem water heaters. My previous home I installed one I purchased from Amazon. This home I purchased a Rheem directly from Home Depot and no problems so far. I haven't had one long enough to worry about the warranty, but they all seem to get decent reviews. Good luck with the $600 limit though. Consider one of the 0% interest promotions over $299 that most of the major home improvement centers have. Pay the $600 on the first payment and then you'll have only a couple hundred to pay off at no interest.

 

[thewishman]

Justin, thank you for the Rheem recommendation. I ended up with a 40 gallon for $418 and a friend installed it for me. We have 6 people in the house now and do not run out of hot water. When the population stabilizes at 2 next week (our empty nest will be empty again (Hallelujah!!!!!)) we will be set for years to come.

Went with the 6 year warranty model. Our last 6 year model lasted 13 years.

 

[tbroye]

It is time to replace our 50 gallon, will be looking into a tankless one before deciding which way to. We have number a renovations to do this year and that is one.

 

[leehljp]

When I lived in Japan, the last two places I lived, (Osaka and Toyota City - 21 years total) we had separate tankless at each bathroom and also the kitchen. NEVER had problems with them and by being at each location, hot was always within 3 to 4 seconds at the faucets/showers. Saved water and saved gas. Here in the USA, most people think of one central tankless,. It does cost more for individual locations in the house, but for the long run, the ROI savings is there, AND no 10 to 12 second waiting on the hot water or or wasting cold water.

 

[raar25]

Hank you crack me up . It takes 60 seconds before our hot water gets up to the second floor. The wife has been complaining and I am thinking of going for a small undercounter unit for each second floor bath so we are not wasting 2 gallons every time you wash your hands.

What brand tankless have folks used?