Water Heater - Looking for advice

[brahambaseball]

I am in the market for a new Gas Water Heater. Mine has been slowly leaking out the bottom for about 3 or 4 months now, and I want to replace it before she blows.

Is there any brands that are better than others? are there any styles that are better than others? There are 3 of us in the house if that makes a difference on size.

What about tank-less heaters?

If I'm missing anything important, let me know.

-Jesse

[acman2u]

I dont know alot on the durability of tankless. but I love my powervent Rheem (higher efficiency and vents with 2" pvc).

Tankless... power outage= no hot water

powervent... " " = one tank hot water

old style... " " = unlimited hot water

Call waterheaters only, they are great!

[Redlantern]

I like the Bradford White water heaters. You don't mention if you currently have a high efficiency water heater. The reason I bring this up is that if it's a standard water heater and you want to upgrade to a high efficiency, there's going to be some added cost involved with venting it and providing a source of electricity for it.

I've installed some tankless heaters and really don't see the value of it. They are expensive to buy and install. Not sure what the customers gas bill was after the install so maybe they do pay for themselves. If you have a recirculating line for your hot water, the tankless is not an option.

[brahambaseball]

Redlantern,

I was reading a few online reviews after I posted this, and it says the tankless take on average 13 years to pay for themselves. I don't plan on staying in the home for more than 3 or 4 more years at best. I am not sure if my current heater is high efficiency or not. How can you tell? It does have a vent that connects to the furnace chimney.

I may just have to bite the bullet and have someone come out and take a look at it.

-bb

[Pooh]

how old is the old one? i just replaced my gas with an electric cause i added a wood stove. i didnt even look at gas heater prices, what do they run with a power vent included?

i looked at tankless and talked to people that have them and tankless owners like them. the one guy told me in the summer his gas bill for his water heater and surcharge is 8-10$ but the tankless with powervent ive seen run 1000-1200$.

my town has a program for electric if yoiu put in their off peak meter. i paid under 100$ for a 52 gallon high efficency reliance with a 12 year warrenty on the tank

this is just my 2 cents

[Farmboy1]

I don't really think brand is a deciding factor. The powervents are nice, have a quicker reheat if you drain it, and are energy efficient.

One thing to keep in mind when changing out something like this is to get a hold of you electrical and gas suppliers (excel or whoever). They have great incentives for replacement of a energy hog water heater. An example is MN Energy will give you $45 for a new gas heater or $250 for a Tankless. It is better then a poke in the eye.

[fishinchicks]

We love our tankless - but there are five of us (four females). We can all shower in the morning and still have hot water, where before the last two would be chilly. It is definately more efficiant than our old one.

For a family of three, I think it would be a toss up on which style to go.

[acman2u]

You have a standard efficency water heater it it vents out with your furnace. So to change to powervent or tankless you would have to run new venting.

Hope this helped.

[brahambaseball]

Thanks guys. I will contact center point and dakota electric and see what they have to offer.

Its just something I want to take care of before it gets worse.

Last summer my wash machine flooded my basement. The hose on the back of the washer came loose during a cycle, and I was up stairs having a few beers with my buddies, went down stairs to take a leak and stepping in about 3 inches of water... I don't need something like this happening again!

[GotOne]

If you don't mind sharing the info you get from D/E AND C/P Energy that would be great. I'm almost ready to purchase one and always thought it would be cheaper to purchase from a big box store.

[acman2u]

I bought my unit from waterheaters only and they were the cheapest, but I used my shops wholesale discount. But give them a try and get a quote, they will be cheaper than most.

doubleyou doubleyou doubleyou dot whoquick dot com.