Let's talk water heaters

So my water heater recently took a dump, tank leak that's not repairable, and we are in the market for a new unit. Luckily the one that's broken was still under warranty and we get a $500 credit towards a new one. The broken one was made in 2003 FWIW.

I'm looking for something that's more efficient than what I had so what thoughts do you guys have? Any experience with tankless ones? Any downsides to those? How much on average do you feel you save by switching to a tankless?

Right now it's just my fiance and me (soon to be adding a puppy) in our house but for resale value, I'd rather not put a puny water heater in.

It's leaking out of the tank, not just the fill tube? If only fill tube...meaning it's not dripping out of tank, but it's running out of hot water soon, then you could take the money and just replace fill tube...and anode while you're at it.

Try waterheaterrescue.com Saved my tank years ago...need to redo this pretty soon I think.

I think the tankless are considerably more expensive...as in maybe something like $2000+ install...versus getting a tank from HD for maybe $300-500 and installing yourself with a friend.

Might consider a water sensor and automatic shutoff valve too depending on its location.

Can't speak to pay back time for tankless, but the tanks now are super insulated. Biggest virtue of tankless is never running out of hot water...although there too, depends on how much use its getting. With just two people and a puppy, shouldn't be an issue no matter what you get.

HTH...

It's for sure leaking out of the tank. The top fill tube is bone dry and I can feel a hot spot where the water is coming through the insulation about halfway up the side of the tank. The rest of the jacket is cool to the touch. Also, the hot spot is on the opposite side of the tank from the relief and drain valves.

The leak is really slow and hot water supply hasn't diminished at all but I'm getting this resolved before it gets worse.

If you are talking resale, then I am assuming you are not going to be there long.
Just get a 40 or 50 gallon water heater from Home Depot or Lowe's.
You can buy one and get it installed for 600 or 700 bucks.

And it will be more efficient than the one you have.

If you are going to install if with a friend, make sure you fill the water tank with water BEFORE you cut it on.
Otherwise , if you cut on the water heater before, or while it is filling with water; the heating element will pop when it contacts water and you will have to replace it. Ask me how I know.............

I'm a gas fitter and work for a heating company that installs 100s of on demand water heaters. They are "on demand" NOT "instant hot water"
I'd never put one in my house they are noisy, take way to long to get hot water to faucets, so many things to go wrong causing you to have no hot water
And very expensive

We install Nortiz navien Bosch and rinnai

tradition hot water heaters give you a ton of emergency water for survival.

...just sayin.

Originally Posted by Raymond42262

If you are talking resale, then I am assuming you are not going to be there long.
Just get a 40 or 50 gallon water heater from Home Depot or Lowe's.
You can buy one and get it installed for 600 or 700 bucks.

And it will be more efficient than the one you have.

If you are going to install if with a friend, make sure you fill the water tank with water BEFORE you cut it on.
Otherwise , if you cut on the water heater before, or while it is filling with water; the heating element will pop when it contacts water and you will have to replace it. Ask me how I know.............

We just moved in, just planning for the future though! We ended up getting a replacement 50gal 40k BTU 12 year tank as our exchange. It was the equivalent best unit so it didn't cost anything out of pocket.

Just spent the afternoon installing it and learned a lot about plumbing in the process. No water leaks and no gas leaks so we're good.

Thanks for the advice, I did fill the whole tank before igniting anything.

Originally Posted by Maniac

I'm a gas fitter and work for a heating company that installs 100s of on demand water heaters. They are "on demand" NOT "instant hot water"
I'd never put one in my house they are noisy, take way to long to get hot water to faucets, so many things to go wrong causing you to have no hot water
And very expensive

We install Nortiz navien Bosch and rinnai

Yeah, I haven't heard many good things about them...glad we didn't go with one.

Originally Posted by GlockMan

tradition hot water heaters give you a ton of emergency water for survival.

...just sayin.

should have went heat pump. minnesota prob has decent incentives to install them. oh well. after this one fails.

Originally Posted by 217Bimmer

should have went heat pump. minnesota prob has decent incentives to install them. oh well. after this one fails.

Not enough to justify the almost triple in cost.

meh. how much was your new water heater?

you can get hpwh for about $1200 now. 3 times more efficient and doesn't require a flue vent that sucks your conditioned house air and blows it outside. saves a few hundred per year. basically these things make hot water and money.

Mine was zero cost to me but the retail was $450.

What's the word on these "Hybrid" hot water heaters that combine a regular unit with a heart pump?

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Originally Posted by ryanwhite74115

What's the word on these "Hybrid" hot water heaters that combine a regular unit with a heart pump?

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Well, there is a national waiting list. It's hard to match donors with matching hot water heaters but God willing, recipients will find a successful match before their heater goes out.

Originally Posted by Raymond42262

Well, there is a national waiting list. It's hard to match donors with matching hot water heaters but God willing, recipients will find a successful match before their heater goes out.

HEAT pump people... HEAT PUMP! Funny post nonetheless.

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Originally Posted by ryanwhite74115

What's the word on these "Hybrid" hot water heaters that combine a regular unit with a heart pump?

Sent from my DROIDX using Bimmer App

Expensive to buy but saves a lot of money in the long run. If I was going to replace the tank at my cost, I would have gone with the heat pump one but mine was a warranty exchange.

Originally Posted by SamDoe1

Expensive to buy but saves a lot of money in the long run. If I was going to replace the tank at my cost, I would have gone with the heat pump one but mine was a warranty exchange.

I've heard very mixed reactions from these combo units. Some have had them for a few years and they've been awesome...no issues. Others have said nothing but trouble and there is a design flaw that GE acknowledges and fixes everytime...but there is no permanent solution.

Again, I'm an idiot with water heaters and until I bought my house had NO IDEA how much electricity they use!

Originally Posted by ryanwhite74115

I've heard very mixed reactions from these combo units. Some have had them for a few years and they've been awesome...no issues. Others have said nothing but trouble and there is a design flaw that GE acknowledges and fixes everytime...but there is no permanent solution.

Again, I'm an idiot with water heaters and until I bought my house had NO IDEA how much electricity they use!

Gas water heaters are generally cheaper to run than electric ones. The heat pump heaters use a combination to lower the overall energy consumption.

Every set of reviews I read online was a wash between positives and negatives for every water heater I could find so take reviews with a grain of salt.

Originally Posted by ryanwhite74115

I've heard very mixed reactions from these combo units. Some have had them for a few years and they've been awesome...no issues. Others have said nothing but trouble and there is a design flaw that GE acknowledges and fixes everytime...but there is no permanent solution.

Again, I'm an idiot with water heaters and until I bought my house had NO IDEA how much electricity they use!

water heating consumes the most energy in your house than any other appliance! next is your dryer!

just replaced water heater in my rental house, home warranty company replaced it with Rheem brand, $750 from warranty and $900 from my wallet installed ($1650).

dam son $900 to install, I can do that in an hour, and most of that time is to remove the old one.