Today I went out to take a engine pic of the Olds so I could participate in the Heart Of The Beast thread and when I stepped into the garage I was standing in water, my water heater took a crap !! upon investigating it appears to be leaking from both elements the lower one being the biggest leak I could probably just replace the elements but its 13 years old and probably on borrowed time any way !!
so off to Home Cheapo I went laid out some dead presidents and the new one is in the back of the Grand Cherokee waiting for a early morning appointment with Solly the plumber guy , Yippee !!
just a side note I did some reading and the for those who like to be thrifty don't set the thermostat below 120 or the bacteria that causes Legionaries can grow in the tank !! (so they say) I think the default setting is 140 but its one of those new fangled ones with a digital thermostat and a
digital display just like the house thermostat you can even set or change it from app on the phone !!
its a Rheem went with a company that's been around forever.
I thought about tankless but went old school because this one will require no mods and I know my current breaker set up will handle this.
just add this to the list of 5 other things I had to replace this year !!
I am thankful it didn't happen when I was in Alaska ! it would have been quite the mess !!!! I don't think the Olds can swim.

 

Mine went last week as well.
I'm waiting on a few parts to do my install, I also went with Rheem as well, but did not spring for the smart one.
Luckily I have a tankless system in the apartment above my garage so we can shower till I get this one installed.

 

Mine went last month, fifteen year warranty and guess what, sixteen years almost to the day. I also went to Home Cheapo and bought a new one, called a local plumber to install it. He doesn't use solder, has a neato hand crimper that does the job without heat, no chance of fire. I was impressed.

 

I wasn't going to go the smart heater but the price difference wasn't that much and the auto shut off if it detects a leak could avoid a disaster
also it was one of the only ones in stock with the dimensions I needed, I dont know if its supply train issues or a run on hot water heaters
but the stores were out of many of the models and they had to be ordered 3-4 days min. unless I wanted to dop back down to 40 gal.

 

I have a new house, less than 3 years old. It came with the on demand water, works better than I thought it would. The other thing I like about the house, is they plumbed the outside of the house where the water comes in, it is set up, so I can turn the water of at the house, but still have outside water, so sprinklers work. So if I go away for some time, I turn the house water off. Years ago my brother was on vacation, I went over to get some tables, and the master bath sink fitting broke, and flooded the bath , and went down stairs, which is garage and down stairs room. He would of been gone two more weeks, before seeing it.His 56 98 was setting in water.So now I turn of the house water.

 

We installed the Rhanni Tankless Water Heater when the old style water heater died about 17 years ago. No service calls with the Rhanni since the installation; it did blow a Bussman AGC glass fuse in the igniter area about 10 years ago. I did the troubleshooting and replaced the fuse myself.

Like you, I am amazed at the reliablity of the unit. We are just now entering the "pay-back" phase of the purchase, and I hope we receive many more years of dependable service from this appliance.

 

Water Heater install,
Of course the install didn't go with out complications, the water heater was of different dimensions, I couldn't find a in stock 50 gal to suit me.
I had to replace the cold water service valve (gate valve style ) because it wouldn't shut off, so I replaced it with a lever style ball valve and I replaced both service lines and re plumbed the pop off valve line.
Now I have done my share of minor plumbing over the years and have gotten pretty good at sweating pipes but these aging bones and expanding waist line don't get into the spaces they used to so I cheated !! dazzzzzz right I cheated !!!! I paid a little extra for parts but I used Shark Bite fittings , sure made things easier and quicker, hot water again !!!! ( I think I will use them on future projects)
I drained the tank prior to removal but that damn old tank must have weighed 900 lbs !! must have had a lot of sediment !!

 

I replaced the 50 gallon water heater late last year. Fortunately it was still under the 9 year warranty and I got enough money back from Lowe’s to buy a new one. I searched around and found a 9 year warranty heater that was discontinued and got it on clearance (discontinued for replacements with a shorter warranty period - bastids), with enough money left over to buy the parts to replace the cheesy plastic drain valve with a pipe nipple, a 3/4” quarter turn ball valve, and a garden hose adapter. This modification makes draining for annual flushes and periodic anode rod replacements sooo much easier.

 

I just replaced my Dad's water heater last Friday. So so so simple. They wanted 1500+ installed. We spent 600 for the water heater. First one delivered was crushed. Had to return it. After that smooth as silk. Water in. Water out. Hook up the vent. Attach the gas. Done.
So simple.

 

Agree it’s easy. The hardest part for me was draining the old one as the plastic drain valve immediately clogged when I opened it and no water would come out. I had to remove the anode rod fitting and use a garden hose to siphon the water out of the tank. That’s one reason I installed a better drain valve on the new one.

 

That sucks. Mine drained with no issues. I also had plenty of working space. That helps. Pops' old one was 16 years old. I kind of expected more but ...

 

I just updated my system. Our hot water heater was running off of oil fired boiler. It didn't seem to make sense that to run the boiler in the summer to keep two separate tanks of water warm. I plumbed a heat pump heater in line with the boiler system. In the winter months I can throw a couple valves and use the boiler system again. The water does pass through the dormant boiler system and acts as a preheater. We have a spring and the water comes out at 40°. The dormant tank probably brings the water up to room temp before it enters the water heater.

The heat pump water heater has only raised mu electric bill about 10 bucks a month. I also got a rebate that payed for almost half of it. Pretty good deal.

 

Those drain valves hardly ever work after years of sediment pilling up in the bottom of these tanks .They tell you to periodically open and flush them out ,but who does that? Most plumbers are going to the pro-press fittings now its much safer in a lot of situations as opposed to soldering.The ball valves are a way better shut off than the the hose **** style (im sure that name will change at some point).My gas hot water tank lasted a full 20 years until it started leaking and i had to replace it .I hope the new one does that well. There are moisture sensors available you can mount on the floor next to your tank that will warn you of leaks and maybe save a huge headache i promised myself i would install one but haven't yet.My conspiracy theory is engineers are hired to change the sizes of these tanks to create the most amount of work to plumb in a new one

 

Nothing I hate more than connectors and sizes that ought to be standard, but are not! Most frustrating when you replace a product made by the same company, but they have made a change and you have to re-do the connections. Most irritating example that comes to mind was when my smoke detectors had reached their replacement date. Kidde decided that the plugs from the wired versions needed to be changed in the past 10 years, so I had to pull the wiring down and replace.

 

 

I will tell you guys my water heater story that will probably unfortunately top most of yours. I will start off that we bought our house in 1998. It had two 50 gallon gas water heaters in the attic. Yep, in the attic. About 8 years ago I am sitting in my recliner watching TV after getting back from a car show with my daughter and two grandsons. My wife was out of town which was probably a good thing. Water started dripping on my head and I know immediately what had happened. We have a two story house so teh water heaters are above teh second floor. Of course the stupid shutoff valve was the twist type and would not shut the water off so I had to go the the meter. By this time water is pouring in. Both water heaters had catch pans but they have some king of brass check valve in the line. The check valve stuck and the pan ran over. The only use I could imagine for the check valve is to keep snake and other insects from crawling up the drain line. That water did about $6,000 damage to the house most of which was covered by insurance. So I go to the orange store and discover the Shark Bite plumbing products. So, I bypass the leaking water heater and solve the immediate problem. Then the restoration specialist come in and rip up the carpet, cut holes in the downstairs ceiling and put fans in. We were out of the house for three days. Being a pretty dedicated do it your selfer, I decided I wasn't going to pay a plumber. So I go and buy and small block and tackle. The water heaters are right by the pull down staircase. I attached a 2x6 to the rafters right above the staircase and attached the block and tackle to it. Then I got my son over and with me manning the block and tackle and him below, we were able to get the old water heater out of the attic. Then I decided that one 50 gallon heater was enough. So a couple months later we removed the second one which was still working and replaced it with a new Rheem from the orange store. It was definitely a job for two people. It would be easy to add the second one back at any time. I took a sharpie and wrote the date on the new water heater so I can keep track of the age. I did take a punch and hammer and break the flapper in the stupid check valve so this cannot happen again. I think I have just concluded the longest post I have ever made on the site since I joined in 2006.

 

You Know technology is great but !!!!!
Update, This Rheem Gladiator smart hot water heater is not actually what I wanted, I just wanted a standard water heater with the same dimensions as my old old one for easy install I wound up with this smart unit because it was about the only one available in stock, the dimensions were close enough
and because this 50 gal was on sale and the price was lower than most 40 gal
After some previous discussed mods it was in and heating water, BUT the red service light was on steady not blinking per the manual if it is steady and not blinking this is a alert not a alarm and unit will continue to operate if it blinks with alarm tone you have a problem (leak detection) and the auto shut off valve engages, so I tried reset to no avail, and put it into 24 hour override mode, after 24 hours still had a red light so I called Rheem
(miracle of miracles got a tech here in USA with a southern drawl !!) anyway he told me there are two moisture sensors one senses the insulation for moisture (internal leaks) and one senses the ground, he told me that the ground sensor is so sensitive that in FLA. they have problems when the humidity gets high and some people have had to add de-humidifiers !! he asked me if the concrete was dry I said its damp
but no standing water, he said that's enough to set it off !! he suggested putting a fan at the base and it should be ok in a day,
he was correct 1 day with a fan and the garage door open problem solved.
so bottom line technology can be great but it can also be a pain in the *** !!
somebody is always trying to build a better mouse trap !! but I guess if all the fancy schmansy tech is working it could avoid a catastrophe like redoldsman had.