Hot water heater replacement

[CEPenworks]

So it is time to replace the hot water heater. I was looking at Lowes and they carry the A.O. Smith Signature series heaters. Then I looked at Supplyhouse.com and they have A.O. Smith ProLine series. Does anyone know if there is a difference between these or are they just different names for the same models? The prices seem to be close in price so quality is going to decide if one is a  better deal over the other.

[Bob10]

I would call Supply house and ask. Lowes sells to the masses SH more to pros who lose money on call backs

[KLaz]

Just replaced ours two weeks ago.

We are 100% electric so we went with a heat pump water heater.  Richmond is the brand name, but made by Rheem.

Supposed to be much more efficient than standard water heater.  So far we've been happy with it and you can download an app on your phone to check and monitor power usage.  So far so good.

We got ours at Menards during 11% off week.  So we got that 11% back, our local electrical co-op gave us a $500 rebate for changing out the water heater and I had almost $400 in previous Menards 11% rebates so at the end of the day, we almost got this water heater for nothing 

[Admiral]

Buying water heaters is sort of like buying a new pickup, there are Ford guys, Chevy guys and Ram guys; I've always been more than satisfied with Bradford White; a tad more expensive, but this is my fourth one (in different houses) and they all performed flawlessly; current one is 18 years in service and still going strong. Have one in my parent's old house that my bro and I rent out, and its got 20 years without missing a beat. But they all fail eventually.....

[daddo]

I just get the less costly GE or whatever the place has on sale and get a new one every 12-15 years whether it goes out or not. We have a lot of lime/calcium and after 10 years the efficiency is gone anyway.

Bradford W is by far a better brand though.

[CEPenworks]

Do the say 12yr warranty models last twice as long as the 6yr warranty models? Are they just using better anodes in the 12yr ones and there really isn't anything different in the tanks? I got 15yrs out of this tank and we got what ever the builder put in so it probably wasn't a 12yr warranty model. The only maintenance I did to this one was replace a solid surface igniter and twice had to pull the burner out to clean off the pile of rust that dropped off the bottom of the tank.

[rudedan60]

My vote is for the AO Smith vertex https://www.hotwater.com/Water-Heaters/R...er-Heater/ I have had one for almost 8 years now.  Think of it as a instant gas water heater with a tank.  Family of 5, we never run out of Hot water.  Very efficient, summer gas bills using hot water & gas stove are around $18 a month and half of that is the customer charge. Dan

[JosephP]

My vote is for the AO Smith vertex https://www.hotwater.com/Water-Heaters/R...er-Heater/ I have had one for almost 8 years now.  Think of it as a instant gas water heater with a tank.  Family of 5, we never run out of Hot water.  Very efficient, summer gas bills using hot water & gas stove are around $18 a month and half of that is the customer charge. Dan

$2500....ouch!

[rudedan60]

$2500....ouch!

Here was my cost installed 10 years ago now. It was AO Smith Vertex 50 Gallon $2450 – $960 Focus On Energy =$1490 installed.
AO Smith 50 Gallon Gas was $1450 -$125 Focus On Energy =$1325 installed.  The difference was $165, at the time it dropped my summer gas bill about $7 a month.  Payback was then about 2 years, It was actual faster due to NG going up at the time. I would have to pull out my bills to be sure. I made some more back when I did an energy audit too. I do not know if they are still offering this incentives, but I still think the payback would occur even at $5 per month over 10 years would still be close over time. Dan

[CEPenworks]

I have not found any rebates that high now. The best I can get for a energy start tank heater is $100 form my gas company. If I go energy star tankless I can get $500 between feds and gas company. Better news is that last night while turning on the hot water for my son to take a shower I took another look at the shutoff valve. Sure enough it is leaking out the stem. I am going to pack it tonight and see if that fixes the problem.