So our 40 gal. gas H2O heating thing is beginning to give us mixed signals that we should be replacing it soon.
One thing we found out is that the quality is sometimes exactly the same -- it is the length of warranty that determines a good deal of the retail price.
Where is the best place to buy a replacement?
Any features that are a must have?
Recommended plummer(s) for installation at a fair deal price?
Can't answer about the bells and whistles, but when we had a need for an emergency replacement we called around. The best price and quickest installation was none other than Soukups! Suprised us as our search was not only local. Ryan's brother is the installer.
I think Rheem makes the best water heaters. We have an on-demand water heater for an extra shower and it works great. I don't know if it would work well for a full family as the quantity and speed at which it can heat water is limited.
"The most valuable things in life are not measured in monetary terms. The really important things are not houses and lands, stocks and bonds, automobiles and real state, but friendships, trust, confidence, empathy, mercy, love and faith. " -Bertrand Russell V. Delong
Posts: 3216 | Location: Glen Ellyn, IL | Registered: April 04, 2003
Thanks, all. We're still looking. Seems as if the on-demand in-line heaters are not very efficient, so we will be getting a 40 gallon tank type.
And if the car repair place hadn't told me it was going to be about $2,000 for regular service and repairs on my 11 year old van today, then we'd be all over a new heater by now. As it is, we are loking for a good sale on one.
The link in the gutter guard thread to askthebuilder dot com was quite valuable to us in the water heater department.
We settled with a heater from Soukups. They (Jed) installed it as well. The price was a little more than from the "M" place or the "HD" place, but at least we know what we were buying. His installation also runs a tad less than a commercial plumber, which evened out their retail price on the unit.
I still don't trust the big box stores for appliances. Seems their selection, while vast, always includes two-year-old items. One salesperson was just making up her own answers to our questions without willing to look up the real answers. If she was my employee, I would have fired her on the spot for that B.S.
There's not too much consumer information about these out there. They are unemotional purchases, so reviews, if any, are sparse.
The two newest additions to hot water heaters are the self cleaning function (requiring no draining) and the flame arrestor baffles, which prevent sparks and flames of a gas water heater from igniting surrounding flammable vapors.
The link to the askthebuilder dot com site had good info, as did howstuffworks dot com. The manufactures (really the sellers - mfgr's are not the name brands used at all) of water heaters have terrible websites.
