Gas Water Heater Assistance

Getting ready to replace my electric water heater and with a gas water heater as it will save money in the long run (local utility company will put the tap and meter in for free and give me a $675 rebate for the water heater).

I am looking for recommendations on a make and/or model I should be looking to have installed. Currently have a 50 gallon electric. Just, my wife, 2 youngs boys (2 years & 6 months, so they have little impact) and I. I guess I should be more concerned with the FHR rather than the size...

Always find the best info and help here so thanks in advance.

I would go with a bradford white 50 gallon.

That is a really sweet deal! Compared to electric you should save a bundle.

50 gallons for sure. You will have a better FHR than an electric. Typical burner rate is about 40,000 Btu/hr. Make sure the room it is in has proper ventilation (for combustion air feed.)

Avoid Whirlpool, A.O. Smith, State, U.S. Craftmaster, American Waterheater (or whatever their name is.) They all have a bottom filter FVIR screen with undersized open area that makes them prone to draft problems.

Bradford White, Rheem and GE all share a better draft design from the side with what appears to be substantial open area. There is likely some difference in components in the three, with BW being tops and GE being the least, but I don't know what those actual component differences are.

The one negative on many of both major types has been the Robert Shaw valves have had trouble in recent years. Hopefully that has been resolved (since I replaced my Robert Shaw valve this summer as the result of a now known problem with the series--see the Whirlpool Flamelock thread.)

Thanks Jim and Bison. It seems like Bradford White is the way to go, all of my other research has, for the most part, indicated they made the best product.

How old is your elec. heater?

My best guess is that it is at least 7 years old. My wife and I purchased the home 2 years ago, the previous owner purchased the home 5 years before us. From speaking to some neighbors I was able to determine that the original water heater burst and was replaced by the original owner (2 owners before us). For the past couple days it has started to trip the breaker every now and then. It has also started to leak slowly from the bottom of the tank.

Southpaw134 said:

My best guess is that it is at least 7 years old. My wife and I purchased the home 2 years ago, the previous owner purchased the home 5 years before us. From speaking to some neighbors I was able to determine that the original water heater burst and was replaced by the original owner (2 owners before us). For the past couple days it has started to trip the breaker every now and then. It has also started to leak slowly from the bottom of the tank.

Click to expand...

Look at the serial #. Often it will contain the date of mfg... post the serial # here.

Doherty Plumbing said:

Look at the serial #. Often it will contain the date of mfg... post the serial # here.

Click to expand...

Make: Rheem
Serial #: 0492C10187
Model #: 81MV52D