Are gas water heaters less reliable these days?

I had a 22 year old Rheem 40 gal fail today at my rental property. Water was coming out at the top near the vent ring. American Home Shield insurance paid for it back then, and knowing how stingy AHS is, it was probably the cheapest model.

Called a bunch of plumbers and they all install Bradfords only. They shit on rheem as 'home depot junk'.

So I got a 40gal eco defender installed. Spent $1200 total.

Until today, never heard of bradford, so I go online and read a little, and I see a bunch of problems.
I hate money pits, and this stuff sounds like one.
Is there any truth to this?

My old cheapo rheem was never maintained, but never had anything break. Pilot always lit. Final failure was with the tank itself after 2 decades.

Can I expect the same lifespan with today's heaters if I at least drain it yearly?

 

ok cool, so they're pretty much all the same.

It's just that some plumbers happen to see more failures with one particular brand, and that's due to chance, rather than a trend.


It seems the Honeywell thermostat valves cause more problems than the old fashioned ones. Have you guys seen more failures with the Honeywells?

 

You may get the same years from the tank. The controls? No way! Right about the time a certain company figured out a 2x16 lint screen with 1/8" holes was not cutting it in utility rooms they also started to go with that thermopile valve with the pretty blinking light. Had many fail already within usually a year after warranty.

 

Draining you WH yearly will probably help, but will not change your water quality running in your pipes, or the quality of your pipes themselves.
You have to start draining it after the first year. You can also add a whole house water filter, then replace the filter as needed.

That being said, these water heaters are going to fail at some point. For the mfgs, the sooner the better. After all, they don't make their billions from selling products which last 22 years anymore.

AO Smith bought American WH recently, and since then price of any basic WH shot up 20% or more across the board. New CA state regulations added to the cost as well.

However, I don't think that the price of a new WH is outpacing inflation. In the 70s, a basic WH was less than $100 (before labor), but a dollar then was like 10 dollars today. My numbers may be off a bit, but you get the idea.