oneskinnydave
New Member
Hey All,
Been perusing this awesome forum for a few days - super helpful info already gathered but wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions. We moved into a house about 4 years ago that had 2 aging WH (electric) - shocker both of them died within a month of us moving in! We were pretty broke and just put in a decent AO Smith 50 Gal unit....I was tempted with heat pump heaters then but my plumber highly recommended not getting one - parts weren't readily available and the ones for sale weren't very reliable (then).
Last week or so my new heater failed - had a bit of condensation build-up that led to a thermostat going up in smoke and notice the tank starting to fail - AO smith luckily is giving me credit to replace the unit which is awesome. Problem is we have had 2 more kids since then, and we're finding out 50gal electric WH is not great with a 6 person household
We do stagger showers, etc - and we can manage OK with lukewarm showers every now and then, but I have a feeling the tank failed because of constant drawing from our well water which is ~60 degrees.
Now I'm looking into the upgrade part - and literally within the last week prices have shot up on ALL heat pump models (80 gal Rheem was ~$1500 around us, now $2000) - AND we lost the $500 utility rebate....as I've been looking for a new unit of course. I was leaning towards Rheem only because it was cheaper, but now the AO Smith and Rheem are the same prices, I think I'd go with AO just for warranty/parts, I can work with a local supply company for repair/parts easily.
I was always thinking of getting 80 gal because of our household size...but I was wondering though if people had thoughts on another 50 gal tank + mixing valve (run it high, then mix down to 120) - or a 50gal + booster electric tankless heaters? Are both of those solutions gimmicky? I think we could do a 66-gallon hybrid but the pricing is so close to the 80 I'd just get an 80, but the 66 gal AO Smith info seems to put out about what we'd need for back to back showers/tub sizes and recovery times.
My plumber is pretty old school, recommends the cheapest tanks and let it run till it dies (hopefully under warranty) and get a new one. He did also recommend an 80 gal light commercial which is also on the table, but I do love the idea of saving electrical costs with a hybrid (we're all electric, no option for gas/propane here) so every little bit helps.
Been perusing this awesome forum for a few days - super helpful info already gathered but wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions. We moved into a house about 4 years ago that had 2 aging WH (electric) - shocker both of them died within a month of us moving in! We were pretty broke and just put in a decent AO Smith 50 Gal unit....I was tempted with heat pump heaters then but my plumber highly recommended not getting one - parts weren't readily available and the ones for sale weren't very reliable (then).
Last week or so my new heater failed - had a bit of condensation build-up that led to a thermostat going up in smoke and notice the tank starting to fail - AO smith luckily is giving me credit to replace the unit which is awesome. Problem is we have had 2 more kids since then, and we're finding out 50gal electric WH is not great with a 6 person household
We do stagger showers, etc - and we can manage OK with lukewarm showers every now and then, but I have a feeling the tank failed because of constant drawing from our well water which is ~60 degrees.
Now I'm looking into the upgrade part - and literally within the last week prices have shot up on ALL heat pump models (80 gal Rheem was ~$1500 around us, now $2000) - AND we lost the $500 utility rebate....as I've been looking for a new unit of course. I was leaning towards Rheem only because it was cheaper, but now the AO Smith and Rheem are the same prices, I think I'd go with AO just for warranty/parts, I can work with a local supply company for repair/parts easily.
I was always thinking of getting 80 gal because of our household size...but I was wondering though if people had thoughts on another 50 gal tank + mixing valve (run it high, then mix down to 120) - or a 50gal + booster electric tankless heaters? Are both of those solutions gimmicky? I think we could do a 66-gallon hybrid but the pricing is so close to the 80 I'd just get an 80, but the 66 gal AO Smith info seems to put out about what we'd need for back to back showers/tub sizes and recovery times.
My plumber is pretty old school, recommends the cheapest tanks and let it run till it dies (hopefully under warranty) and get a new one. He did also recommend an 80 gal light commercial which is also on the table, but I do love the idea of saving electrical costs with a hybrid (we're all electric, no option for gas/propane here) so every little bit helps.