Any recommendations/advice on a new Gas hot water heater?

[tickbitty]

Our water heater seems to be biting it fast. It's leaking pretty badly from the side thingy and from everything I have found out, once they are leaking it's sunk. It looks newish but is apparently about 11 YO.
So, if we are looking at getting a new one, which we probably are, does anyone have any recommendations?
The dying one is a "Bradford White" 48 Gallon heater with "Hydrojet" whatever that is.

We are getting a plumber to come check it out tomorrow. He's a friend of a friend and would do this as a side job. He might be able to get us a good contractor's deal on a new one. Lowes and HD have options where you can get one of their cards and it's interest free for 6months, which sounds attractive.
But it's hard to tell which ones are "good" - none really seem to have more than a 6yr warranty, and the prices vary wildly. With the Gas ones, the options are more limited than the electric. And Home Depot has a lot of those "tankless" or by demand options.

Our house has two bathrooms, it's a 1953 very solid built house but the infrastructure, so to speak, can be a little weird/oudated. The water heater is in the partial basement. Do those new instant heat thingys get installed in one place, or do they have to be per-appliance or something? Does anyone recommend any brand of water heater above others, and is there anything particular to look out for? Thanks!

 

[jharkin]

NO specific knowledge on tank heaters... But for a new install definitely consider either a tankless, or if you also have a gas hot water boiler for your primary heating tie in an indirect tank like a SuperStor Ultra. Both the indirects and tankless units are far more efficient, and last a lot longer, than a tank heater.

 

[semipro]

If you want to go back with a "tank" type unit you should consider a "condensing" unit. They are much more efficient, don't require high temp venting and use an outside air source for combustion.

 

[tickbitty]

Huh, OK thanks for the advice from both of you!
I read an article on the tankless that said that they are definitely more efficient, but to make up the cost difference between the two types it would take over 20 yrs which is beyond the life of either type of unit... something like that?

We don't use a boiler for the primary heating - only have gas for the stove and the water heater. I would have preferred a gas furnace but the furnace is an old oil one. It actually needs to be replaced so we have gone to heat pump (which I detest) and wood.

I will take what you guys are saying into consideration and see what the plumber says this afternoon.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Cold water heaters are more efficient than hot water heaters.

 

[semipro]

Huh, OK thanks for the advice from both of you!
I read an article on the tankless that said that they are definitely more efficient, but to make up the cost difference between the two types it would take over 20 yrs which is beyond the life of either type of unit... something like that?

We don't use a boiler for the primary heating - only have gas for the stove and the water heater. I would have preferred a gas furnace but the furnace is an old oil one. It actually needs to be replaced so we have gone to heat pump (which I detest) and wood.

I will take what you guys are saying into consideration and see what the plumber says this afternoon.

I hope you understand that the condensing unit I'm referring to has nothing to do with a boiler right? I probably need to clarify. Here's a article at the Journal of Light Construction on condensing tank water heaters.

www.luntmarymor.com/condensing_heaters.pdf

 

[tickbitty]

Huh, OK thanks for the advice from both of you!
I read an article on the tankless that said that they are definitely more efficient, but to make up the cost difference between the two types it would take over 20 yrs which is beyond the life of either type of unit... something like that?

We don't use a boiler for the primary heating - only have gas for the stove and the water heater. I would have preferred a gas furnace but the furnace is an old oil one. It actually needs to be replaced so we have gone to heat pump (which I detest) and wood.

I will take what you guys are saying into consideration and see what the plumber says this afternoon.

I hope you understand that the condensing unit I'm referring to has nothing to do with a boiler right? I probably need to clarify. Here's a article at the Journal of Light Construction on condensing tank water heaters.

www.luntmarymor.com/condensing_heaters.pdf

Yes, I knew you meant that was a separate type, I was just answering the other poster who mentioned considerations if we heated with a boiler. Thanks so much for posting that article, I actually just came back to your post to figure out what you had called the condensing unit so I could google it, and now I see you have already linked to an article! Very helpful, thank you!!

(ETA, those look great, but steep enough that they may be out of our price range, unfortunately...)

 

[Retired Guy]

We are happy with Bradford White NG heater. I just switched out a propane water heater for electric in a second home because of the cost of propane - electric is half the cost.

 

[jeromehdmc]

Go to waterheaterrescue.com They have alot of good info on choosing a new water heater.
I just got one last week. One thing I got from the website is to look for one with a magnesium anode. Almost all water heaters are made the same it's the anode that makes one last longer. You don't need to spend extra money on a 12 year one, you can buy a 6 year and put another anode in it.

 

[semipro]

Huh, OK thanks for the advice from both of you!
I read an article on the tankless that said that they are definitely more efficient, but to make up the cost difference between the two types it would take over 20 yrs which is beyond the life of either type of unit... something like that?

We don't use a boiler for the primary heating - only have gas for the stove and the water heater. I would have preferred a gas furnace but the furnace is an old oil one. It actually needs to be replaced so we have gone to heat pump (which I detest) and wood.

I will take what you guys are saying into consideration and see what the plumber says this afternoon.

I hope you understand that the condensing unit I'm referring to has nothing to do with a boiler right? I probably need to clarify. Here's a article at the Journal of Light Construction on condensing tank water heaters.

www.luntmarymor.com/condensing_heaters.pdf

Yes, I knew you meant that was a separate type, I was just answering the other poster who mentioned considerations if we heated with a boiler. Thanks so much for posting that article, I actually just came back to your post to figure out what you had called the condensing unit so I could google it, and now I see you have already linked to an article! Very helpful, thank you!!

(ETA, those look great, but steep enough that they may be out of our price range, unfortunately...)

EDIT: Ignore below. I missed the "gas" in the post title so its mostly irrelevant. Sorry about the confusion. I wouldn't underestimate the cost savings of the condensing unit. Payback on your extra initial investment may happen quickly.


I should have started this whole string of replies with a few questions asking about what you have now (electric, gas, etc.) and what energy costs, whether electric or gas, are in your area. I'm not sure where you are in VA but in our neck of the woods heating with natural gas is usually the least expensive with electric and then propane following. This assumes you don't want to do solar or wood water heating. Natural gas might not be available either.

If you have electric now and budget is tight you'll probably want to go back with electric just because of the added expense of the gas and exhaust piping. If you want to go electric there are basically two types, resistance and heat pump. The latter costs quite a bit more so it sounds like that might not be an option. If you want to go electrical resistance there really aren't that many meaningful options. As a previous poster said, the waterheaterrescue site has some really good info on that topic.

If you're going electrical resistance I would recommend going with the proper sized unit wit the best insulation and plan to install a new anode every so often. Basically the insulation and the amount of corrosion protection are what differentiate heater grades. Its relatively easy to install a new anode or even an additional one on the inlet but adding "effective" insulation is harder though you can wrap a water heater in an insulation blanket. BTW, plan to put some hard foam insulation under the new one to insulate it from the floor.

If you have hard water and are not softening that's a whole different conversation, one I'm unfortunately well acquainted with.

BTW, electric water heaters are highly repairable unless the tank leaks. One of ours is still cruising after 23 years, even with hard water issues.

Let us know what the plumber says. Good luck.

 

[jharkin]

I believe in the thread title he mentioned gas...

 

[semipro]

I believe in the thread title he mentioned gas...

Thanks. I did miss that.