Because of its age, I am going to replace my 31 year old State water heater in my home and I'm in a quandary as to which is the best brand to buy. I have read hundreds of reviews and I find that all of the brands have many negative remarks leaving me at a loss to which is best.
I think the fact that my State water heater is 31 years old is good testimony to the quality of State, however State only sells to dealerships who insist on installing these units themselves. I am more than qualified with mechanical and plumbing experience to do the install myself and I refuse to pay someone twice the cost of the unit to install it.
So I thought I would contact the guys that actually work on water heaters to get your opinions on what you see breaking down most frequently and prematurely.
I'm leaning toward Rheem Performance Platinum or their Performance Plus units.
I'm looking forward to your experience and wisdom considering this.
Thanks

Hi Harkplumb

Be careful if thinking of purchasing a water heater from Home Depot or Lowe's. If I am not mistaken, these big box stores only give a LIMITED warranty on their water heaters. This means, for example, that a Rheem water heater with a 6 year warranty only has a 6 year PRO-RATED warranty... in other words, if your water heater dies after say 4 years they only give you a refund of 2 YEARS balance on the warranty. That's right, they do not give you a water heater back, they only give you a gift card with a pro-rated value... not going to replace your water heater with that nonsense!

Look to your local plumbing supply store and purchase a RUUD, a State Industries, a Bradford-White, or an A.O.Smith water heater that give FULL replacement warranties, even if the water heater dies the last month of the warranty they give you a new water heater... PERIOD! Don't forget, today you can buy them online and get them shipped directly to your house...fully warrantied.

Basically, they are all decent quality... lifespan will really be determined by how the water heaters were handles from manufacturer, to trucks, to warehouse and into your home... another reason why a plumbing supply house is better. Be clear, you will, most likely, not get 31 years out of a water heater again... they just don't make them like that anymore.

Hope that helped...

Mark

I had a Reliance water heater that lasted over 25 years. I figured since it lasted so long, it must be well made, etc. and got another Reliance to replace it. It lasted only 12 years. So what was good 30 years ago is not necessarily good today. Things now are not made to last a long time, but be replaced every so often.

I agree totally with massplumber2008. Avoid the big box stores and go with a plumbing supply store. A Rheem at Home Depot has a plastic drain valve, where one at the plumbing supply has a brass drain valve. That may be the only difference, but I think it is a significant one. Those plastic ones have a tendency to leak. As far as brands go, I'll let the pros handle that. They deal with a lot more of them than I have.