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[Lil'John]

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[MrMikeyG]

I'm not a plumber, so take this for what it is. A Rheem, GE or whatever the big box stores carry is going to be slightly "cheapened" versus what you could get from a plumbing wholesaler; (AO Smith, Rheem, GE still the big 3 up here). Do you happen to have any friends in the plumbing biz? you could have them get you some prices then you would need to have them buy it and work out a transfer of the goods.

 

[94SRUNNER]

We recently had a AO Smith 50-gal commercial unit installed. Very happy with the results. Ours is NG, but I know they offer propane versions.

I believe AO Smith has a line they run through Lowes.

 

[94SRUNNER]

@MrMikeyG Sadly, I don't know any plumbers

@94SRUNNER Was there any reason you went with a commercial unit?

It is what our plumber uses and recommends.

 

[MrMikeyG]

The HD or Lowes will likely be fine, (I grabbed one for my house, and I do know a plumber). In my case I needed a pretty specific overall tank dimension, and the Rheem from HD fit those specs. just compare the models that suit your needs, and double check the warranty length/terms.
At Home Depot, the Rheem performance "platinum" carries the longest warranty. Sadly, I think the days of folks getting 15-20 years out of any appliance are long gone.

 

[PAToyota]

One thing that definitely helps prolong a water heater's life is to check the anode rod regularly and replace when needed.

 

[tequila4x4]

Rheem would be my vote. I have installed lots of them in my area without any problems. you may have to run a new water heater vent. tankless uses a different vent system

 

[haryv]

Title basically states it.

I'm not overly happy with my current tankless heater solution. I suspect that PO bought "under sized" for cold water for well. I priced out what was closer to the correct delta temp for a new one and am still in sticker shock

So I'm looking at tanked water heaters. I'm looking for a run of the mill propane powered setup. I don't need any fancy electronics or similar crap on it. I want something that will work with the power out.

I will handle the install myself. It will get strapped to the wall per code.

So what would you recommend? I will probably be doing Home Depot or Lowes.

The house is two adults only. The longest run is ~22 feet from the heater location in basement to the 2nd story bathroom(~14' vert).

yeah some of the tankless hot water heaters have a bit of a reputation not working properly or in the case of quietside tankless hot water burn the houses down. There's a huge lawsuit where the US government sued the company and the company went out of business. There was a recall where I had to install two more thermocouples I really like tankless hot water heaters but the problem is like anything that's a machine the more parts that you put into it the more likely it's going to break down. Any hot water heater will work for you. Have you thought about using the sun to heat your water?

 

[haryv]

My current tankless is a Bosch. I've done a little more screwing around with it lately and found "unmarked" adjustment area that seems to have woke it up a bit... like finally being able to almost burn myself

I have a slight problem with going with sun heating:
View attachment 2367869
I get a bit of snow in the winter Last winter I got three 18" storms so I think the roof would load up if I had panels on it. The other issue is I'd need a way to get the water up two full stories.

As long as you have the Sun it doesn't matter if you have snow. The evacuated tube heating system works just as well if it's 10 degrees below zero. because it has a vacuum the heat on the inner tube will not transfer to the outer tube.