Best Residential Water Heater - Bradford vs Rheem and AO Smith - Twin Plumbing

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[edflowers]

We moved in our 1960s house in 1990. We called a young plumber who was just starting out in his own company. This was one of his first water heater installs. He put in an A O Smith. Fast forward 32 years to 2022 and I try to replace a corroded anode bar that was clanging inside the tank but it broke off. So I dig out my paperwork from 1990 and call the same plumber, and now he is an old man and getting ready to retire this year but he will go ahead and install another A O Smith as one of his last projects. Lol.

[jackmeyers]

This wasn't a review. It was a Bradford white commercial

[PH-mdxp]

This is so obviously a commercial for Ferguson and Bradford White. I’ve had a Rheem for 15 years, never had a problem with it.

[billypreston]

One of the main keys to having a water heater last is to have a regular routine of replacing the anode rod, we replace ours every 3 years and our water heater is 25 years old and runs like new, we also flush it once a year. Those warranties on the water heaters are all based on the life of the anode rod(s) because once they go then your water heater is not to far behind

[darrelfuhrman]

I have a AO Smith 40 gallon electric water heater installed July of 1992! This July 15th it will be 29 years old. I already bought it’s replacement. At 28 I am not waiting for it to leak to replace it.
Hello from north east Montana.
10 miles from the Canadian border.

[dannybarnhill]

You guys are very misleading. This absolutely was not a review. It was a commercial for the BW. Also, you completely lied about the AO Smith being made outside of the USA. I am an employee of AO Smith and we have several water heater manufacturing plants in the USA. We are an international company so we have plants outside the USA, including Mexico. But to say that the only AO Smith water heater you can buy is made outside the USA is a lie. You guys really need to get your facts straight before you “review” anything.

For anyone looking for honest reviews about water heaters, go elsewhere. I don’t know any channels that do this, but these guys are gonna mislead you.

[orrinkelso]

I have lived in my house for almost 35 years. House already had a soft water system installed. I was only getting about 7 years out of each water heater. I think the small amount of sodium in the water from the water conditioner led to lower tank life. My last water is a AO Smith from Ferguson plumbing supply. But I also installed a powered anode which is a permanent replacement for the sacrificial anode. Water heater is now 11 years old and looks brand new. Absolutely no corrosion on any fittings. Powered anode is highly recommended.

[ponyarsenal]

Crazy. Had a Rheem for 12 years. Never had an issue. Never been serviced. Never been flushed. Has worked beautifully. Upgrading this week. Going with a Rheem.

[andrewludwig]

Don't believe all this BS about the bad control on the Rheem unit. EVERY manufacturer uses Honeywell controls-- they are ALL the SAME regardless of who made it.

[dogman]

I bought a Bradford White natural gas 40 gallon shorty online and installed it myself not expecting any warranty and followed all the installation recommendations. Water pressure 60 psi check. Expansion tank installed check. Water quality check. Properly vented 4 inch to 6 inch vent pipe and passed vent hood flame test check. Incoming gas pressure manometer pressure check. Had one of those unreliable Honeywell gas valves with the blinking light from Hell. It quit after 2 years. Bought the updated gas valve with thermostat probe NOT in a plastic shell but naked metal on Amazon about 115 bucks. Still working OK after another 3 years.
I don’t see any great improvement of BW over the other heaters in this “comparison”. They are all more the same than different.

[galevest]

Im a big fan of the Rheem marathon. It is made from plastic it does not rust out like the rest of these tanks. It's crazy I've seen tanks 5 years old rusted . The way the bowl designed at the bottomof the tank allows for super easy flushing of contaminants. They come with a 10-year standard warranty or a lifetime warranty if you register it. A 40-gallon does cost about $1, 500 though but it won't rust out and will save you in the long run

[kentitus]

I worked for a man that had been a tool and die maker for General Electric and he was in the plumbing business for more than 40 years. I trained under him then bought him out. I learned all of his tricks and he sold Bradford White only and I never had a leaker new water heater. After working for him that was the only water heater I would install. Of the three water heaters you showed you are correct, Bradford White is the best of the best. I have installed the others too and also had leakers. I had to retire from plumbing when I got Leukemia. I am 79 now but wished I would have had another 20 years to work. I have no doubt that I would have still been installing Bradford White water heaters. I still have people call me for advice.

[ppumpkin]

I have a Rheem 40 galllon tank and a water softener. I've had it for 39 months. I called a plumber to replace the anode, he pulled the cap on the anode, and felt moisture, he said it the tank is probably already corroding and refused to replace the anode. He wanted to sell me a new water heater. What I've saw in "this old house" is that you should replace the anode after two or three years because it can somehow corrode and be too hard to take out. My plan now is to replace the anode myself, and if I can't get the old one out, or if the new one won't seat without leaks, replace it. I don't think this will be covered by warranty.

Update. I replaced the anode myself. It was easy, the old anode was corroded but still had a lot left. I bought the new anode with a socket that fit for $25 on Amazon. The old anode came out easy. In hindsight I think the plumber either was 1) trying to sell me a new set up or was 2) was afraid of taking responsibility for my old one if he worked on it.

[Kustomgadget]

It should be noted that the AO Smith in the big box store is different than the AO Smith from a reputable supply house. The parts are different and the weight of the tank is heavier at the supply house. Warrantee repair parts are obtained through an 800 number with the big box rendition where the parts are readily available at a reputable supply house for the actual contractor-grade AO Smith.

[VV-zqwc]

2 years back I had to replace my water heater, which ran for 16 years never had any issues, until one day it blew up and water leaked all over the place. This was replaced by Rheem from Home Depot, what a mistake! I had such a bad experience with the Rheem water heater, the unit stopped working after 2 weeks and their warranty repair was so poor! For over 2.5 months I had no hot water, after multiple plumbing companies attempting to repair it! They fix it and it will fail within a day or two. Finally Rheem agreed to replace it, which took lot of effort from my side to make it happen. I returned the unit to Home Depot and worked with their professional services to install Brandford White unit. So far this unit has been working fine without any issues.

[stevenschoenfeld]

The trouble with BW is the anode rod is part of the hot water outlet so it is very difficult to change out.

[TheJcrandazzo]

My AO Smith is 20 years old still running strong no issues. 20 yrs for 379.00 is not bad .

[beachliving]

Back in 2017 I bought a Rheem Water Heater with a 9 year warranty from Home Depot. The unit was leaking from the bottom for several days/weeks before I noticed the damage the water had done in the garage. I called up Rheem Friday Afternoon and they approved the model/SN for warranty work because there was an additional 2 years left on the warranty. On Sunday, I took the unit to Home Depot as directed and they gave me a prorated amount for the old water heater to apply to another Water Heater. I had to pay $50 for a new one. The new unit was installed on Sunday with another 9 year warranty. I did not have any original receipts for the water heater.

[rachelburton]

I purchased a new build home 4 years ago with a Bradford white water heater and it starting leaking yesterday. A “hired professional” came in and used my warranty to give me another but the bill was $3, 500!! I refused to pay and they took my warrantied unit. I wrote to Bradford White about this and they don’t care. The warranty ONLY helps a plumber if they can just charge you any overhead cost. And the customer has no clue the value of the heater. There is no way the warranty helps a customer unless I can redeem the warranty without a third party.

[campnut]

I've had an (lifetime warranty 🤣) electric AO Smith for 19 years. Drained and flushed it 3 times, never had anode rod changed but the control board was changed twice within the first 3 years and they told me they weren't covering it any longer ( so much for lifetime warranty). 16 years later, I get an occasional error code from the control board for a day or two but it continues to function properly. I would like to buy a "dumb" water heater like the old days but can't find one. Todays "lifetime warranty" on any product is worthless and means nothing.