|
Doc, I installed a GE water from Home Depot last year. I went ahead and got the top-o-the-line version with a 12 year warranty. Turns out it is made by Rheem. Naturally, the water heater went out the day before I was leaving on a trip, so I didn't have time to look around much. Local wholesaler wouldn't even talk to me, so I checked out HD and Lowes. It was a toss-up. I despise doing business with either HD or Lowes; I held my nose and bought the GE at HD. My comments: 1. Check the dimensions on the exact version you're going to buy. I changed my mind at the last minute and went with the more expensive heater. It turns out that the main difference is that the higher-priced heaters have more insulation. I darn near didn't get it installed! 2. Since I replaced the water heater, we've had a lot of trouble with rotten egg smell in the hot water. I finally decided that it's at least partially due to the anodes in the new water heater. In fact, Rheem's web site says this is not uncommon. I guess that the more expensive heaters have larger anodes so they don't fail before their warranty is up. At any rate, my wife wants to rip the thing out and it's only a year old! 3. I might have considered a tankless heater, but they require a lot more BTUs. I didn't want to risk drawing more gas than our natural gas service can supply. (It's almost 700 feet to the road, and the gas company charges by the foot when they replace gas line.) So I went with a standard 40,000 BTU heater. Aside from the rotten egg smell, I have no complaints with the GE unit. If you don't already have smelly water, I doubt that you'll have a problem.
| 
