After returning to AZ from my OK deer hunt, a week from today, I’ll need to have my home’s electric hot water heater (HWH) replaced. When we moved to AZ in 2009, the house we selected had an 80-gallon HWH. Strangely, we’ve had to replace one about every three years. I’ve learned to drain them yearly, and taught myself to replace elements if needed. About 6 years ago there was a law-driven shift in the industry that a residential HWH could not be over 65 gallons (IIRC) or it needed to be a heat-pump electric hybrid. At the time I did not think the space it was installed in would work with a heat pump, so I was faced with either going smaller or having a “commercial” heater installed. Since I have a wife, and three kids (now teenagers), I figured it risky to decrease capacity. Thus, I used a family-owned plumbing company that only installs water heaters (1.1 million since 1968), and we decided to go with an AO Smith light duty commercial. That one lasted three-ish years and was replaced under warranty with the onset of rusty-looking water followed by leaking into the pan occurred. Two years later the replacement (out of warranty) is doing the same thing.
I have a 4 December appointment to see if they think a heat-pump HWH will work for me. I sure don’t want the very same AO Simith commercial one again. I think our area has good water. The home’s hot water system includes an expansion tank and a recircultion system. The amount of yearly sediment is not “epic”, so I don’t know why my luck with HWH is soooo bad.
I’ll likely go with what the “Water Heaters Only, Inc” folks say, but figured I put this out in case any of ya’ll are plumbing experts.
Thanks!
I have a 4 December appointment to see if they think a heat-pump HWH will work for me. I sure don’t want the very same AO Simith commercial one again. I think our area has good water. The home’s hot water system includes an expansion tank and a recircultion system. The amount of yearly sediment is not “epic”, so I don’t know why my luck with HWH is soooo bad.
I’ll likely go with what the “Water Heaters Only, Inc” folks say, but figured I put this out in case any of ya’ll are plumbing experts.
Thanks!