Residential Plumbers - Hot water heater suggestions.

[stkjock]

I currently have a 40G AO Smith HWH and it is about 10-11 yrs old (came with the house). I'm finding now as more of the family is taking showers in the morning that the unit just cannot keep up with the hot water demands.


So I'm looking for suggestions to replace it. I was on AO Smith's site and saw some cool units but was shocked at the pricing $2000+ for the higher end models.

From the online calculator it looks like I need a model that will deliver at least 80G first hour

From looking around online it appears that the Promax series of AOS's seems like a solid choice. In particular I found the GCV-50 or GCVX-50 to fit.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be great. Thanks guys.

 

[Liftedbronco]

im in the same boat. was very curious how viable those instant heat units were. meaning both functionally and financially

 

[Daniel Day]

It is a water heater. You don't have to heat hot water. Sorry stkjock, I couldn't resist!

 

[stkjock]

It is a water heater. You don't have to heat hot water. Sorry stkjock, I couldn't resist!

That depends on how hot you want it.................

 

[Liftedbronco]

good to see we're getting somewhere with this lol

 

[dysan]

Over the years hot water heaters usually develop mineral deposits in them that will reduce their efficiency and at 10-11 years old it's at the end of it's life anyway. If it's just been within the past few years that it hasn't seemed to keep up with demands it's most likely deposits and you could probably replace it with a similar model. If not then an upgrade would be in order.

I don't know specifics on them unfortunately so what to get isn't something I can give any advise on.

 

[stkjock]

James - i drain the sediment out 2x a year usually so while that could be the cause I think it's less likely.

the issue has been the last 4-5 months since my daughter has started showering in the morning instead of the night and our current live in babysitter also showers in the morning. A year+ ago only my wife and I showered early.


After some more research it seems a 50G high recovery or extra high is the way to go. Have you any experience with Bradford & White?

 

[moostang09]

James - i drain the sediment out 2x a year usually so while that could be the cause I think it's less likely.

the issue has been the last 4-5 months since my daughter has started showering in the morning instead of the night and our current live in babysitter also showers in the morning. A year+ ago only my wife and I showered early.


After some more research it seems a 50G high recovery or extra high is the way to go. Have you any experience with Bradford & White?

Elaborate on the draining please? Do all hwh require this? If so I probably need to do mine. Any tips on how? Thx.

 

[stkjock]

all tanks accumulate sediment in the bottom from the fresh water supply. As a result there is a valve at the bottom of the tank to drain the tank. IIRC the manufactures suggest that one drain out a few gallons at least 2x a year (it may be more). I have a length of garden hose that I use to run to the slop sink to drain it..

 

[irishpwr46]

been lookin into the "insta-hot" heaters. a lot of people are ranting and raving about them. never have to wait for the water to heat up again. also, if you have hot water heat, you can get a unit that will take care of that as well as the domestic

 

[stkjock]

yeah I looked at the tankless set ups and the tanked variants. They just seem like a lot of cash. I do have hot water heat as well. That's it's own pressurized system tho.

 

[bcb06gt]

I have a high recovery HWH. Original house plans showed two HWH. Plumber suggested one slightly larger high recovery. It was less than the two standard I think. It's been 7 years now. I wanted the tankless but when we were getting the plans together 8 years ago, it wasn't a feasible option. Most plumbers had not installed one and not a lot of good info on them.

 

[kj05]

Try plumbing a sediment filter into the line before the water heater.
i bought one at lowe's for about $15 and it made a huge difference in the amount of crap that gets in mine. The best thing is it is a self flushing unit, just change the valve direction and the water pressure cleans it for you.

 

[NastyStang113]

The AO Smith water heaters seem to be great units. I've had more success with them than other units. I considered going tankless but it just seemed like a lot of hassle for me to do myself correctly. I don't mind having a tank and with only two people in the house it makes little sense.

Personally I think you'll be good with the AO Smith GCV-50. I found them online for $460 with free shipping. The GCVX-50 is only slightly better but $200 more.

 

[stkjock]

The GCVX has 65,000 BTU so the recovery and first hour delivery is greater.

 

[Marc s]

I haver a Bosch Instant water heater. I installed it about 6 years ago and have never had a problem with it. 2,500 sq ft house with 2 daughters and a wife. The hot water demands can be high at times and it always kept up. I decided to buy one with a pilot light instead of an igniter. That way when the power is out, I still have hot water. I bought it from Home Depot.

 

[JimC]

I have the tankless water heater and it is great. Never run out of hot water and can fill the whirlpool tub.

When we put ours in there was a tax credit for the energy savings - I don't remember if that tax credit still applies this year but you should check into it. With the credit the cost in the end was about the same for me.

 

[dysan]

I completely forgot about this thread Dave and I don't have any experience with any specific brands since I have never installed one. I also haven't been keeping up with flushing mine out either even though I know better.

The tankless ones do seems pretty damn cool from what I have heard about them but no personal experience with them either.

 

[bscottie]

a new 50 gal should be sufficient to handle a family of 4 with no problems, check the wter temp setting also, a cooler setting is ok if you dont over compensate by using ALL hot water during a shower, 125ish to 130 is where mine is, if you have smaller kids though that may be a little too hot for their safety, go to lowes and check out what they have. the AO Smiths are prone to be a little higher but not really a lot of difference in overall performance or quality.

 

[stkjock]

thanks