Electric Water Heater brand/model recs? DIY Replacement

Darkbloodmon

Darkbloodmon

Active Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2020
Location
Concord, NC
Looking for Electric water heater recs. Parents heater is going out according to Morris Jenkins and they've got my parents sweating with the numbers for a replacement unit. $4,000.00 approx, which is the middle price option. Their little quote sheet didn't have any makes or models; just Budget, Premium and Premier (go figure) with price points.

We currently have a Rheem 50g Mexico mfg. in '07, It's in the garage and on a little stand, I've got room for a larger unit and the removal and replacement seems easy enough that im questioning my current line of work after looking over some installation manuals and YTU. Parents budget is 2K but i'd like to get a solid no fuss unit for less if possible.

I'm interested in the Hybrid heat pump units but im not crazy about the complexity, I'd like something dumb reliable over bells and whistles.

Thoughts?
 
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Darkbloodmon said:
Looking for Electric water heater recs. Parents heater is going out according to Morris Jenkins and they've got my parents sweating with the numbers for a replacement unit. $4,000.00 approx, which is the middle price option. Their little quote sheet didn't have any makes or models; just Budget, Premium and Premier (go figure) with price points.

We currently have a Rheem 50g Mexico mfg. in '07, It's in the garage and on a little stand, I've got room for a larger unit and the removal and replacement seems easy enough that im questioning my current line of work after looking over some installation manuals and YTU. Parents budget is 2K but i'd like to get a solid no fuss unit for less if possible.

I'm interested in the Hybrid heat pump units but im not crazy about the complexity, I'd like something dumb reliable over bells and whistles.

Thoughts?
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Ive had my whirlpool hybrid 50 gallon for 10 years and have been happy with it. Its very simple, all you have to do is clean the filter a couple times a year.
 

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Scott86MJ said:
Ive had my whirlpool hybrid 50 gallon for 10 years and have been happy with it. Its very simple, all you have to do is clean the filter a couple times a year.
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Just saw this looking through their site.
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Darkbloodmon said:
I'd like something dumb reliable over bells and whistles.

Thoughts?
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A.o. smith. It's American and owns many of the other brands now
Pretty sure you can get them at lowes. You don't NEED the commercial application, just residential


At $4k that dude is making bank

Rheem/Ruud is now owned by a Japanese private equity , personally I'd steer clear.
 
CasterTroy said:
A.o. smith. It's American and owns many of the other brands now
Pretty sure you can get them at lowes. You don't NEED the commercial application, just residential


At $4k that dude is making bank

Rheem/Ruud is now owned by a Japanese private equity , personally I'd steer clear.
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Do you have experience with the brand? I was looking at that model previously but the quality control and after sale warranty to support reviews were pushing me away. Buying stuff by the warranty period makes me anxious about QC. I really just want to do a one and done, but things just aren't made to last today.

Honestly if I could go back in time too '07 i'd get the same water heater, we haven't had any issue with it and its not leaking or lacking in hot water as if it needed to be replaced yesterday.

$6200 was the highest tier quoted from Jenkins,
 
Darkbloodmon said:
Do you have experience with the brand?
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🤣 Yeah. This year will mark 30 years of experience for me 😎. Pretty much everything that's design/build ends up being AO smith.

I spec a metric ton of it in commercial applications.
Darkbloodmon said:
I really just want to do a one and done, but things just aren't made to last today.
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There IS no choice that will give you this comfort. With gumbent dollars I'm usually working with I'm bound to "America first" so I spec American made products. So I tend to lean on USA mfg
I've not seen a bad run of AO SMITH products that I've heard about. But that doesn't mean they're perfect by any means.
 
Have they flushed it, R&R anode and elements? If not I’d honestly start there. Could be all it really needs but Jerkins or whatever their name is was just looking for a sale on a new install. Cheap enough to possibly save their bacon and also, if it doesn’t solve the issue go get a comparable sized AO SMITH from blowes and buy the extended warranty. Their external warranty handler through Assurant is pretty darn good and service calls are free ninety nine if something happens.
 
Those are some crazy quotes. My sister in law's wh was leaking and all the quotes she got from big names were $2k plus. I got her to use a guy I know who does it on the side and he was just over 1k including the wh. Took him 3hrs
 
CasterTroy said:
🤣 Yeah. This year will mark 30 years of experience for me 😎. Pretty much everything that's design/build ends up being AO smith.

I spec a metric ton of it in commercial applications.

There IS no choice that will give you this comfort. With gumbent dollars I'm usually working with I'm bound to "America first" so I spec American made products. So I tend to lean on USA mfg
I've not seen a bad run of AO SMITH products that I've heard about. But that doesn't mean they're perfect by any means.
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AO Smith sounds like Johnson Controls, i'll check out lowes' selection then.

CarolinaHD said:
Call Pat Jones at Cabarrus plumbing, tell him Alex sent you. He or his dad will be able to knock it out for a fraction of Morris Jenkins.
(704) 791-7954
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I really like some of the features and reviews of the State water heaters they use in installs, but I can't buy it as a gen pop consumer. I'll give'em a call and see if I can order one through them.

skyhighZJ said:
Have they flushed it, R&R anode and elements? If not I’d honestly start there. Cheap enough to possibly save their bacon and also, if it doesn’t solve the issue go get a comparable sized AO SMITH from blowes and bury the extended warranty. Their external warranty handler through Assurant is pretty darn good ant service calls are free ninety nine if something happens.
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Haven't cracked it open, but that may be an option, it's a nearly 20yr old unit from Mexico, i'm not complaining about the life we go out of it. I'll check out the Extended Warranty terms.

awheelterd said:
Those are some crazy quotes. My sister in law's wh was leaking and all the quotes she got from big names were $2k plus. I got her to use a guy I know who does it on the side and he was just over 1k including the wh. Took him 3hrs
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Jenkins is quoting 50g Bradford White units.
 

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Friend of mine worked for morris jenkins for about 3 years then started his own deal.

The way they work is - the plumber in your house has a price book. Thats the min price. He can literally quote you anything he wants, and if you pay it he gets a % of the amount over book. Its a screwed up system where the more customers they screw after a while the % decreases the longer you've been there.

he's told me stories of charging $15k for water heater replacements in ballantyne (charlotte ritzy area)

dad and step mom spent their entire career in the plumbing supply and plumbing rep business. They both also recommend aos...fwiw
 
Morris Jenkins is an absolute predatory ripoff. They never "fix" anything, but they always have new stuff in stock, ready to sell and install within 24hrs, especially on the weekends and holidays. And you can finance it through them!!! Its a great business model unless you are the consumer. My old office was a quarter mile down the road from them, and when they had meetings, there would be 200+ matching vans lined up along the road. Super profitable, absurdly wasteful and insulting to the intelligence of their consumer. But some people love that warm and fuzzy feeling of a new unit with a warranty and financing and replacing it NOW.

@Darkbloodmon What exactly is wrong with your parents unit? If its "going out" that means its still making heat because it hasn't "gone out", right? Its a tank, with 2 heater elements, and 2 thermostats/controllers. Pretty darn simple. If its not making heat, either one of the elements has burned up, or the controller is malfunctioning. You can buy replacement parts for all of that at LowesDepot for like $100 and change it yourself.
 
@Darkbloodmon I guess it wasn’t stated but what you posted above gives no description of “why” they think they need a new WH and why they called in the first place. Or, if Jenkins did any sort of diag either. WH are pretty simple in nature until you get into the much more fancy models with circuit boards and such. I’d be interested in diagnostics before just firing the $$ canon
 
skyhighZJ said:
@Darkbloodmon I guess it wasn’t stated but what you posted above gives no description of “why” they think they need a new WH and why they called in the first place. Or, if Jenkins did any sort of diag either. WH are pretty simple in nature until you get into the much more fancy models with circuit boards and such. I’d be interested in diagnostics before just firing the $$ canon
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Agree. Unless the tank itself is leaking, cheap parts can be swapped to make it work properly until the tank rusts through. I've replaced a handful in my life and I've gotten good life out of them all with easy to replace parts.
 
jeepinmatt said:
@Darkbloodmon What exactly is wrong with your parents unit? If its "going out" that means its still making heat because it hasn't "gone out", right? Its a tank, with 2 heater elements, and 2 thermostats/controllers. Pretty darn simple. If its not making heat, either one of the elements has burned up, or the controller is malfunctioning. You can buy replacement parts for all of that at LowesDepot for like $100 and change it yourself.
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skyhighZJ said:
@Darkbloodmon I guess it wasn’t stated but what you posted above gives no description of “why” they think they need a new WH and why they called in the first place. Or, if Jenkins did any sort of diag either. WH are pretty simple in nature until you get into the much more fancy models with circuit boards and such. I’d be interested in diagnostics before just firing the $$ canon
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willness33 said:
Agree. Unless the tank itself is leaking, cheap parts can be swapped to make it work properly until the tank rusts through. I've replaced a handful in my life and I've gotten good life out of them all with easy to replace parts.
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Thermal expansion valve has a constant flow thats increased over the past two years, and the tank has never been flushed in 18yrs. It was recommended to replace the unit due to age and lack of annual maintenance. Still makes heat, but the amount of hot water has fallen off in the past few years, they wait after showers/laundry for the system to refill.
 
Darkbloodmon said:
Thermal expansion valve has a constant flow thats increased over the past two years, and the tank has never been flushed in 18yrs. It was recommended to replace the unit due to age and lack of annual maintenance. Still makes heat, but the amount of hot water has fallen off in the past few years, they wait after showers/laundry for the system to refill.
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Being that old with no maintenance it is probably just waiting to spring a leak but like commented above a few simple parts could potentially get it working well again. If there is a catch pan that routes to a drain I would just wait it out since the leak would not ruin anything. Figure out if an element or thermostat failed, replace the anode, replace the pressure relief, keep rolling.
 
grapehead said:
Oh yeah, check system pressure and PRV! Ask the guy that had a new water heater only live a year due to 100psi. :shaking: :homer:

Had great showers tho.
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(Edited for correctness) Most expansion tanks come preset to 40psi, if you have 100psi from the city that expansion tank might as well not even be there
 
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OnlyOneDR said:
Being that old with no maintenance it is probably just waiting to spring a leak but like commented above a few simple parts could potentially get it working well again. If there is a catch pan that routes to a drain I would just wait it out since the leak would not ruin anything. Figure out if an element or thermostat failed, replace the anode, replace the pressure relief, keep rolling.
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The thermal expansion valve has a line hooked up that routes runoff to the exterior of the house, they've been monitoring it for a while (years) and it's got a constant drip and the area is permanently soggy. At this point they just want a replacement, it's a small miracle a unit this cheap didn't fail catastrophically without any maintenance.
 
grapehead said:
Don’t get the Lowe’s model. Find a plumbing supply house and get it from them. They have better quality models there from the same manufacturer at about the same price.
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Any good supply stores in Concord or Charlotte area that sell to the General public besides Ferguson? I'm getting Freemason vibes from other suppliers that sell exclusively to plumbing companies.
 
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