Gas Water Heater replacement

We had the cheapest AO Smith 40 Gallon Promax installed exactly 5 years ago (it was under 600$ w/o installation at the time) and it worked flawlessly so far (small 1-family town home). The bill is OK ~ 45$/month for hot water/cooking gas (the rest of the house is electric). The question is – when to replace it? we would rather not wait until it leaks as we are considering renting the house out for 2 years while we are out of the country. Is 5 years too early? 7 years too risky? (for the cheap model) Are similar simple models still being installed with the new energy efficiency rules? To be honest, we found the performance/price/running costs completely satisfactory. Any suggestions and ideas about the current installation costs would be greatly appreciated (the original installation was part of a gut job). thanks!

stella2009

in Plumbers and Plumbing 9 years and 5 months ago

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randolph | 9 years and 5 months ago

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the water heaters themselves are $4500 for the pair. the install was in a gut renovation so they had to run new everything- water lines, gas lines, venting…so it is hard to say because that cost was spread out over the plumber and electrician and GC fees. somewhere around $3000 i think.

stella2009 | 9 years and 5 months ago

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can you please tell me how much did you pay with installation? Thanks!

BobMarvin | 9 years and 5 months ago

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A six year warranty? I didn’t know WHs came with such a short one. Replace it before leaving the country and get one with a ten year warranty. “The cheap man pays the most money.”

randolph | 9 years and 5 months ago

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I have 2 of these. incredibly efficient and pretty much unlimited hot water. they are power vented so you can do out the back wall rather than out the roof (if you want). http://www.hotwater.com/water-heaters/residential/conventional/gas/vertex/vertex%E2%84%A2-100-power-direct-vent-50-gallon-gas-water-heater/ The GDHE-50 Vertex? Power Direct Vent gas water heater delivers an unprecedented 96% thermal efficiency rating and is designed specifically to generate a constant flow of 4 gallons per minute, resulting in continuous hot water for your home. Featuring a 50-gallon tank and a 100,000 BTU gas burner, the GDHE-50 Power Direct Vent delivers a thermal efficiency of 96%, and a recovery rate of 129 gallons per hour. It carries a 6-year limited warranty, and meets Low NOx emission requirements.

stella2009 | 9 years and 5 months ago

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This one has 6-year warranty – thus the question…

BobMarvin | 9 years and 5 months ago

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?they don?t make ?em the way they used to? Indeed they don’t. When I bought my house in 1974 there was a 30 gal. Serval hot water heater with a tag saying it had been installed in 1950\. The thing, which had a monel metal tank, lasted for several more years. However, when it finally leaked and I had it replaced with my first A.O. Smith, my gas bill went down so much that the gas company replaced my meter, thinking it was broken (it wasn’t).

Arkady | 9 years and 5 months ago

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I agree w/ res2 – one of mine went bust literally 10 days after the warranty expired. Another lasted a year beyond. And it’s certainly true that “they don’t make ’em the way they used to”.

resident2 | 9 years and 5 months ago

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They normally come with a warrantee of ten years, did your? In which case it will start leaking or in some other way go on the blink in ten years and one day…. That is just the way they are. If you replace it now, there is no guarantee that the new hot water will not break down or in some other way go on the blink, they way things are manufactured these days I think there is a greater chance that it will go on the blink sooner rather than later. If you do rent out the house, just make sure that you have someone local to manage the building, do not expect the tenant to manage the building for you.

BobMarvin | 9 years and 5 months ago

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It’s probably best to replace a water heater shortly after the end of the warranty period. That being said, I wait until it leaks, but mine is in an unfinished cellar where a leaking water heater does no damage. My previous 40 gallon A.O. Smith, with a ten year warranty, lasted about twelve years. The replacement (with the only 40 gal. A.O.S. model Stanley Lewis Plumbing carried) coat about $1.000 a year ago,