New water heater

[sewerrat]

Well , think my 9 year old water heater is running on its last legs already, after 1 shower , the next person gets warm water.

A month ago I drained the tank and pulled the dip tube, it work fine for 3 weeks.
The tube was a plastic one and clean

So I'm thinking it is time for a new one.
Unless I'm missing something else.

Can anyone recommend a good one for a good price? We only need a 40 gal. tank as it is only 2 of us . And a small house.

[npauls]

If you are near calgary. Red deer. Or edmonton go have a chat with frontier plumbing and heating supplies about a.o. smith tanks.

[CaberTosser]

Bradford White are my go-to brand for water heaters, I've had very good reliability from the ones I've installed. I've been putting them in for 5 years and just had my first warranty issue with one last Sept on a gas control valve. The brand I was using before that had a few issues that led to them falling out of favor, and back then I was installing whatever the boss was stocking.

That being said I find your volume issue curious if you've got a new dip tube. Either those showers are long and are using the entire tank volume or perhaps there is something afoot with the cartridge in your shower valve if its a thermostatic type (an anti-scald feature). I've had such cartridges develop issues, and sometimes its even from chunks of disintegrated dip tube messing up the internals/ blocking lines. Is the temperature low at every fixture after the first shower or is it just at the busiest shower?

If it is just a tank volume issue you can always go to a 50 as they're common enough to be affordable, its the 60's and 75's that have a significant price jump.

[Kim473]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Bradford White are my go-to brand for water heaters, I've had very good reliability from the ones I've installed. I've been putting them in for 5 years and just had my first warranty issue with one last Sept on a gas control valve. The brand I was using before that had a few issues that led to them falling out of favor, and back then I was installing whatever the boss was stocking.

That being said I find your volume issue curious if you've got a new dip tube. Either those showers are long and are using the entire tank volume or perhaps there is something afoot with the cartridge in your shower valve if its a thermostatic type (an anti-scald feature). I've had such cartridges develop issues, and sometimes its even from chunks of disintegrated dip tube messing up the internals/ blocking lines. Is the temperature low at every fixture after the first shower or is it just at the busiest shower?

If it is just a tank volume issue you can always go to a 50 as they're common enough to be affordable, its the 60's and 75's that have a significant price jump.

What he said.
Check to see if the temperture setting got accidently turned down on the heater.

I would go with a 50 if you replace. there will be a day when you will need to do laundry or dishes after showers and the hot water will be gone and those two machines won't be able to do a good job.

[Big~stretch]

i also may need one soon, it seems to work ok, gets very hot but runs out quick!! its only 5 years old.
iv been debating tankless unit

[roger]

It's important to put a full port ball valve on the drain instead of the cheezy hose bibb and giver a blast every month or so.there is proby a layer of particles on the bottom. Slowing the reheat process.