Water heater - electric

[Petra]

I'm in the market for an 80 gal water heater, eletric.  I'm looking at Lowe's and Sears because these are the only two places I know of to look (home depot didn't really have much?)  Anyway, there's only 3 models to choose from.  Are independent dealers better to go with and how do I locate a good one?  I'm in the Hampton Roads area of VA.  Also, Lowe's installation charge is $214, is this an decent price on installation?  Anyway, here's the 3 I have to choose from so far:

Kenmore Power Miser 12, 80 gallon Electric Water Heater $479.99

Kenmore Power Miser 9, 80 gallon Electric Water Heater  $449.99

Whirlpool 80 Gallon Lifetime Electric Water Heater  $554

Model: EE3Z80HD055V

[Petra]

Here I am replying to myself...I've just been enlightened as to the prospect of going tankless.  Now I really don't know where to start.  I seem to only find tankless that are the equivalent to a 40 gal water heater.  What do you pro's think...go tankless?  I have an 1800 sq foot house, 4 bedrooms 2 full bath and I like hot HOT showers.

[Poobah]

I would recommend not buying a Kenmore....with my experience I've had with them they are wonderful while working but if you ever have a heat element go bad you will have to go back to Sears to get it.  Different screw in diameter on element.  First ran into it couple years ago, then had another customer monthish ago that needed top and bottom (one went bad and just wanted to replace both) could not order and had to send them back to Sears, elements were about 35-40 bones each

I don't really know much about tankless but I saw a little segment on them on Discovery couple weeks ago, they had installed one in a newer house and the people seemed to love it.

whatever you buy just make sure you can get replacement parts easily....good luck

[exsearsguy]

if you get a tankless unit get one of the larger ones.check the specs and make sure you're getting enough rise in temp!!! it takes a large unit to warm cold water quickly.

[hvacdrd]

Water quaility is the key issue to concern yourself with before you make any decisions.

Tankless units come with a premium price tag and if you have hard water it will require frequent descaling.

As for the Kenmore w/h I agree that getting the parts is a pain under warranty however if you use a water softner you shouldn't have repeated element failures. Also the OEM element can be replaced by one available at most hardware stores, just be certain to match the voltage, wattage, and thread size. Some used an 1 1/4" thread. BTW last I knew Kenmore w/h's were made by A.O.Smith.

As for the installation charge of $214 - that sounds reasonable to me as long as they take the old one with them when they finish.

Check out this web site for a list of the major w/h manufactures. There is tons of info on all types including tankless.

Water heater manufacturers

[align=left]Rheem makes Rheem, Ruud, Richmond and General Electric tanks.[/align]

[align=left]A.O. Smith, making its own brand and State, Reliance, Kenmore and Censible tanks, is at http://www.hotwater.com.[/align]

[align=left]American Water Heater Co. is at http://www.americanwaterheater.co.[/align]

[align=left]Bradford White is at http://www.bradfordwhite.com.[/align]

[align=left]Bock is at http://www.bockwaterheaters.com.[/align]

[align=left]Vaughn is at http://www.vaughncorp.com/commercial.html[/align]