Gas water heaters

[rob]

I'm in the houston, texas area (hard water) and want to get an idea what is a good brand for gas hot water heaters? I think my current is two 52 gallon size. My house is about 8 years old. Any idea what a plumber charges for parts and labor (for 2 of them)?

And does consumer reports have anything on best brands?

thanks.

[Joseph Meehan]

You must use a lot of hot water. BTW you don't heat hot water so you can call them "water heaters" :-)

Do you really need two water heaters?

If your home is only 8 years old, I wonder if you need to worry about replacements yet. Are your neighbors with the same water supply and same age water heaters starting to have problems?

[Javier]

I bought a new house in CA in 1998. The water heater installed by the builder had a 3 year warranty. It failed after about 3.5 years in service, leaking badly at the bottom of the tank.

The brand was something like cheapasspieceofcrap, inc.

That same evening I trekked down to Home Despot, bought a GE (the model with the 9 year warranty, I think) and installed it myself. It was working fine last year when we sold the house...

It wasn't a complicated job at all. Just water supply, hot water output, and gas supply. I called the gas co. next day, they came over and inspected it at no charge, the guy said "looks professional!".

-jav

[Robert Gammon]

We moved into this new home in Houston TX in October 1982. First one before the water softener, only lasted about 6-7 years. We later installed a water softener and replaced the hot water heater in the same year. The one presently installed is working fine and it has a MFG label of late 1988.

Adding a whole house water softener at the same time that the water heater(s) are replaced will save money in the long run, and make water in the house FEEL so much better.

[Xeno Chauvin]

The last time I saw a sign in Home Depot ( Houston) their example was

40 gal gas (G.E. I think) installed 495.00*

• Normal installation. Normal installation probably means,ground floor, direct access (no moving anything), no new inlet or outlet lines, no sweat fittings, no drain pan, no drain line, no new pop-off valve etc. Throwing all that in you're probably looking at 0. On two 52 gallon I'd say around 0.00 each would get it. AND you get to clean up after them for FREE! Xeno

[Mark Lloyd]

I just had one replaced (in east Texas) for about that.