I need to replace a 100 gallon, 199,900 btu/hr natural gas heater. Any suggestions as to which brands give the best performance? Presently there is an American Standard installed. The plumbers that have come to give me estimates have suggested either Bradford White or Rheem. I checked Consumer Reports at the local library but there is no current information on this topic.
Thanks for your reply.
David Farber L.A., CA
As far as the heaters themselves go, I can't/won't give you an opinion.
Checking the Consumer Reports mag is a waste of time. You're looking for a commercial water heater, not a consumer one.
I am just today replacing a 100 gallon 240000 btu 21 yr old AO Smith with an AO Smith 250A Cyclone . It the most efficient line made the
250 A is 94% efficient and the larger 300000 btu is 99% . Look around I found the rest to be 80 % efficient. I found a Co off Google that ships for less. The 250 A retales for 5985.00 and im getting one for 3355.00 Im figuring my payback over an 80% unit at 2 yrs. The Co is Ira Wood & sons out of Kentucky their # is 1-800-472-9923 ask for John. Their price was much lower than anyone elses
You might give Lockinvar a look. They make solar units as well
Wouldn't tankless make sense if you need that much hot water? I installed one last year and I'll never go back to a tank again. NG tankless units are fairly new (as compared), but seem to be catching on quick.
I called the local tankless distributor in our area and he came out to give us an estimate. Because the water heater needs to be able to supply seven units plus a laundry room with hot water, we were told that it would take two or three units (read *expensive*) working in tandem to achieve the same amount of heating capacity as the 100 gallon natural gas heater.
Thanks for your reply.
David Farber L.A., CA
Did they explain why? I have a 1" main and 3/4 branches everywhere. I can leave as many faucets open as I want and the tankless has no problem keeping up with it. BTW, my unit cost $599 + $200 for a licensed plumber to install. I would suspect your 100gal tank would be more than that?
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