Choosing a Water Heater

I need to replace my water heater. In 2008 I bought from Lowes and I installed a Frigidaire 40-gallon, 40,000 BTU (gas, 12-year warranty),tall, water heater. Lowes no longer carries Frigidaire so the direct replacement is an A.O. Smith with the same specs and I am seriously considering that brand.

Is the A.O. Smith (still) considered a good product ? Where I live the choices are A.O Smith, Reliance, and Rheem. What would you suggest?

The AO Smith's that are sold in Lowe's are not actual AO Smith water heaters they are just rebranded world pool heaters which Lowe's also used to sell.

From what I heard these water heaters were not particularly the greatest in quality or longevity. I prefer Rheem considering I go to Home Depot since it's the closest Big Box store to me.

You could go to a plumbing supply house and get an actual AO Smith water heater or a Bradford White those two are the best there is

voletl said:

The AO Smith's that are sold in Lowe's are not actual AO Smith water heaters they are just rebranded [Whirlpool] heaters which Lowe's also used to sell.

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Just to be clear folks--AO Smith OWNS American Water Heater, and they have a factory in Kingsport, TN which manufactures both brands of water heaters. They also private label manufacture Whirlpool. If you go to Yelp, there are a large number of complaints about American Water Heater products, most of them due to a combination of premature failures (thermocouples showing up a lot) combined with atrocious customer service.

That being said, I have a Whirlpool (bought at Lowe's) made by American Water Heater, and it has not given me any issues in six years. I have atrocious water quality (very hard well water with high iron content) at my second home where this is located, and after 3 years I changed the anode. I expected an ugly mess when I pulled it out but it was surprisingly OK. I changed it anyway. This is a traditional vent, 50-gal natural gas model.

At my primary home that I owned for 27 years, I replaced the water heater twice. The original lasted 10 years; the replacement lasted 10 years, and the last one I put in was a Rheem. Also 50 gal NG model, but with power vent. Despite the fact that every home built in my burgeoning town since the early 90s required power vent water heaters, they were almost impossible to find at a big box store. I did find the first replacement in stock at The Home Depot when I needed it, but when a water heater fails, IN STOCK is the only acceptable scenario. The last one I needed I had to go to a professional plumbing supply house where they stocked the Rheem. This was a spark ignition model (no standing pilot) and I highly recommend a Rheem, and I don't think you'll find many pros disagree with that. I'd agree that a Bradford White is a great water heater too--I think I owned at least one of them--but they were simply not available when I needed one.