I have two 50 gallon traditional Rheem water heaters that are original to the house (now about 10 years old). The water here is a little on the hard side. The previous owner probably never did any maintenance on them (flushing). They're working okay now, but I'm guessing we are nearing the end of their lifespan and I don't want to wait until they spring a leak.

I got my first quote to replace them for $6,365 which struck me as very high. They also provided a quote for replacing the two anode rods for $997.

Anybody have thoughts on:
- the best brand of traditional water heater
- the reasonableness of the replacement cost bid
- the likely remaining life of these heaters

You're probably closing in on end-of-life, but a couple of cheap leak detectors in your pan could be a cheap insurance and extend them for a couple of years. People certainly get more out of their water heaters, but 10-12 years is pretty normal.

That cost sounds obscene if they're in a closet or garage with easy access. If they're in an attic, it could be more reasonable, but still sounds very high to me.

For that money it is time to go tankless.

I just replaced 2 40gal that were 23y/o and paid $4,500 for a 11.2gpm Navien tankless.

15yr warranty.

I just replaced my 4.5 year old Bradford White 40 gallon hot water heater in my attic last Friday with a tankless. I had nothing but problems with the tanked water heater. I had replaced the flame sensor, ignition module, and flushed it, but never seemed to have enough hot water for a 5 minute shower.

Last October, while I had the Salt Co flush my water heater, asked them for a tankless quote. The tech quoted $12k, to which I said no thanks.

Last week, with my wife complaining about the hot water situation, I had Texas Water Heaters (Hutto, Tx) come look at my water heater. They found it to be functioning ok, but it was just inadequate. I then asked for a tankless quote. They quoted $6725 for a Navien 180-S2 (non-recirculating), which included a new 1" gas line from the gas meter ($1000). The option for the Navien 180-A2 (recirculating with bypass valve in far end bathroom sink) was $1250 extra). The recirculating pump is built into the 180-A2 and provides quicker hot water to the faucets.

I decided on the Navien 180-A2. Side note: the tech for Salt Co was going to T off a 1" gas line in the attic, which was 10' from the existing gas heater. When Texas Water Heaters looked at it, they said code would require a new 1" line from the gas meter due to the length of the existing gas line. I felt Texas Water Heaters were more up on the proper installation of the tankless heater, and am glad I went with them. I saved a little over $4k going with them over Salt Co. Could I have saved more going with someone else? Maybe so, but I wanted to go with a company that does nothing but tankless heater installations. They told me they do around 3 tankless heater installations per day.

How do I like my new tankless? It has been fantastic. No constantly moving the shower handle to adjust the temperature. With the new tankless, it's set the temperature to your liking, and the temperature never changes.

We flush twice/year
Buy the best locally but the "Lifetime"-$$$ was the shortest life.

Aggieland: 80gal elect Whirlpool/US/Craftsmaster (YES) 2008 in closet replaced with 50gal Bosch (HOHUM) 2022Nov $550 w/new shutoff & tip for wrestling out the big fat one. This would be ~$660 each, even if in the attic. Can best that price?

We don't need no stinking annodes ... even IF there's headroom above for EZ in-out, plumbers reported damage trying to get them out ... if at all possible BUT DIY also report EZ to do. That said, what about all that sediment and then elements getting old?

Demand WH is SOP in all our new house designs, usually exterior walls, always gas/propane.
For additions/remodels, running the utility services can be the deal buster.

Consumer Reports: they are only rating Heat Pump versions that need a lot of air volume to be efficient and a thousand bucks or more throw at them