Rheem XP40T06HE36U0 40 gal 36K BTU Low Pressure Gas Power Vent Tall Water Heater

I was looking for certain features in a water heater so I wouldn't have to modify one before I installed it. I wanted magnesium, not aluminum, anodes. Anodes, by design, deteriorate over time. This adds the abode material to your drinking water. Your body needs magnesium, but aluminum is bad for yoiu. I wanted a curved inlet tube so that there would be a natural swirl when I was flushing the tank every year. This moves the sediment out of the tank better. Speaking of flushing, I wanted a brass, not a plastic, hose bib. Just a sturdier bib to hook a hose up to when flushing. Nothing would be worse than breaking a bib when flushing and having to fix it before you could get hot water again. I wanted dielectric water connections built in. I wanted GREAT recovery time. This water heater recovers 90+ gallons an hour - great for a 55-gallon heater. All of this stuff can be added to a cheaper water heater, but why not buy one with it already installed and save yourself the work? By the time you add on everything, I doubt you're saving very much anyway. So I bought the heater. It was a couple of hundred bucks more than most of the other heaters, but I figured spread over 15 years, it really was only a bit more to get what I wanted. Install was the absolute easiest thing I've done in a while. I used a flexible gas hose, and stainless braided flex hoses for the water with shark tooth connectors. I literally installed this water heater in 20 minutes. Now, as far as using the heater - it performs as promised. I have five people in my home. If everyone is taking consecutive showers, you cannot run it out of hot water! And I mean LONG showers. I have a big jetted tub, and if you fill it first, it only takes about 15-18 minutes before you can start the shower brigrade. And the water is HOT!! OMG, hot. In summary, I'd recommend this heater to anyone, anytime.

I replaced a 13 year old fully functional Rheem hot water heater with a new Rheem hot water heater. The new one has a number of improvements over the old. Most important, the new one puts out 5% of the noise of the old one. It is almost silent when it is in operation. The gas valve, ignition system are simpler and more reliable to use. While old and new had the same number of gallons of storage, the new one supplies a lot more hot water before it runs out than the old one.