On Sep 10, 10:27*am, Heathcliff
wrote:
My natural gas GE water heater is leaking. I bought it and installed
it myself about 9 years ago. It is still within warranty (12 year
warranty) and I called the GE service hotline and the big box store
where I bought it - everyone was very accommodating and I can bring in
the old one and exchange it for a new one, receiving a credit of about
$300. *My question is whether it is worth it to do so, since it means
I will wind up with another GE water heater. *(They are actually made
by Rheem.) *Considering the effort involved in hauling the old one
over there and installing the new one, I would consider forgoing the
credit if there is a noticeably better option in terms of brand. *So,
was this one a fluke, or do they all do that? *-- H

Meet the new water heater, same as the old water heater . . . Replaced
the WH on Saturday. Took the old one in to the store and got a
refund, which amounted to about half the cost of the new one. I don't
think it was prorated, rather, I think the price just went way up in
the 9 years I had the thing. If I had had the receipt, I would have
gotten $309, which sounds like the price I originally paid. Without
the receipt the refund was $241, which is a percentage of 309, let's
see, umm, where's my calculator? Anyway it turned out to be about
half the price of the new 12-yr warrantee GE that I picked up. I'm
not quibbling. But this time I did put the receipt in with the owners
manual in the little bag taped to the WH.

I was not able to pull the anode rod on the old WH - I tried but it
required more grip and leverage than I could muster, or rather that I
was willing to spend time on. I had a hard enough time with
disassembling the ancient steel piping it was attached to. (Had to
use the old length of pipe over the monkey wrench handle trick.) I
also did not pull the anode on the new one before installing, as one
poster suggested, in the interest of getting the thing up and running
before the day was over. I may regret it. I did install a new ball
valve for the cold water supply shutoff, and put a drip leg on the gas
supply, which lacked one before. The drain valve on this unit is a
perfectly nice brass valve, I saw no reason to mess with it,
especially as I will probably use it only once! Thanks to all again
-- H.