On Tue, 10 Mar 2015 14:40:33 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:


The HD kit is basically a rubber hose inside a braided stainless-steel sheath.
The one at Lowes is corrugated stainless-steel (no rubber core).

Looks like it comes down to whether you want dielectric fittings or
not. Otherwise, I don't see much difference. I've never seen dielectrics
on gas lines before. My WHs have always been plumbed in without using
anything special. Black pipe for the gas. No problems either.

Same here. I have always run the water pipes directly to the water
heater. When I was working for a plumber in the 80's he onlty used
those flex pipes if the customer wanted them, That may have been twice,
in 10 years, because most people dont know anything. They just working
plumbing. Unless for some odd reason the pipes or tank are meant to
move, there is no reason to use those flex pipes. We did use dielectric
unions on copper because of the steel tank.