Marathon Water Heaters

[tkelle]

What is your opinions on the Marathon Water Heaters? I need to replace my current water heater. It is too small and it's starting to leak.

Are the marathons efficieant enough to justify the 2 to 3 times in price?

[LazyPup]

There are many factors besides fuel efficiency that effect the overall quality of a water heater.

One of the prime considerations is the type of pressure vessel, whether it is steel, glass lined steel or stainless steel.

another major consideration is the type of insulation. The plumbing codes require all water heaters to have a minimum of R-12 insulation surrounding the storage vessel. To meet the insulation requirements many manufacturers have discontinued the use of fiberglass insulation and gone to a cast foam insulation material. With the advent of foam insulation tanks commonly have R-20 or more, and I have seen commercial tanks that now have R-45 insulation.

The plumbing codes prohibit directly coupling copper water lines to a steel vessel. Many of the manufacturers are now including the required dielectric transition fittings on their high end units as an intergral part of the tank.

In the caae of GAS water heaters the type of materials used to make the gas burner effects its quality. The cheaper units may use stamped sheet metal burners while the better grade units have cast iron or stainless steel burners.

One of the prime considerations for homeowners is the "makeup rate". The makeup rate is the amount of time required to heat the cold water as it enters the tank during use. Some of the high end units offer a 100% demand rate, which means they are able to heat the water as fast as it can enter the tank to afford a totally continuous supply at the demand point.

All of the major water heater manufacturers offer differing qualities of water heaters from the low end "contractor grade" to the high end "High efficiency grades"

Marathon, A.O.Smith and Rheem are all well respected trade names that offer top of the line equipment, very good warranty service and great customer follow up.