Folks:
This board was very helpful with providing advice regarding some home energy efficiency projects, and I'm wondering if you all might be able to offer some advice for another potential project.
My friend and I were flushing out my Rheem Gas Short 50 Gallon water heater yesterday, something we do on an annual basis. The water heater has been fine, but my friend (who is a plumber), said that I might want to think about replacing the water heater with a new one down the road. Now, I've read the MMM boards, and my first question was whether I could just replace the anode rod. He mentioned that one normally could, but since the water heater is in the attic, we can't maneuver it to pull it out. The water heater is 46 inches (and stands on a three inch base), and the attic roof is 60 inches. So, I took his judgement-he was working for free, which was nice.
He mentioned that since the water heater was installed in May 2003, I might want to think about replacing it soon. He mentioned tankless water heaters (which could be installed on the exterior of my house), but he said that the cost does not bring much ROI, as in my house, the total cost would be around $4,000 for the water heater in installation. I'm willing to DIY on many things, but not plumbing.
My question is whether any MMM have come across any energy star rated water heaters that can fit in a smaller space in an attic? I've found one that Rheem makes, which is linked below:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rheem-Performance-Platinum-50-gal-Short-12-Year-40-000-BTU-Energy-Star-Natural-Gas-Water-Heater-XG50S12DM40U0/204321571?N=5yc1vZc1tzZ1z0tlzwThe product height is listed at 50 inches, and the assembled height is at 55 inches, which might be too close to the roof of the attic. has anyone found any small water heaters that are good on energy and good on the wallet?
Thanks! Peter