For my single family home. I need a 50Gal one, my current one is 15 years old. I might move next year and rent this place out so I want to avoid the hassle of a failure.

Is Rheem a good brand? What are the things to look for? Home Depot carries Rheem. I will not go for tankless.

Big box water heaters are typically not as good as what is sold at places like Moore Supply and Ferguson. Back in the day my 12 year Sears water heaters were warranty replaced every 8 years. And nothing available anywhere is as good as the old days.
But I typically have things like this fail outside of normal commercial suppliers hours of operations. Last one I had 15 minutes to travel before home depot closed, so I am glad box stores exist. I have bought the Rheem premier several times with automatic water shutoff, and it saved me. One had a pressure relief valve fail and it shut off and another had a leak in the output connection it also caught. So I'm on the upgraded models with these features. I also have external network connected water detection in other risk locations but this caught things sooner.

UmustBKidding said:

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Big box water heaters are typically not as good as what is sold at places like Moore Supply and Ferguson. Back in the day my 12 year Sears water heaters were warranty replaced every 8 years. And nothing available anywhere is as good as the old days.
But I typically have things like this fail outside of normal commercial suppliers hours of operations. Last one I had 15 minutes to travel before home depot closed, so I am glad box stores exist. I have bought the Rheem premier several times with automatic water shutoff, and it saved me. One had a pressure relief valve fail and it shut off and another had a leak in the output connection it also caught. So I'm on the upgraded models with these features. I also have external network connected water detection in other risk locations but this caught things sooner.

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I had been meaning to replace mine, and my friend texted me last night to say his failed. So I thought I should get on with this project quick. It's already 15 years, works fine but failure is looming.

Any modern day features I should look for? I am not budget shopping, I would rather pay more for useful features.

Do not buy from Home depot/lowes

Moore/ferguson

Get a price from Moore and I maybe able to get it cheaper for you if you want me to try

Always replace supplies

go tankless and oversize it a little...made the switch 3 years ago and will do it in all future homes.

Since gas/electric not evident
Rheem Marathon water heater
+ Consumer Reports loves the Heat Pump WHs - they need room to breathe but you say garage location, so A.OK


but agree with both the above 100%

UmustBKidding

maddiedou