Customer Reviews for Rheem Performance Platinum 40 Gal. Tall 12 Year 40,000 BTU Natural Gas Tank Water Heater

I replaced our homes original water heaters (2 of them) 2 & 3 yrs ago consecutively. They both failed around the same time and I was forced to call Rheem. After going through the checklist, waiting the 24 to 48 hrs to confirm that it wasn't a "pressure build up" they agreed to "replace" the heaters, but here is the catch; They are sold at the Home Depot and in order to get store credit on the new tanks you have to take them the old tanks!! That is sooooo inconvenient. Then, they make you pay the difference on the price of the tanks from when you originally purchased against today's price!! If you are going to warranty your product it should be a FREE REPLACEMENT!!! This method will force you to purchase the same flawed product and deal with the same sad Home Depot return policy that it's worth almost trashing both units and buying direct from a plumber!!! DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY RHEEM WATER HEATERS AT THE HOME DEPOT. Use a Plumber and check their warranty program carefully!!!!

Easy installation. I took me less that 2 hours to remove and replace my old hot water heater with this new one. Excellent warranty provides peace of mind. Hot water in less than one hour after installation.

The hot water heater is very nice. The control mechanism is very nice. The fact that Ignition is done without having to light with a match or a liter is very convenient and easy. The hot water heater once placed was a direct hook up to the existing connections which are all unions, no soldering involved which made installation very easy. Installed 18 April 2020 Exceeds all expectations, very efficient unit with a quick recovery time.

easy install, works great

Great performance so far. We can see the time it takes to heat up the water is much faster than the previous water heater. It was difficult to install, but after installation has been working really well. It is too early to give a review as it has been only a month since installation. I will provide another review after an year or so.

Got one of this installed today 06/02/2020 (Rheem Performance Plus 50 Gal. Tall 9 Year 40,000 BTU Natural Gas Tank Water Heater) The product seems fine and getting hot water now. Experience with the installation: When I called in to order it from "Home Depot". The Home Depot Representative gave a quote for the water heater and installation package and she said everything is included, including the valves. The installer came home and said that the valves look good and do not require to be changed - Gas Valve, Ball Valves for water intake and outflow from the heater. He said there is no pan and its an additional 100 dollars. We get the plastic one that was put for 15 dollars at home depot. He asked me to sign before starting the work. apparently its not required to sign all the documents/agreements before the work. As the package/bundle includes replacing the valves he should have replaced them all or recommended that instead of advising otherwise and mentioning increasing the cost because of the pan. They should send someone out to replace the old/existing valves if its a standard practice to install them in the package. And other customers who are using the Home Depot Installation services should be aware of this and be careful with this practice so that you get the new valves installed as required. "Hope someone at Home Depot Corporate takes not of this and addresses the concern." Thank You

I've only had this water heater for a little over a week but, so far, so good. I picked it up and installed it myself. It was packaged well and appears to be built well,too. The price seemed fair based on a comparison to other units of similar size and warranty period. Here is a picture of it "in action":

Nice unit. 12 year warranty. 50 gallon tank takes care of hot water needs. Easy to install. Setting on 130° is plenty warm for shower or bath.

So far so good. Product was easy enough to install as replacement for my old GE 12 year 40 gallon unit. It lasted 13 years...so, as I purchased this 9 year unit, I hope home depot asks me to rate it 10 years from now, not 2 weeks after installation.

It's only been in place for 4 weeks. So far its performing well. Of course, the real "rating" comes after ~10 years has passed. This said, I'm feeling good about my research, choice of purchase, and installation. Time will tell.

Homedepot contractor 1-800-heaters charged $1300 just for the installation and dispose the old heater. It also takes 1 minute to get the water warm!

The top flanges on the cold and hot water intakes/outtakes are literally plastic. RIGHT next to the venting outlet. They are FREAKING MELTING! Right on the top of a year old water heater. Melting!!! Who puts plastic on a HOT WATER HEATER?!?! My gosh. Rheem what do you have to say?

I have five people in my house and have found that a 50 gallon water heater is a good size. This Rheem water heater had good reviews and was at a good price. Came with a 3 full year warranty with the remaining 9 years a limited warranty for a total of 12 years. Its been 3 days and seems to be working well. Installation was done by Feula plumbing. The attached photo shows their installation work. Nice Company to deal with.

I did not realize that I had a short tank but the tall 40 filled the spot neatly. It was straight forward to install and works perfectly

This is a upgrade water tank. So much more efficient . Work great easy install. 2 hours start to finish. You can't beat the reviews.

I did plenty of homework in looking for a new water heater. This heater has the best warranty, and the best quality of craftsmanship. All of the reviews that I read offering less than 4 stars were because of shipping related damages. This unit took less than two hours to put in, and I drank a couple of cups of coffee while doing it. Water is up to temp, and there is PLENTY of it! Very satisfied!

This review is for Rheem model XG50T12HE40U0. Item was undamaged, installation might have issues. Of note, this model has a flat base without feet, making leveling non-trivial for my sloping basement floor. Documentation does not include how to level the unit (e.g. Is the tank structurally supported in the middle? The edge? At specific points on the base?) I made a level wooden platform from scrap 3/4 plywood covered with scrap 8 inch metal duct. Flattening the duct gave a rectangle 25 inches wide, more than enough for the 22 inch diameter tank base. I used a circular saw to cut a pressure treated 2x4 along the grain to make wedges of the appropriate height and placed them under the platform to level it. I made small leveling adjustments by putting cedar shims and scrap tar paper under the wedges. I am comfortable betting that the PT wood will not rot from moisture traveling through the concrete basement floor over the water heater’s lifetime. Use the side of the tank to plumb it rather than the top to level it. I also upgraded the drain valve to a 3/4 inch full-bore ball valve. I attached a 3/4 NPT x Garden Hose fitting to the valve to make it easier to drain the tank in the future. I will remove the handle to prevent accidental opening. Included documentation lacks information regarding leveling procedures, part numbers and the type of anode provided (Aluminum? Magnesium?). Front page says “This manual also includes a part list,” has a diagram of parts on page 25, but does not list part numbers. Home Depot’s documentation link leads to the original April 2014 version of the installation/use manual, Rheem’s website lists version 2 (AP16801-2 (08/14)) but the tank came with revision 6 (AP16801-6) of the same document. I could not find revision 6 online. Manufacturing date was March 2019, purchased April 2020. Per Rheem’s website, replacement anode rod is Magnesium 0.900 in. diameter x 44-3/8 in. long. I have not owned the water heater long enough for a meaningful product review. It lit with no difficulty and made hot water.

This is a good water heater. I notice that homedepot doesn't stock the cheapest water heater in it's stores, but this is well worth the money. We had a water heater start leaking at a rental property, drove over to homedepot and put this on a cart and took over to the rental, one hour later we were heading home. I do think the extra couple bucks this cost over the cheapest model is worth it, no waiting, and it has a pretty neat pilot light system...

The 75 gallon Rheem water is wonderful. With double the BTUs of a standard water heater and the additional gallons (replaced a 50 gal/ 38K BTU) our home with 4 adults never runs out of hot water. The install was a little more than plug-n-play as the additional BTUs required us to change from a 3” exhaust duct to a 4” exhaust duct. This did add some additional cost to the project but was a DIY install. Overall I am very satisfied with the water heater and it’s performance.

Easy to install,started easy,warm up quickly

The hardest part of the install was lifting the thing into a 3rd story attic. After making attachments, it fired right up. I had hot water after waiting overnight for it to heat up. Be careful about banging the tank-the metal is extremely thin and prone to denying and scratches-especially the base.

~Bought this at reasonable price from HomeDepot, -has Mfg.-date of Dec./27/2017, -and after installing ourselves in just an hour out of the carton, we soon enjoyed wonderfully 'HOT'-water on merely the 'A'-setting, then after a year on 'B'-setting, but recently had to resort to 'C'-setting, -until on April/10/2020 the HoneyWell digital/Control-valve #AP18386A began to malfunction and after re-igniting the Pilot-light the 3-sec.-interval 'Blue'/Status-light came back from 'red'. --but then we only had Luke-warm water! So Honeywell-corp. said to call Rheem-corp. and they indeed confirmed it to still be on Warentee, --and after i carefully explained the symptoms, they said it is likely a failed Thermal-couple water-immersion probe which extends from the Control-valve into the Rheem/water-tank, --so they would send us a new Honeywell/Control-valve to arrive in 4-days 'at no charge'; --which was 'music to my ears' as these relatively sophisticated Control-valves are about $150.oo, --and i know how to install myself after draining the tank!! ThankYou -Rheem-corp. Customer-service (gracious Phone-rep.- 'Afrn'); --i would recommend this product to others (-although made in Mexico instead of usa)!

Purchased this Rheem 50-gal Tall 6 Yr 38,000 BTU Natural Gas unit on April 5, 2020 from Home Depot and installed the following day April 6, 2020. So glad my local Home Depot was open during this Covid-19 Stay-at-Home mandate permitting me to get this project done. I also purchased from Home Depot the Sharkbite hose connections and bottom tray. I highly recommend the Sharkbite to make the install easier/quicker. Thanks to Livingston at the Glen Mills, PA Home Depot (Concord Township #4121) for his help. I purchased this product to replace an existing 29 year old hot water heater. The new dimensions and size/heat requirements were almost an exact duplicate to the old unit thus making the replacement work easier. I rolled the old unit out of the way (with water still in it) to start connecting the new unit. I finished draining the old unit after completing the new unit installation. I am fairly handy with home projects and found this project relatively simple. Rheem's installation instructions were good. Read them. Once all connections were completed and leak tested, the unit was ignited with the natural gas. Rheem, We Have Ignition! Water leaks are easy to see. Use soapy water to check for natural gas leaks. Recheck on occasion to ensure no changes. Working and humming ever since for last 9 days thus far with no issues. Soooo much more efficient and water is hotter than the old unit. I rated this 4 stars because it is new and 9 days in. I would definitely give this Rheem 50-gal 38,000 BTU hot Water Heater Natural Gas 5 stars "when" it last over 10-15 years with minimal operating and mechanical issues.

Easy installation, start-up and heats the water really well. Great for a family of 5 and could easily provide for more.

Very easy to hookup - nice looking- seems to be very efficient!!

I'm a 48 year old female and I was able to remove my old water heater and install the new model BY MYSELF!! Make sure to read all your instructions first!! It wasn't all easy, and I made a few trips to Home Depot but, with lot of breaks and 2 days later, l was finally finished!!! Never been more excited and satisfied with a home project!! Now I don't have to worry anymore BUT don't forget to drain your water heater at least once a year!!

Performs greatly - may have to turn down the temp - it gets really hot.

Product is excellent

Replaced home original Rheem after 16yrs! Only time will tell but off to a good start!! I like the flickering blue light to indicate all okay operation. Solved my hot water one place at a time and less than full throttle in the soaker tub problems. At the time of purchase, I noticed a ?Hot Water Timer? next to replacement hoses. I'm interested to cut the 30 sec to 1 min wait but will have to get later since that "add-on" wasn't in my right now "emergency" budget!!

Install was easy. Quality product for the price. Glad I purchased!