Adventures with Rheem

Two and a half years ago, our hot water tank broke. The tank was here when we moved into the house and merely five years old. However, it was a lower line model and its expected life expectancy was about five years. It also happened to be Easter Sunday, and I was three days away from being 41 weeks pregnant. Sounds like fun, right?

We quickly did some research, found a new Rheem hot water tank with a 12 year warranty, and someone could come out to install it the following day (Monday). Thus, we did. And this became one of the first household fixes that we did not DIY on our own. 

It was nice to be able to take a shower before having a baby, only to become gross and not shower again for an extended period of time. 😝

Fast forward two and a half years with a two and a half year old and a seven month old.  A few days after my birthday this year, we discovered our hot water wasn’t working. The tank was still under warranty so we called Rheem and told them our situation.  After a failed troubleshooting over the phone (as expected) they found the part needing replacement and had it shipped to us. It arrived five days later and the plumber came out the next day and had it fixed in a jiffy.

While working, he and my husband were chatting. Apparently, the plumber was well aware of this problem in this particular model of water tank and had been driving around town replacing tanks with the exact same problem. He explained that they had installed a non-branded temperature sensor on these models and when the weather suddenly drops cold for the first time around mid/late October, they break. The new replacement they sent was a Honeywell part and more reliable. In the past, Rheem had been using Honeywell temperature sensors. At some point, they stopped, and the model we purchased happened to be one of the ones without the Honeywell part. Rheem figured this out eventually and the ones they manufacture now have Honeywell sensors on them.

The plumber had also mentioned he could retire if he wanted to, but he was making easy money off of these warranty jobs that it was too good to stop. Good for him. And I’m glad he knew what he was doing since he’s been doing so much of it lately.

These two hot water tank mishaps have been more than I bargained for when we bought the house five years ago. I’m also hoping and expecting the water tank not to break down on me for the next ten years. But, if it does, it’ll still be covered. 

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Moral of the story: 

1. Don’t take shortcuts you can’t rely on. Rheem is unfortunately paying for their choice to use a different part. But they've at least learned their lesson and gone back to the more reputable brand of part.

2. Certain things are best left to the professionals. Had we installed our own hot water tank, it would have voided the warranty. Read your fine print. Keep your warranties!