All water heaters heat water - how good they are depends upon the maintenance that you provide. State is a good brand, nothing wrong with them.

If your current water heat has a 6 yr warranty, and you got 9 yrs out of it with no maintenance, you did well.

In terms of replacement is this a standard, direct or power vent model that you are replacing? What capacity (Gallons) is it?

All of this is relevant to cost.

Oh by the way, I just replaced my 12 yr old water heater (GE 50 gallon gas) with a Bradford White- the ONLY brand made here in the good ole USA.

Good luck!

9 years is pretty impressive for most cheap 2 yr warranty water heaters these days. Especially if you did no maintenance to it. Buy one with a 12 year warranty if you want to get 10 years out of it and do annual maintainence and you might get 20 years out of that 12 year model. Yes, it's more expensive. You will get what you pay for in most things in life, but especially in water heaters. $1250 isn't at all a bad quote for a 50 gallon 12 year warranty model with install. It's high for a POS 2 year warranty 30 gallon install.

Which manufacturer produces a WH with a 2 year warranty?

The minimum is six years with the big mfr's (i.e Rheem, AO Smith, and BW)

HD sells a Hotpoint/GE with a 2 yr warranty and sells them by the bucketload because they are the cheapest thing going.

Quote" Bradford White- the ONLY brand made here in the good ole USA. "

WRONG-
A.O.Smith has there corporate offices and principal manufacturing plant at Johnson City, Tenn.

A.O.Smith (the parent company) also manufactures STATE & American at the same plant.

And the last time I looked at a map, Tennesee is still in the U.S.A.

lazypup,

You are correct - AO Smith, has "1", out of several, corporate offices, in Tennessee. Look to see where the other numerous offices are located around the globe - China, Mexico, etc. etc. etc.

AO Smith has manufacturing facilities in Mexico and overseas. Yes, they are producing water heaters. You may be hard pressed to find a "Made in the USA" sticker on a AO Smith WH

Rheem - same story

Point being, Bradford White produces here in the US, and US only and I know where the bottom line dollar is staying.

Thank God for the fact that Tennessee (the beautiful state that it is) is still in the US, and we haven't outsourced it totally to foreign manufacturers.

Don't buy a State Select Water Heater * Terrible customer service!

I recently had a State water heater installed on Feb. 5, 2016. I HATE it. Save your money. It doesn't even come close to heating the water to the temp of my old unit which lasted for 16 years. I could let the water run for 5-10 minutes and my shower is only a few degrees above lukewarm at best. Never again.

I had a state water heater that had a 5 yr warranty and it lasted 17 years before it started to leak. I did nothing to it except drain it every few years to keep it clean. A plumber just installed a new one yesterday for $1048 dollars. Also , it is made in Ashland TENN. I love State Heaters. I just hope it last as long as the old one did !

With that kind of failure rate, you might want to look at your water chemistry. You could have a problem there.

Purchased a new home 11 years ago with a brand new state hot water heater. After 5 years it went bad. The good news is since it was under warranty I received a replacement for $50. The bad news is that I am only in year 5 of the replacement and it flooded my finished basement. Water flowing out of the bottom of water heater. Even though it was within the 6 year warranty they will not replace since it was a replacement for the first bad one. Needless to say my 3rd is not a state water heater.

Sorry to hear that it opened up.

Marathon has fiberglass tank electric heaters. I don't know who is making a better quality standard gas water heater. I've gone gas tankless on two homes now and haven't looked back.

Replaced our gas water heater in Nov 2002. The unit installed was a State PRX40 (40 gal) with six year warranty. It appears it was manufactured in 1998 but I may be misreading the label. No maintenance or up-keep and no breakdowns, it just keeps on going. Hot water when we need it. 15 years without problems is remarkable. Would we buy another State most probably, but there is no guarantee it will live up to this model and the same can be said of any other brand. We might have another five years life remaining but need be reasonable and pro-active. We live north of Fargo ND. The State PRX40 is doing its job supplying three bathrooms with energy efficient showers and faucets. BZ!

I have a 50 gallon State Select water heater . It is now 19 years old. Never a problem untill now. I just replaced the pressure value which blew open ( $20 ), turned down the heat a bit and it appears to be working fine. It is glass lined to prevent rust and the water feed tube has a propeller on the bottom to prevent mineral build up.

Just installed a State hot water heater today. It's a 50-gallon electric hybrid. Energy cost should be significantly lower than my old conventional electric unit. My contractor recommended it and installs lots of them 10 year warranty. He replaced a 13 year-old Bradford White conventional electric HW heater with this one. He says the Bradford White units are not the same quality they were in the past, so he's no longer installing them. Installed it was $1600, including an Energy Star rebate of $500. He was $400 lower than my other quote for an AO Smith hybrid from another contractor. It's day 1, so I can't speak to longevity yet.

I have had two State Select 40 gallon water heaters in my attic and done no maintenance at all on them for 18 years and they've been great! The plumber is pushing me to replace them and I am considering it with new State Select.

Our State Courier 515 electric water heater was installed in late 1988 or very early 1989 and it apparently has finally given up the ghost. No hot water. We're debating what brand to replace it with - it has never leaked, has been drained a couple of times, was flooded last August by Harvey and gave us hot water until a couple of days ago. We were very happy with our Rheem AC unit but did not know they made hot water heaters. We're about to go shopping.

Well I have to replace my state select power vent unit again after 5 years of replacing the last one. Cost $2100.00 . Warranty was applied to the old one that leaked after 6 years.. Mentioned the failures to the plumber and he said good luck with contacting the company as I have hard water issues too...Between the cost of the tank replacement and the propane bill I might go back to electric after this. Just mentioned this to my plumber and he said the electric version is half the cost... Any comments are appreciated...

wow, yeah... that gets pricey!

So here are some suggestions:

For a lot less money you can get a hybrid heat pump heater. It's cheap to run - costing slightly less per year than a natural gas tankless. You need a basement or similar area from which to pull air.

The other thing is that you could fix your hard water problem with a water softener.

The combo would still be less than another State water heater and would actually solve problems.

Note: there are things that you have to look at before you do this - such as do you have the required air exchange for the water heater and what is the chemistry on your water, etc... but this would be a much better solution.

In the US, propane costs about the same as electric resistance... which is to say it's very expensive. Your mileage may vary - as they say -- based on electricity and propane prices.

This is a 7 year old thread. Start a new thread instead of tacking on to this one if you want more info.

The Rheem hybrid (heat pump) water heaters get good reviews on the Home Depot website and they save around $ 300 per year in saved electric costs compared to a regular electric water heater. The installation is pretty much the same as a regular electric water heater. I have the GE hybrid water heater version and it works fine. FYI - GE sold it's manufacturing equipment for their hybrid electric water heaters to Bradford White so Bradford White also makes hybrid water heaters now.

my 4.5 year old State Select water heater just failed and flooded my basement, first slowly than quickly. if your contractor wants to install one of these, run!, don't walk from him, he's looking to pad his margin at your expense State Select is a piece of sh*t.

Lot of confusing posts and lot of posters ignoring the other posts...

There are cheap electric heaters and there are more expensive ones... typically both the expected life and the guaranteed Life for the more expensive ones is longer.

If a heater fails after, say, five years, that may be excellent service or that may be terrible - depending on the model that was installed.

For someone to observe that a Specific Brand failed after, say, three years and therefor is a bad brand is not very logical - it depends on the model that was originally bought.

Also, these heaters typically should be drained and flushed at about one year intervals and the corrosive electrode periodically changed. THEY FREQUENTLY ARE NOT!

Just replaced a 75 gallon State WH With a 50 gallon State WH. The first one lasted 17 years with 0 maintenance. Hopefully, the new one is just as good as the old. Can't imagine spending $1700+ every few years.

13 years going strong with my original 2, 50 gallon state select tanks. no maintenance no draining at all. they are in the attic and my friends say am pushing my luck. am considering rheem since the reviews here are so mixed.

I just had to replace the thermocouple on my 22 year old 40 gallon state select so needless to say for less than 10 bucks after 22 years I’m pretty happy with my water heater.

I had a state water heater 50 gallons, got it brand new and every year just as wi ter started the burner would go out on it. This time I was going to replace the burner but the cost of the parts was 450 dollars. So I junked it and bought an American standard, state water heater was the worst experience in my life they are crap!!

My state select is 21 years old and works fine. Looking at other WH now just due to the number of years - before a problem does pop up.

20 yrs State Select ( red label ) just started leaking at the cold water inlet threads , they rotted. Never maintenanced either. Its a shame there‘s no consistency in products. 50 gallon , 40,000 btw gas .

Hello! So glad to find this thread. We moved into our home 2 years ago. State Select installed 2015. We're on well and septic. Water takes awhile to get hot all over the house except the basement. Feel like I want to replace this water heater. Had a Bradford-White, Rheem for years before that. Both were great. I know I want glass-lined and the longest lasting heater I can find. I think glass-lined is the cleanest. Any thoughts on this? Would very much appreciate. Wondering if I should just let the State go for another year or so.

The plumber we've been using installs Rheem. I'm a little afraid to ask them to install a Bradford-White. Would you be? Not sure how to handle that one.

Thanks so much.

Warning! State does not honor their warranty. Do not buy!

I had a good gas water heater which lasted 25 years without main and still going.

I have concern about water heater aging, so so, I replaced it with a 75 galon State Select gas water heater. it started leaking after 6 years and flooded my garage. The warranty is out and I have to replace a new one. I am very disappointment about such bad products from State Select.

We just discovered our State Select water heater leaking and its only 6 yrs, 2 months old !! Wont be replacing with this brand

My State Select Water Heater was built in 2007, is now 16 years old and my ignitor just went out. I replaced the part and is back at working. Hate to state that I have never drained it and should before it breaks down on me.

Its the times,,, Should not take more then an hour to remove and replace a heater as long as its a normal install,, Gas heater vent piping would be the extra time neded.. 150 to 200 for labor plus the added $$$ for water heater..

I just had a State hot water heater installed after my old one broke after 27 long years!! i hope this new one can last atleast half as long. it took 2 hours to install the new one and it cost $1,800 total with labor so you got quoted a good price it seems

Beware this brand. We purchased a brand new top of the line heat pump from these guys. It failed in less than a year. While they replaced the unit, they do not cover almost any of the installation, so we are out a thousand dollars to replace their faulty product. Not at all what I consider good or even fair customer service.

"When it comes to durability, nobody does it like State." So says the company, but this is totally disconnected from reality. I have a Premier Force 90+Ultra-Low NOx 50 gallon unit. The original unit was purchased and installed in 2018. After multiple failures, the unit was replaced in 2024. Just one year later, the replacement unit is failing. Quoted parts and repairs come to $3,600! I called the company expecting them to cover the cost, but no such luck. Apparently, the warranty on the original unit carries forward to the replacement unit, so that the replacement unit, despite being almost new, is out of warranty. Any company that wants to be known for the quality and durability of its products cannot have this kind of policy. It shows a complete disregard for your customers, who expect you to stand behind your products. I'm left with no choice but to have the unit hauled away to the dump to join all the other junk.