Rheem Marathon Water Heater

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  #16  
Old 11-18-2021, 06:26 AM
MandoMan MandoMan is offline
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This is the one I plan to use when I replace mine. It’s expensive, but Fine Homebuilding has rated them excellent. It’s a heat pump water heater. It pulls warm air out of your garage, puts some of that into the water, and blows out cooler air. Your garage is already too hot in the summer, so that seems like a good idea. This one is available at Home Depot, but plenty of plumbers handle them.
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  #17  
Old 11-18-2021, 08:02 AM
mpalazzola mpalazzola is offline
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Originally Posted by MandoMan View Post
This is the one I plan to use when I replace mine. It’s expensive, but Fine Homebuilding has rated them excellent. It’s a heat pump water heater. It pulls warm air out of your garage, puts some of that into the water, and blows out cooler air. Your garage is already too hot in the summer, so that seems like a good idea. This one is available at Home Depot, but plenty of plumbers handle them.
YES, my next water heater will be a heat pump. 1/4 of the energy use, plus cool air output into my hot garage!
  #18  
Old 11-18-2021, 08:31 AM
jrref jrref is offline
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YES, my next water heater will be a heat pump. 1/4 of the energy use, plus cool air output into my hot garage!
I would like to get one of these as well but most of the tank installs in garages in the Villages don't have the height for that unit.
  #19  
Old 11-18-2021, 08:35 AM
jrref jrref is offline
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Where do you plan on installing this? Do you have the height? I live in a designer home and most have the water heater in the garage. The problem is there is a fixed tank height of probably 48ish inches and a width of aroung 22 inches. So unless you plan to modify that space the options of what you can install are pretty limited. But i agree, this unit would cool the garage somewhat.
  #20  
Old 11-18-2021, 11:38 AM
tc1963 tc1963 is offline
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Has anyone replaced their electric hot water heater with a Rheem Marathon? If so, who installed it?

This water heater is an efficient non-metalic electric tank hot water heater. The reason why i'm interested in this specific heater is that it does not need an sacrificial anode rod like conventional metal heaters need to slow corrosion. The benefit is your hot water will not have that rotten egg smell from the magnesium anode rod deteriating from hard water like we have here in the Villages.

I've looked at tankless water heaters but Rheem makes a 40 and a 50 gallon "small" Marathon that is roughly the same size as the Rheem heater installed with the house if yours is located in the garage and should be simple to install. No smell also.

When i called one of the popular plumbing companies they weren't familiar with this specific unit but would get back to me after doing some research.

Any feedback and or thoughs would be appreciated.
If you have gas, consider going tankless outside the house. No worries about leaking/rupturing while on vacation resulting in flooding the garage and potential mold issues. Also frees up room in the garage. Hot water response time is about the same as tank in garage. Installed top of the line Rinnai last year on exterior of garage wall. Love it! When it is time to clean & refill our hot tub the Rinnai does so with no problem! Gas bill much lower and continuous hot water. No smell.

Last edited by tc1963; 11-18-2021 at 11:43 AM. Reason: info
  #21  
Old 11-18-2021, 07:29 PM
bark4me bark4me is offline
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Electric tankless are really good. We noticed an immediate savings in our electric bill
  #22  
Old 11-18-2021, 07:32 PM
bark4me bark4me is offline
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Go tankless. I will never own a home again without a tankless water system. And do yourself a favor and get a water softener system installed too. Water in Florida has way too much calcium.
  #23  
Old 11-18-2021, 08:07 PM
retiredguy123 retiredguy123 is offline
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In my opinion, both the Marathon water heater and the heat pump water heater are bad ideas. Very few houses have these expensive water heaters. I would just replace your water heater with the inexpensive standard type that requires no maintenance, and will provide reliable hot water for 12 years or so. One major consideration is that, when you get in the shower and you have no hot water, what are you going to do? If you have the standard type water heater, you can call almost any plumber, and they will come to your house and install a new water heater the same day. Try calling a plumber and telling them that your heat pump water heater is not working. How long are you willing to wait without hot water while trying to find a plumber who can get the repair parts for an expensive water heater.
  #24  
Old 11-18-2021, 11:41 PM
tc1963 tc1963 is offline
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In my opinion, both the Marathon water heater and the heat pump water heater are bad ideas. Very few houses have these expensive water heaters. I would just replace your water heater with the inexpensive standard type that requires no maintenance, and will provide reliable hot water for 12 years or so. One major consideration is that, when you get in the shower and you have no hot water, what are you going to do? If you have the standard type water heater, you can call almost any plumber, and they will come to your house and install a new water heater the same day. Try calling a plumber and telling them that your heat pump water heater is not working. How long are you willing to wait without hot water while trying to find a plumber who can get the repair parts for an expensive water heater.
I know this response will be a little lengthy but PLEASE read! TANKLESS OUTSIDE THE HOUSE. Eliminates future worries about rupture/leaks inside garage creating potential mold/mildew issues that are extremely expensive to remediate properly by certified mold specialists which you would be legally required to disclose when/if you sell. We are about to sue the seller of our house for this exact issue, and have photo proof from their ServPro estimate they left behind in the house after closing. Lied completely on Sellers Disclosure about hot water heater blowing up while on vacation, along with other issues! Hid the damages with Kilz and new drywall to save $400 from ServPro estimate. ServPro estimate stated concern that the mold issue penetrated thru to the Master bathroom wall. Guess what?

Damage discovered on renovation of house beginning 12 days after closing. Mold encrusted HVAC system to 3 feet up into the fresh air return. Had to be replaced. Yes we had a Home Buyers inspection done. They can not see behind Kilz, or cabinets, or up inside the fresh air return. They turn on the ac/heat check the temp. = system ok. TOTAL BILLS ARE EXCEEDING 25K. Tankless only uses energy when actively in use. You are not heating 40-50-75 gallons all the time. Get rid of the tank! Your wallet will be heavier not lighter!!! Forward thinking if you were to sell the above issue would be mute for you with outside Tankless. The only thing to get watered would be your grass. PIPES are a different issue.

Last edited by tc1963; 11-19-2021 at 12:17 AM. Reason: info
  #25  
Old 11-19-2021, 10:43 AM
jrref jrref is offline
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I agree, tankless outside is best but you need gas. Many of the homes north of 44 only have electric and although there are electric tankless heaters you need to upgrade the electric line since the existing 30Amp line is not large enough and i don't think they are made to be installed outside.

That said, Rheem does sell a unit that has a built in water detection and shutoff system called Gladiator. It's only a little more expensive than the regular tank unit but solves the water leak problem And lets you control the temperature of the water on a schedule and has diagnostics to let you know what's wrong or which heating element failed for example. This unit is the same size as the one i have now and i think i'm going to just get this one.

I discovered after more measuring, that the Marathon is 28 inches wide and we only have 22 1/2 so it's not going to work without some major modification to the HVAC door in the garage.

The story you mentioned about the hot water tank leak and the owners covering it up is very disturbing because it's very hard to tell unless there is something noticable for the home inspector to see. There is no way to open the walls and look for mold for example. Even if they checked with a moisture detector the wall is probably dry but still has mold, etc... I believe you can sue the original owner for not disclosing the problem according to the wording in the contract, but it's only up to a certain amount. I would pursue this if i were you. It also troubles me that they didn't use their insurance to cover the costs since this is definetly covered in "normal" homeowners insurance.
  #26  
Old 11-19-2021, 07:10 PM
frose frose is offline
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2 water lines and 1 electrical connection.. takes longer to drain the old one that to install the new one.
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water, heater, rheem, marathon, hot

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