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The questions never seem to end on this project. The old (7 years) hot water heater is leaking. In my area, Lowe's has the best prices. I have been using standard hot water heaters as replacements, but noticed yesterday that they have a mobile home model. It is exactly the same as the standard model, except for two things. The Element Wattage (Upper/Lower) is 4500/4500 on the standard and 0/3500 on the mobile home. The Gallons per Hour Recovery on the standard is 20.7 on the regular and 16.1 on the mobile home. Both are priced the same at $229 with 6 year warranty. Which one should I buy?

Hi,

Is your WH gas or electric, electric you can replace with anything that will fit the space requirements, GAS has to be a MH approved heater.

Yanita

Sorry for the oversight - I should have said it is 40 gallon electric.

Hi,

As I said any electric heater can be used as long as it fits the space requirements you have .

Yanita

Wellllll wattage indicates electric, Gas would be BTU.

The Element Wattage (Upper/Lower) is 4500/4500 on the standard and 0/3500 on the mobile home.

Just looking at the numbers you listed:
The Mobile Home water heater at 3500 watts will draw ABOUT 15 amps at 220 volts.

The Other water heater at 4500/4500 watts will draw ABOUT 40 amps at 220 volts.

1st I would look at the current draw of the Existing water heater to see how much it draws

2nd I would check the circuit breaker feeding the water heater to see what it is rated for.

3rd I would check the size of the wire that is in there now to make sure it was big enough.

IF all of these are right I would get the 4500/4500 heater due to the faster recovery rate. If any one of the 3 items is not rated for the current draw you will have to get the 0/3500 or have the electrical upgraded.

ChasMB - Thanks for telling me what I needed to find out to know which one to get. After checking with my electrician, I don't have to use the mobile home model. He said that one has only one heating element - thus the longer recovery time - and there probably would be complaints about not having enough hot water. I really appreciate your taking the time to explain all that to me.

Yanita wrote:Hi,

Is your WH gas or electric, electric you can replace with anything that will fit the space requirements, GAS has to be a MH approved heater.

Yanita

Why does the gas have to be mh rated and not the electric?

Gas heaters need to be vented and electric does not. The venting of ANY flame type heating device requires a MH certification. Greg

I am glad you answered that thanks I just wished I ould of found thi forum 2 years ago as I replaced my water heater, which is gas and I just picked up one from a valu home center.
It was put in by someone who works in the field as I am not good when it comes to putting pipes together, I mean I can do it but it's the whole no leak rule I have problems with lol. Anyways a whole new vent was ran up through the roof. I haven't had any problems but do you think there will be any problems?