40 Gallon - 40,000 BTU Effex High Efficiency Residential Gas Water Heater

I installed this unit myself as a direct replacement for a 13 year old A.O. Smith unit which was just beginning to leak. I figured the old unit was on it's last leg (though it never gave us any issues)and I wanted to install a more-efficient unit. Major Points:1. The Effex is Made in the U.S.A. (South Carolina to be exact). I despise anything made in china, so it was satisfying to find the Effex to be made in the good ol' U.S.2. The Effex was taller than the old unit, so some vent reworking was required. 3. I used two American-made Brasscraft brand "Copper-Flex" ([@])brand water lines with a compression fitting installed at one end of each line.4. I replaced the water supply shutoff valve since the original was leaking (needed to cut the copper water lines above the valve anyway since the Effex stands tall).5. Following the directions, after the water, gas, and vent lines were all hooked up, I plugged the unit in and set it to 120 degrees F; the fan kicked on for 5 seconds, then shut off (the display threw a "clean screen" and pressure switch code). I did a power cycle using the switch on the side of the burner control module; again, the blower fan kicked on for 5 seconds and then it stopped, throwing the same error codes. The unit continued to attempt a light-off on its own, with the fan kicking on about once a minute. After a few minutes of this, it lit off and hasn't missed a beat since.6. A.O. Smith recommends a max water temp of 120 degrees F, but we found that to be way too hot for us, so we kicked it down to 115 and it is still hotter than we need, but it is probably good keeping it hot enough to kill bacteria in the washing machine and dish-washer, so we won't lower it any further. The Effex is an over-achiever and I can't wait to see my gas bill drop a little bit.7. The blower-fan (I call it a supercharger) makes a little "noise" in the same context that an American-made V8 (or Italian V10) makes "noise". It is not so loud to be intrusive.

Wow. Okay, first of all, A+ to Pex for getting us the unit in a timely way. PROS: - efficient - modern control panel - easy installation - fast reheat - name brand CONS: - LOUD LOUD LOUD air intake fan! For basement or garage install only! - requires a wall outlet - less hot water than we're used to with old cheap tank of same capacity Installers were very impressed with this unit. Remarked a few times at what an amazing machine it was for the price, etc. Installatio went in without a problem. You'll need a wall outlet though, which wasn't clear to us when we ordered it. That said, the burner has an air supply fan that sounds like a vacuum cleaner or super loud hair dryer every time it runs to heat the water. As in several times a day. It's way too loud for living-space installation. This thing really is meant to be in a garage or basement at best. We searched other online reviews after we discovered this fact and wished we had done so before ordering. Additionally, it doesn't seem to give us as much hot water for a bath as our cheap-o old 40gal that we replaced. We were expecting the opposite. So.. smaller baths than we're used to, but it heats up pretty fast. CONCLUSION: Great efficient water heater for the money with a name everyone seems to trust. Incredibly loud fan so not for installation in living space. Good performance for the money, but man is this thing loud. Supposedly that's what you get with an efficient tank.