American Water Heaters Reviews

Our house was built in 2021. The builder installed an American Water Heater 50 gallon tank at the time, so it's only a little over 4 years old. It sits in a utility closet on the second floor of our home. It epically failed a couple days ago and dumped ALL 50 gallons down into the ceiling and the walls of our main floor. Right away I went online to see if it was covered under warranty and it was, so I filled out a form and got a case number. We called an emergency plumber and he deemed it non-fixable.

I build a new home and they installed two 50 Gal American water heaters in my house. 5 years later, the 1st tank leaked and flooded my house. Needless to say, I replaced it with a different brand after the company wouldn’t honor the 6-year warranty because I filed an insurance claim, and they told me they would replace my heater OR pay my $500 insurance deductible. The other water heater is now leaking, less than 10 years old. 2 water heaters, both under 10 years old, and they malfunction. The company basically told me to suck eggs again. I will never ever purchase another American product. Complete garbage product.

I am very disappointed with American Water Heaters. I purchased a unit built in 2023, and it began leaking in 2025 after only two years of use. When I contacted the company, I was told the warranty had expired, despite the product's relatively new manufacturing date and short lifespan. This is because a heater I bought from them in 2017 also went out. Do you see a pattern here? A water heater should last far longer than two years, and I expected better quality and support. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend American Water Heaters and would encourage others to carefully review warranty terms and consider other brands before purchasing. These people are pushing out a poorly built product and leaving consumers with the bill. Shame on them!

Because of the way things are made today,this comment probably won’t be reflective of today’s product. Had to replace water heater in July 1998. Went with a MorFlo heater bought at Home Depot. Installed it myself. Never did any maintenance even though it was always in service exposed to east coast well water(through a conditioner)which is noted for being hard with an abundance of iron,and it still works fine. The only reason it’s being replaced is because the anode rod has finally given up. It was advised that due to the age it would be better to replace it. So after 27 years of service it’s kind of losing an old friend. But as with everything else, all good things come to an end. I hope the new water heater will be just as good.

I purchased a newly constructed home from a builder in February 2019. The agreement listed a specific water heater model, but I later discovered that a different brand, American Water Heater, was installed instead. Just over 6 years later, the unit started leaking from the bottom due to rust, and I was told the warranty had expired by 3.5 months — so no support would be provided. I can't believe I’m having to deal with a major home issue just because of rust in a supposedly high-quality water heater.

Bought and installed a new American 40 gal short gas heater in May 2024 and it started to leak in Nov 2024. I have never seen a heater lasted for only about 6 Months. Though it is still under warranty, I still have to take down the heater, pay 100 for re-stock fee and hire someone to install the new heater. What a waste.

I purchased a unit from Lowes in September 2024. The igniter was defective. It took my plumber about 45 minutes with tech support to figure it out. AO sent a new part (3 days later) and the plumber had to return to my home to reinstall it. The warranty claim was made and I was issued a check for $100.00. I was told that is their "policy." Does anyone know a plumber who is going to spend 45 minutes on the telephone with tech support and then come back to a home 3 days later to install the replacement part? Me either.... It is an insult and nowhere near a warranty.

My American gas hot water heater was installed Mar. 9, 1994. That's over thirty years. It worked absolutely flawlessly all that time. Never a single issue. A few months ago the water wasn't HOT hot, just warm hot. I figured it was time for a new one. I couldn't find the American brand locally and have had an A. O. Smith one installed. We all know that newer appliances aren't as reliable. I'd bet the farm that this new one--at four times the price--won't last anywhere near thirty years. But I just wanted to give a great review for American hot water heaters. Thirty years of trouble-free service. And still heating water hot enough to do dishes in when it was ripped out yesterday and scrapped.

I purchased this hot water heater three years ago. I have had multiple issues with the pilot light going out from the first week after installation. I have had the three primary parts replaced, and was responsible for shipping and labor for every visit the plumber has had to make. When I requested that the shipping be covered because I obviously had a bad unit, I was told no. The unit has never worked, and I continue to have problems with it.

I had an American Water Heater for about 5 years when it started leaking out of the tank. They replaced it with a new one but it started leaking within the first year. When I called to report I was told the warranty on the “new” one is linked to my old one and the warranty ran out 2 months ago. I ask if I could talk with a supervisor or anyone who could help and she calmly told me no and there’s no one else to talk to. Less than a year old and wouldn’t even discuss. Definitely my last American Hot Water heater.

It's December 18th in Michigan. My water heater broke down. I called American Water Heater for a replacement part on the 19th of December 2022. They gladly ordered the part, charged me an extra $38 for express delivery, I asked "Do you want my email for the confirmation that it's been shipped?" Their reply was "we don't do that, just call back." I called Wednesday December the 21st and asked if they could give me the confirmation number or tracking number because the part hadn't arrived yet. The customer service representative explained that the part hadn't shipped yet. I asked when it would ship, he said "I don't know. It's a made to order part." I asked what that meant and was told that there was no way they could tell when it would be shipped or when I would get it, he did however, offer to refund my express shipping cost. My recommendation is not to deal with this company or buy their products "PowerFlex" water heaters.

Cannot get hold of them on phone. Been waiting for 2hrs. They just don't care! Tried calling again and again. No reply. Been trying for 3 days. My heater pressure relief valve is not working and I am leaking water.

Bought water heater with warranty 2009 - heater leaked - they agreed to replace but no plumber would take their job - so they offer 419$ only - can't buy water heater for that price - do not buy heater from this company - useless customer service.

I purchased a new house built by D.R. Horton. The house came with a preinstalled water heater. The water heater failed with internal leak exactly in less than three years. I called the American Water Heater Company and they agreed to provide a replacement water heater. They referred me to Northside Plumbing to get a similar water heater. Their supplier (Northside) is now asking $60 for the paper work and the original tag attached to the water heater. The total cost to get it installed, get the tag from the original heater (making two trips) and installation is more than getting a new water heater from a different manufacturer. Never purchase any product made by American Water Heater which is now owned by A.O. Smith.

Absolutely horrible products. They fail (leaking tanks) every couple of years and when it comes time to stand behind their product, they do not. They blame the issue on something else like high water pressure...really? On a well? We are lucky to get to 50PSI...the water is filtered and softened...you really can't get better than that. Never again, Will switching to another brand.

After fighting tooth and nail to warranty a faulty heater for my customer I was told that with no one in our area distributing these heaters I had to eat the additional cost to replace something that should have been warrantied. The heater was not even 5 years and old and was leaking through the tank. The service was awful and as a Plumber not worth the time it took to sort out the problem for only a fraction of the cost of a new heater to replace it with. I know we refuse to treat our customers this way so I am baffled to see a company like this so comfortable with it.

Our water heater is 5 years old and has a issue with the airflow turning the pilot light out. I called the 1-800 number and customer service was very helpful, helped get my pilot light back on, and even had me send in photos of the unit to fix any issues to keep this from happening again. It can be rough taking cold showers but thankfully this company helped us not have to do that.

Have a 30 gal, started leaking after about 4.5 to 5 years. Called, great at giving rma, but, needs a licensed plumber to exchange the unit, and have to find a place that sells them That would defy the use of having a warranty. The cost to have the plumber take it back, is not worth the hassle to just be gouged with purchase of a new one from a decent company that can simply just exchange it. Just go to the large chain store and get one. They just do not make them like they used to.

Bought a home with a Polaris combination Water heater and in floor heat furnace. When the unit reached 17 yrs old it began to leak. I had it replaced with the identical unit. 1 yr later it began to leak, it took three weeks to get a replacement unit and had I not hired ABF freight to go to the manufacturer and pick it up it would have been 2 more weeks before they would deliver it. 1 yr later it is leaking again! Now they say they will not replace it. THESE UNITS ARE JUNK....RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN.

Bought a water heater from Lowe's with 10 yr warranty. The heater started malfunctioning after 2 years. Called American Water Heater since it is still under manufacturer warranty, but got the runaround and they did not honor their warranty. I also have extended warranty through Lowe's but they would not honor the extended warranty until the manufacturer warranty expires.

Had water heater installed in 2012 and it has performed with excellence. Model #BFG6140T403NOV never had any issues. We are looking for a water heater for our farmhouse now and plan on getting one from this company.

We built new house in 2012. Within the first two weeks had to put an element in the thing and my builder took care of that. I should of had them put a new one in then. I installed three elements and two thermostats before realizing this thing had a 6 year warranty. So at 6 years years and 3 months no coverage. Now I am on my own. Nice. I truly liked the heater and the service it gave when it was not being repaired. Note to self... Never repair when it's under warranty. They will not take care of it afterward... Probably won't but this brand for my replacement. Thanks.

I paid now for labor again. Don't know what to do now. Which company electric heater should I purchase? Appreciate your opinion.

I would give them zero stars if that was an option. Purchased a brand new American Water Heater on 12/19/18. By 2/19/19, it had already stopped working. When my plumber called to get the okay to replace valve & burner assembly, he was on hold for over 1 hour before they would give approval. He replaced the parts and by 2/28/19, the heater was again not functioning. Again he called to speak to a rep at American and was put on hold 3 times. He was on the phone over half an hour and was told we needed to replace burner and valve assembly AGAIN. If that didn't work, would need to replace vent. If that didn't work, they would finally send approval to replace unit.

We smelled a gas leak. CenterPoint Energy and the fire department came over to assess the situation. They found out that the safety valve on your water heater wasn’t working and was spewing out gas when the pilot light wasn’t on. Your safety valve made by “Unitrol” assembled in Mexico failed!!! My house was 30 minutes away from blowing up my kids, me and my friends. I will do anything I can to shut you down! How DARE you allow your water heaters to be so dangerous! I’m also a realtor and will make sure everyone knows this!

My American Water Heater, E52-40H-045D Serial 9709122230 made in 1997 is now 21 years old. I just refinanced my house and had to get new insurance. They questioned the age of my water heater and I told them, "So what?" It looks like it's new, I have a timer that shuts it off for 10 hours at tonight, and it is in the garage. If it were to leak it would run down the driveway. I have not done one repair job on it, eg. new elements and don't plan to replace it until it stops working. Highly recommend buying one.

I have supplied the information requested for my leaking water heater. I was told a supervisor would call me back in 1-2 hours. After 5 hours I called again and was told that the supervisor had left for the day. So I am without hot water for another day and I am unable to take a shower. Representative told me there is no telephone number for their corporate office as the supervisor is the only one with the number.

We built our home brand new and after 3.5 years our water heater started leaking. Plumber came out and said the water heater was rusted beyond repair. The plumber took it to the store it was purchased at and was replaced under warranty. The labor was out of pocket of course (no warranty for that) but I was happy for the warranty. Our new water heater started leaking buckets of water from the pressure valve 2.5 years later (February 2018). Plumber came out to look at it and said he would try replacing the pressure valve first, upon disassembling the pressure valve he noticed a lot of rust. Further inspection uncovered that the whole water heater was so rusted he didn’t think he would be able to put it back together!!!

Do not buy a water heater from American Water Heater Company. We purchased our home in 2015,the water heater was updated as an upgrade by former home owners to sell the home better. We have been here now for 2.5 years, and our water heater needs replacing. But because we are not the original home owners, our fairly new, albeit crappy, hot water heater is not covered under warranty. So, now, we have to go buy a new one. Because who wouldn’t want to spend $800 replacing a major appliance less than 4 years after it was installed? I have two small children, so cold water isn’t really an option for more than a couple days. So we have to do it now. Bad warranty conditions, poor quality hot water heater. Will NOT be buying this brand as replacement. Side note, won’t be buying much for a while, since all our money will now be going to a hot water heater. Please, please, please do NOT support this company, for your own good.

My wife had a PowerFlex water heater installed in April of 2008, before we were together. In September 2013, it began leaking from the bottom. They said to take it to Lowe's for a replacement as it was within the 6 year warranty period. The replacement I installed on October 20, 2013. The pressure relief valve started leaking in January 2017. I called for a replacement and was told it was out of the warranty period! What!

Water Heater was purchased 6/28/14 at Lowe's. It broke the first time on 9/15/16. AWH shipped a new gas valve to us and I paid for shipping ($30) and paid for installation ($228). The unit broke again on 12/28/17 and again, AWH is shipping us a gas valve at our expense ($30) although the plumber asked them to also send a thermocouple to ensure we get all the necessary parts but they refused. We have already paid the plumber (who they authorized) $95 and will need to pay him more money to come after hours on Saturday to hopefully fix the unit. We won't know if they sent the right parts until he tries to fix it with the new gas valve.

Had a plumber install my water heater incorrectly, called Rheem and they put me in contact with Carlos at American Water Heater. It is just a few days before Christmas and I was not even sure Carlos could look at my water heater, not to mention replace it. I was hoping he could at least look at it. Instead, he not only looked at it but replaced it, all the same day. Amazing! Would recommend American Water Heater in Miami to any and all friends. Awesome service, very professional, timely. If you have a problem with a water heater in Miami you should make one call, American Water Heater.

Called customer service about my hot water heater which is under warranty. They said that the serial number is listed under someone else name. Had me email the Data Plate to an email address that kicked back as undelivered. Called again. Had to explain it all over. The person gave me another email address which work. The customer service person called and told me to call back. I did but had to explain it again to a third person because they could not connect me to the second person. That person wanted a copy of the purchase receipt. I told her that I just bought the house. After being on hold, she told me that a supervisor had to review it but could not tell me when. In the meanwhile I have no hot water!

The water heater is manufactured by American Water Heater and sold under various names including Whirlpool. It was sold in Home Depot, Lowe's and lots of other places. 7 years ago it was installed. Nothing but problems. As other reviews said the flame keeps going out. They came out and kept fixing it. They replaced a part but that only worked for a short period. I understand that a company needs to make money but American Water Heater is just a crap product. Lowe's stopped carrying it last year. They want me to buy another hot water heater because it's 7 years old. That is just crazy.

Envirotemp 40 gal natural gas water heater - 11 months old and will not stay lit. All but 1 tech the warranty people sent me too will come out. I have to pay upfront and then be reimbursed from the warranty. I am getting no help with the warranty people. It is still under warranty, it replaced a 15 year old water heater that I did nothing to. This is garbage, and to take advantage of the elderly like this, will never buy anything to do with this brand again. Terrible treatment.

Last week I purchased AWH hot water heater model PVG6240T50NVS and installed it according to their manual. However product has number of safety issues including exposed wire between the furnace and control unit at the bottom. The cover at the bottom does not shield the wiring and it appears their engineer have no clue about the consequences of the exposed wire next to the heat source. Their customer support/tech support has no clue of their product. I wonder if they have quality control engineer that inspects the product before shipping out. This company is worthless organization and should be reviewed for lack of safety issues related to their product.

I purchased a new Whirlpool gas hot water tank from Lowe's in 2015. The hot water tank worked great up until this month. The pilot light went out. I called the number on the hot water tank, and they sent a new thermopile for free, but I had to pay $30.00 to have it sent the next day. I paid a plumber to install the new unit. It worked for 3 weeks then went out again. I am having to relight the unit every day. I called American Water Heaters (manufacturer) about the issue. The tech and the supervisor both said it may be the gas line, but I would have to have a plumber come out to diagnose it. Another additional cost paid by me. I told her that I did not think it was fair to ask the consumer pay for a faulty unit or design on their part. Without going into a longer drawn out story... do not buy a unit from this company. Whirlpool slapped their name on it, but it is not worth the trouble.

I purchased two (2) gas American Water Heaters and installed them in a new home in March 2013. One heater failed in June 2016 after 3 years. The second hot water heater failed June 2017 after 4 years. The heaters are supposed to have a 6 year warranty. These hot water heaters have not been reliable. The company does not support the warranty of The Hot Water Heater.

Never, never, never buy a hot water heater from this company. We replaced an old tank with an American Water Heater product in 2013. It had a 6-year warranty. April 1, 2017 we discovered it was leaking. The water did significant damage which took $2,000 and 3 weeks to repair. But that was only the beginning of the nightmare. Since the tank was still under warranty, I contacted AWH and requested a new tank. They supplied one. It was installed on April 18, 2017. The pilot light will not remain lit! The very reputable service company I had install it has been back 10 TIMES in the past 36 DAYS to try to get this piece of junk to work. The gas line has been checked by the gas company. It's fine.

Bought the house in 1992. Had a 5 year old gas water heater. Had it replaced in 2004 because it developed a pin-hole leak next to discharge tube. Hey, 17 years was a long time! It didn't owe me anything. My gas service provider is KEYSPAN. They carried American Water Heaters brand with a 6-year warranty and did the new install. It's a 40 gallon tank, natural gas, model # FG6140S403NOV. Four of us live in house and use water on a normal level. This water heater is now getting towards the end of its life. Had it serviced today by my contracted (by KEYSPAN) service person from HOMESERVE. The technician changed the thermo-coupler and informed us that the unit is rusting within and is close to the end. He recommended a new one to be installed soon and to contact HomeServe to purchase it. Schedule the install. On May 15, I will be making the call.