Bradford White

Our plumber installed a Bradford White Water Heater in our condo in 2013. It has to be replaced today (5 years). Labor is not covered, there is a $125 surcharge because of a federal standard that made newer water heaters more efficient but cost more, so I have to pick up the difference. I called BW and they basically told me too bad, I have no choice. The average water heater lasts 12.5 years, BW certainly lowers that average. Choose anything else.

Our first water heater (not sure of brand) lasted 16 years. It was replaced by a Bradford White in 2010. 2 years later it leaked from the bottom and was replaced by the plumber that installed it in 2012. Even though it was covered under warranty the plumber charged us $400 to put it in. Now, 6 1/2 years later, it just failed again, leaking water out the bottom. Used a different plumber this time and went with a Rheem. I would not ever put another Bradford White in my home. 24 year old home on its 4th water heater!

Installed new, failed after 2 1/2 years. Do not use if you have a salt water softener or high calcium chloride in your water, BW would not honor the warranty. Not one penny. No help at all. The tank was almost solid inside and extremely heavy when it was removed. Our contractor will no longer use their products. Expensive mistake. Horrible people to deal with.

First unit 50 gal power vent installed in 4/11 by local HVAC plumbing contractor. First unit leaked. Unit replaced under warranty 2/15. Replacement unit massive leak and failure 9/18. 2 units both died within 4 years of service. I changed the anode in second unit two years in service even though inspection showed no material degradation. Drained tank as part of annual maintenance. Bottom line, not worth the $1000 price tag and the warranty in insufficient.

My heater was installed right around 10 years. Water sometimes hot, sometimes cold for a while. Now it's leaking at the top. Called the rep, she asked for warranty card. But I only have receipt and installed label for 10 warranty info that prove I paid for it. She said that's the policy, could not do anything.

I wish everyone would do their homework and read these reviews before buying a Bradford White (BW). These things have been junk since AT LEAST 1982. My first new house in 1982 came with a 6 yr BW which failed after 6 yrs and a couple of months. My second new house in 1997 came with a 6 yr BW which failed just before 6 yrs use. Both were replaced with Rheem water heaters - great product and great warranty that includes labor in the early years. The BW replacement for my 1997 house was a 9 yr Rheem that lasted me 15 years and was still working when I chose to replace it in 2017 due to signs of age. I bought a 12 yr Rheem that covers parts & tank for 12 years, and all labor for the first 3 years, $558 (now $618 a year later).

We had our home built in 2010 and the builder installed a BW water heater. The 1st one lasted five years, then started to leak. Since then we've gone thru three water heaters in three years all with the same problem, they leak and the pilot light won’t stay lit. Customer service will warranty the parts if you can get them but not the labor cost. So you are still out of pocket several hundred dollars to fix their faulty product. I would never recommend anyone to buy a BW product of any kind. Very poor quality and customer service.

We have the 40 gallon Gas Water heater model M44 and it has operated flawlessly for 9 years. Now 3 years past the manufacturer's stated warranty of 6 years and we are hearing popping when the heater is on, so we know the time is near to a tank failure. I was surprised to learn that the warranty starts at time of manufacture and not from time of purchase. I find this not to be in my best interest and not a good consumer policy. For that reason alone I will not purchase another B-W water heater.

Warranty is for 6 years but if you buy it from a reseller it is still from the date manufactured. We purchased through the plumber doing the work. We were under the 6 years when we bought the unit but not under the 6 years when it was manufactured. Therefore, no warranty coverage for us. Also our previous water heater lasted over 16 years. Not impressed with a 6 year lifecycle. In our case the control valve was leaking. Fortunately caught early enough. Will get the water sensors that we can place underneath in case of a future leak.

Late Sunday evening I notice that we did not have hot water. We check the hot water tank to find our basement was wet and water continued from the hot water tank. I looked on Google for 24 hours and found PK Wadsworth. I called and was told that the Tech would return my call. The Tech, Roberto, returned the call within ten minutes. I discuss my busted hot water heater and we decided that he would come out on Monday morning 8:30 am. Roberto was prompt and pleasant. He discussed the issue we agree replaced the hot water tank. Roberto left and returned with a new hot water tank and Brad. Together they promptly removed the tank. Roberto placed a tarp on the floor and stairs so that this area would not get wet or damaged. We were very pleased with the job and the excellent customer service demonstrated Brad.

Broke valve after three years. Warranty covered the part but I was still out $340 of labor. I contacted to company for reimbursement for the labor since it had been used for barely four years and they basically said, "Tough luck, we have a policy." Go with another reliable brand that actually backs up their product.

We own a mobile home park and rent homes. One of the homes had a Bradford White 30 gallon water heater. Our plumbing company, Horizon Enterprises, determined that the water heater was defective. Bradford White diagnosed the problem over the phone and slowly sent some parts. These did not repair the water heater. When the plumbing company reported this Bradford White refused to further honor their warranty. We will never purchase their product again.

The customer service line was A JOKE, at least they did answer the phone. They put my problem back on me, then their local representative supplier, put it back on the installer (my plumber), then they gave him a hassle over ordering the WARRANTY PART. The worse part of their VERY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE? (A) They don't let local distributors inventory critical parts, and (B) they CHARGED $60.00 EXTRA for express delivery (which I feel like they should pay, since they save money not to stock locally), or I could go a week without hot water! This was my first and last time to buy a Bradford White product.

I purchased a 40 gallon Bradford White water heater and it was defective. Within a week, had a replacement installed and within a year it too needed to be replaced. Bradford White “customer service” told me that unless I replaced with another Bradford White water heater, there was no warranty. Terrible! My plumber called them scams. Is there any recourse with Consumer Affairs? At this point I don’t want to incur attorney costs so pursuing small claims for money back.

November 30, 2016 we replaced our 15 year old water heater with a Bradford White. April of 2018 (1 year and 5 months) later we were losing hot water. We called the company that installed the heater and a service employee attended our problem. WE HAD PURCHASED A DEFECTIVE HOT WATER TANK!!! It had to be replaced. The company charged us $289 to service this problem. We will never purchase a Bradford White Water Tank again. We also do not get the full 6 year warranty on this new tank, only 4 1/2 years left on the defective tank. We will never purchase a Bradford White again or do business with the company that represented them.

I paid top dollar for the best 50 gal. water heater they sold. 1 year later and the pilot light goes out everyday. I called about the 6 year warranty. What a joke. They will replaced the part for free BUT I have to hire an Authorized plumber that charges $300.00 per hour! Wish I had checked the reviews first. I will never buy their products ever again. Should have gone to Home Depot or Lowe’s.

Our Bradford White model M25056DS-1ncwn is 5.5 years old when the lower element went out. We confirmed that it was under warranty with BW but they would not work with us. We had to work through our whole seller who did not want to file a claim since it turned out that BW would only pay for the heating element part ($8.50). It turns out that BW would not pay for the labor cost of $95. I have had built several houses the last 30 years and have never had a unit go out so early in its lifecycle. I would not have another BW and I would not recommend to anyone considering to buy a BW when their unit was defective so early in its life leaving me to believe it is of poor quality.

Bradford White just know their products so well. The warranty period is just a little bit shorter than the actual life of the water tank. Just like some other consumers, Bradford White customer service offers no help at all. It's hard to believe that expensive 75 Gal. water tank (PDX275) can only serve 2 people for less than 7 years.

New BW tank has good performance for the cost. The 1st hour rating is much better than most other brands. Tanks have changed since the last time I had to replace a water heater 15 years ago. Since I used another Bradford White the connections lined up perfect.

After debating whether or not I wanted to have a tankless water heater installed I finally decided to replace my old water heater with another Bradford White. Great water heater. Tankless would have been nice but I plan on moving in 5 to 8 years and just don't know if I'll see the return on my investment.

I replaced an AO Smith water heater in 1996 with a Bradford White. The AO Smith lasted five years. I first thought the AO Smith was made in the USA, I saw one at a business I was working and it said made in USA. After that was installed, I looked at the info on the unit and found it was made in Mexico. I guess they decided to move to Mexico for cheap labor.

I bought this 40 gal water heater in Feb 2017. Running out of water after 10 minutes shower. Requested a verification with their technician. After verification they say it's normal. I had one cascade before. Never missed water in my life. Never buy product from them. It's garbage!

50 gal model #450s6en12 in 5 bedroom 3 bath home... Not a single problem for the last 18 years. Will definitely buy another... tankless water 4 system at almost 4 times the cost to replace with another equivalent system. Can't touch this.

I have had a great experience with Bradford White. We've had two Bradford White water heaters in our home and have been very satisfied with them. The first one lasted almost 16 years before it went and the current one is 19 years going on 20 years old with zero issues! Great quality products from an American company!

I purchased my home in 2005 with a Bradford White water heater, in 2008 it leaked and was replaced, again in 2013 it leaked and was replaced and now in 2017 water is all over my basement floor as again it leaked... Called the company to check on warranty status and was informed that the warranty goes back to the unit that was replaced thus no warranty. I asked representative if this was normal for this product as I am seventy years old and have owned several homes and have never had this problem. I asked if I could be connected to someone that might have a suggestion what to do. No response except for, "I am sorry."

My water heater was a replacement under warranty for a GE heat pump water heater that had a small crack in the catch tray for water condensate. Apparently GE is out of the heat pump WH business and since the unit was still under warranty, they offered a new Bradford White unit. At 3 1/2 months, there was a beeping and error code. Our installer came and looked at it and determined that there was a refrigerant leak. Bradford White offered to send the parts to repair the leak, but said the labor was on us. The installer gave us a price of $1700 to do the repairs (it cost almost $1000 to remove the old unit and install the new one).

When the original water heater started leaking after about 4.5 years I contacted Bradford and they agreed to swap the faulty unit per their warranty for free. Although, I had to pay the labor to a local plumber $250.00. Nice warranty, isn't it? The new unit lasted about 2 years and now is leaking just as the original one was. Stay away from this manufacturer at all costs. They put together a piece of junk that will not even last for their own warranty period.

My Bradford White 50 gallon water heater sprung a leak and flooded my basement in August of 2016. It had only lasted 14 months, it was installed in June of 2015, Bradford White gave me a new water heater, but I had to pay a plumber 300 dollars to remove the leaking unit and install the new unit. I was stuck with cleaning up the mess in the basement too. I called the corporate offices on three separate occasions and spoke to someone in consumer affairs. I was promised each time that they would look into the matter and return my call. As of October 2017 I still haven't heard from them, I believe I should be reimbursed for the labor cost, a water heater that breaks down in 14 months is a joke, they obviously sell junk and don't believe in customer service. Never again will I deal with Bradford White!

Four years ago I purchased a Bradford White gas water heater. In less than 2 years the temperature of the water could not be controlled, as I kept turning it lower and lower as it stayed very hot. When I called the company I was told to set it at pilot which I did... still too hot. A plumber looked at it and told me everything was fine because the blinking green light was blinking. I suggested that maybe something was wrong with the blinking light! This patient person finally ran out of patience and called another plumber. The temperature of the water on just the pilot light was 134 degrees. The plumber has changed out hundreds of the sensors in these water heaters because they only last about 2 years... about $200 part. If you don't mind the built-in obsolescence expense every 2 years and poor customer service, by all means purchase a Bradford White water heater.

We had A B-W 50 gal. water heater installed when we built our home in 2001. It started leaking and was replaced in July 2013 by another B-W 50 gal. water heater. In Sep 2017, the replacement started leaking. A call to B-W requesting the heater be replaced under warranty was a joke. They wanted me to buy another B-W heater and when they had a chance to inspect mine they would issue a refund. So they will only warrant the heater if you buy another one from them. Why would anyone buy one of their water heaters, when they only last four years? I submitted an email to B-W and they promised to get back to me in 48 hours. It's been over a week now, I don't think it's going to happen. Their warranty and their word are worthless. I urge you to avoid their products as I will in the future.