Customer Reviews for Rheem Performance Platinum 40 Gal. Medium 12 Year 5500/5500-Watt Elements Mobile Alert Compatible Electric Tank Water Heater

I purchased this water heater from Home Depot. Prior to delivery I modified the plumbing and ran a new electric circuit. The water heater was easy to install. It is well made. Love the brass drain valve. Activated the circuit breaker and started right up. No error codes. Heated up quickly. A quality product that I highly recommend.

Great looking unit, with cool features (i.e. bright LED display, optional WIFI), but unit failed 2X in the same area. I thought it was a poor wiring job after the 1st failure - 1 mo. after initial install - but 2nd failure 1.5 yrs later in same wiring leads me to believe it's a design issue. Customer service was responsive and agreed the unit needed to be replaced. However, Rheem has service contracts with only 2 plumbers in my relatively large metropolitan area (Sacramento, CA; >1.5M people) - and it took 2 weeks to get someone out to replace the unit. I don't think anyone likes taking cold showers for 2 weeks. My old hot water heater lasted almost 30 yrs - this one only 1.5 yrs. While it's great to have a unit that heats water fast - i.e. the box says it can deliver 68 gal of hot water from a 50 gal tank, but if that means it draws more current than the wiring can handle, that's a problem...

It's kinda early to tell if we'll have issues but it's working great so far! My only current thought is why does it have this bright LCD screen? Wouldn't it be more energy efficient with a plain screen or just 2 knobs? lol it's not like I'm gonna watch the game or admire it, so who cares what it looks like. Easy to install ourselves. User friendly. Great 12 year warranty. Seems to be a great buy so far (had it 2 weeks).

We really enjoy the comfort of warm to hot water @ the push of a button! It has various settings & controls my old heater didn't have.Also can b set up for Wifi. What a heater fit just right & easy to install @ a good price!

Has only been in use for a few weeks, works as expected. This is a long term appliance so not much more to say, although I like being able to adjust the temp using the digital interface

I would have given it 5 stars easy but the drain valve was not properly sealed and tightened. It leaked big time! No problem.

Installed it myself look how beautiful don't hesitate to try it yourself

I installed this water heater about a month ago. I like that the display will allow you to check the current temperature at the upper and lower elements. Yesterday when I went to get my laundry I noticed the water heater beeping. On the shelf above the heater a spare bottle of fabric softener had sprung a leak and ran down the side of the heater to the sensor, setting it off.

Bought for a vacation home. Top quality and I think it is good to have it inform me if it detects a problem. I also like being able to control it from my tablet.

I researched for a while before i purchased this unit, i was replacing a tall 40 gallon unit. This one is medium height. This unit was very easy replacement, nice digital display. I added the wireless option i can control my water heater from my smart phone.

It is too early to tell, but i'm also glad i didn't listen to the bad reviews. I had mine professionally installed and i also bought the wireless module, can't beat the 3yr in-home warranty and 12yrs on parts which tells me that this model has Platinum grade parts in it, especially the LCD screen which never goes off, just dims, so i know that part will be needing replacement before 12yrs is up. I set up my wireless module with ease, downloaded the AP (the key thing is follow instructions) and i was controlling my water heater from my Android phone in minutes,(remember if your wireless network signal is weak where your water heater is located, then upgrade your wireless or don't bother buying the unit)... when i make temp changes, i can see the water heater shows the changes in less than 10 seconds, and that's not my phone being connected to my home wireless either, so i know if i'm out of town i can still control my water heater (change temp/modes/etc) oh and i love the different modes: PERFORMANCE/ENERGY SAVER & VACATION MODE.... I must say Rheem you outdid yourself with this one. oh and i forgot, i went from a 80 gallon to a 40 gallon(my 80 was overkill for my house), can't wait to see the difference in my electric bill

I bought this 40 gallon Rheeem water heater to replace a Reliance water heater that I had installed in 1998. The installation was quite simple, as the wiring and plumbing all lined up quit similarly. The unit was easy to set, and heated the water very quickly. So far so good. My main complaint is about the poor packaging of the unit from the factory. There is absolutely no padding around the tank body, just a cardboard cover over the control panel and a cardboard cutout over the top fittings. Oh, and a plastic bag over the whole unit. The carton I received from HD had a minor scuff on one of the edges, but the tank had a large dent in it's side. Come on! How much could it cost to toss a few foam or cardboard panels in to protect the product? I would have returned it, but it's not easy for a 70 year old guy to be dragging the thing up the cellar stairs by himself. Fortunately the heater seems to work properly despite it's injury. Hopefully it will continue to do so.

Bought this to replace the old water tank that had begun to leak. At first it was a great unit. I liked the confidence that Rheem had in their product to give it a 12 year warranty. However, 2 years into ownership, the upper element failed. Rheem sent a new one, and offered to have it replaced, but it would take at least a week to get someone out to replace it. Elements are easy to replace so I did it myself. Now, at 5 years, the lower element has failed (Error code A105). Heater still looks brand new, but elements don't last at all.

Installed 11-01-20 tank will not power lower element unless on ELECTRIC option. Only have enough water for one quick shower. Rheem said to replace control board and I di. Problem persists.

We got this unit around 20 months ago to replace one of the exact model which hadn't even lasted 3 years. Now, with THIS replacement one, the anode has already gone bad and we are having to replace this anode at our cost and time and worry because it is not covered under warranty??? This is unreal. I've never even heard of this type of thing going bad on a water heater, let alone one as new as this. This is ridiculous and this is the same model that we replaced a previous one with and that one had a problem with its heat sensor. No I don't recommend this product to anyone unless you want to have a problem with your water heater every 2 to 3 years. A water heater should last longer than that.

This water heater lasted 15 months. I am not very happy after spending close to 600 bucks emailed Rheem no response also no service techs in my area. I see now why it has all the alerts for your phone or tablet. bad product.

Purchased for new home, control quit working after three years. Under warranty for parts, no labor, but it didn't matter as no one in Oregon services Rheem water heaters. Ordered control through warranty program but will take 2 weeks to get parts. Out of service for two weeks, no hot water in our home, very frustrating.

No issues at all after 15 months. Self install. Water heats fast. Mobile setup was easy. Just make sure to transport it gently and fill it up before powering it on the first time. No complaints

I am a general contractor and unfortunately in the spring of 2018 I installed 3 of this same heater. I bought them because of the 12 year warranty period, not realizing that they had a computer interface which, when it fails makes the heater inoperable. I have had two failures now which require calling customer service who will originally tell you that a service tech will call back in 24hours. I am in northern New Hampshire and there are NO Rheem service tech's in this area but the person on the phone will not budge with the answer so the first step is to wait 24 hours for RHEEM to call you back to tell you NO tech is available, so then need to call a lic.plumber to diagnose that the computer board is not working. DUH I already told customer service that. It then takes 2-4 days for the new parts to arrive. This is a water heater, not the space shuttle. Doesn't need all this electronic garbage that apparently is not dependable on a simple water heater that just needs to come on when there is a demand and off when the demand is over. My recommendation, DO NOT buy any hot water heater with a computer board interface, and NEVER buy a RHEEM period.

The control module failed. It’s hard to figure out

nephew gave this to me it is brand new it has a warning light that the water is to hot and shuts down tell me there is a switch i can buy

Multiple defect issues in less than one year. Digital panel on side was declare defective. After that part was replaced, within one week tank was also declared defective.

Bought a house with model xe50t12ec55u1 installed, 3 years old. It's set at 115F. I never touch it. It shuts off at random for half a day, often when we have hardly used any hot water. Display off completely like it has no power supply, except it does. I suspect it's the high temperature limit but the documentation is useless and there's no reason it should be overheating and no way to turn it back on. I guess I'll throw it in the garbage and buy another brand to replace it.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

had for a little under a year. worked great then did not. Rheem tried to blame it on my electrical at first. Then on poor installation, then , then , then. Did not want to warranty it. In the end they admitted the control board fried. Rheem will try to do everything to tell you it's not their product that has the issue. Further more they had me test a 220 line not really recommended for anyone that is not on the professional level to test a hot 220 line.. Don't buy with electronics stay with tried and true old fashioned water heater

The staff was willing to help. All were very pleasant.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

I'd give this unit 0 stars if I could. The wires burnt in the junction box at the top of the water heater. Rheem said it was authorized for replacement under the warranty, just drain and take it back to Home Depot. The Rheem customer service staff never explained that we would be given the depreciated value of the unit, and that we would be responsible for the difference. Why pay extra for a model with a 12/3 warranty if that doesn't provide complete cost coverage for a manufacturers defect? I also learned the previous model number of this water heater had a recall for burning wires. I'm not confident the manufacturer has resolved the electrical issues in this model. It also was not more efficient than the standard unit in terms of electrical cost, and the wifi system was very weak and didn't always work.

Makes such a difference a lot of hot water.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser