Water Heaters - new water heater reccommendation

Existing is a state model gas, I will be installing myself, not interested in tankless, thanks

buy any heater you want but i personally would stay away from big box stores

buy any heater you want but i personally would stay away from big box stores

I was hoping for more guidance,I see a lot of pilot light problems on here, the last one I got was in 96 before all the govt. changes.

Almost all professional plumbers give a big thumbs down to American Water Heater Company and the various brands under which they are sold. The most notorious is Whirlpool, which is sold by the blue and red mega mart homecenter. The same professionals give a big thumbs up to Bradford-White. Unfortunately for the DIYer Bradford-White does not sell to anyone but professional plumbers although it's possible that some plumbing distributor might do so.

Second most recommend water heater is the Ruud or Rheem (same company) and just behind those is the GE which is made by the same company. GE is sold by the orange mega mart homecenter.

AO Smith used to make a pretty good unit. Actually the one in this house is almost 19y/o and still works fine. But then again, things change in 20 yrs.

I had an A O Smith top of the line unit in my previous house that also lasted for close to 20 years. Alas, from what I read now the A O Smith of today is no longer that highly regarded.

From the A.O. Smith web site, I found that State, Reliance, and American water heaters are all divisions of A.O. Smith.