Kenmore 50 gal. Water Heater —
I installed this yesterday. I'm still amazed at how well built this is. I did my research before purchasing and already found out that it is the most efficient 50 gallon model made by Kenmore (even more efficient than the Power Miser line) and it's also more efficient than all choices at the other 2 Home Improvement stores in my area (am I allowed to mention their names here?). It's much more efficient than all models found at one of the other Home Improvement stores, and the other store, although although they had ONE model that, like this Kenmore, is rated at using only 234 Therms/year, the other stores model has a 1st hour rating of only 87 gallons, while this Kenmore reaches a full 90 gallons with its 1st hour rating.
So yes, going into this I already knew that on paper this was the Best of the Best for a 50 gallon water heater. But during the installation, it was the solid construction that lead the confidence to write a glowing review and highly recommend it.