Do Not Purchase a Sears Water Heater

  Its too bad Paul Harvey is dead.Sure would like to know the rest of the story.

Hi SteveDuty-Welcome to MySears. Sorry to hear of the trouble you are having! I think that water heaters usually have a pretty long warranty.  Did they mention what was wrong with the heater or if it was covered under the warranty?

I also have a 4-year old sears gas hot water heater from sears that the pilot light wont stay lit, i called the help line and was told to get a bottle brush and scrub the filter in the bottom for about ten minutes it has 1600 little vent holes for air. It still does not fix the problem. They need to recall this product before somebody gets blown up by relighting this thing every day so they have hot water. People pay good money for sears products only to find out the product is junk.

I saw do purchase one. It's people's opinion! I have had no bad experience with Sears, so I would so no reason not to!

Was the water heater professionally installed?

A Kenmore water heater would be better.

We were planning a trip to Sears tomorrow to purchase a water heater so we decided to do some checking online to see what was available.  I am happy we came across this site and read the comments - they sound very disheartening.   We will postpone our purchase until we have an opportunity to check out other retailers.  Product reliability and customer service are the key factors in any purchase we make.  We had also planned on purchasing a large flat panel television next month and I would be cautious purchasing from Sears until I read more encouraging comments.  On a positive note, kudos to Sears for for including customer comments, it appears they have a genuine interest in providing all feedback, good and bad.  Hopefully, they will address their service issues.

Which would include providing feedback on how some of the more negative posts here have been resolved by the Sears Cares team.

Be aware that there are really only about two companies who manufacture water heaters for the American market. There's American and A. O. Smith. Kenmore water heaters are manufactured by A. O. Smith. Every retailer has a choice between the two manufacturers. Don't be fooled by someone saying the water heater is made by G. E. or some other company. It's not.

That said, quality for water heaters is generally very good. And, before postponing your purchase, ponder this question: how many people write positive reviews for a product they consider a basic necessity, seldom see, don't interact with, and usually only think about when it's misbehaving?

I would also suggest to check out the actual reviews members of the site, and shoppers on Sears.com have written.  There are dozens and dozens, and they may provide you with more insight on the heater, as opposed to a few people who have posted their experiences on the discussion pages.  Here is a link:

http://www.mysears.com/search?q=water+heater&target=MySears

Hope you come back and visit and let us know about your hot water heater and TV purchase!

I've got to remember to do my Preventative Maintenance water heater deal on my water heater - purge any sediment out of it.

Now, that there will keep the water heater working longer and the heating will be more efficient.

No appointment.

No parts.

I can DO IT!

Umm...

Just like the Owner's Manual suggests.

As a service technician i see many water heaters.  Alot of the problems are due to incorrect installation.  The new type water heaters need to be installed and not just put in,  Available air for combustion and proper venting is extermely important with these units for them to operate correctly

I moved to my house 4 years ago and now I need a new gas Water Heater, looks like the one I have now was purchased at Sears, but this comments are not taking me back to Sears, looks like I better check and evaluate my options. I have other experiences with Sears and so far they were all very good, from service at home or taking my car to them, they also installed my central air and sof ar I love it. Sears is doind a great thing here and I have always know them for the Honesty  = 1000 words.

For starters, a torch cleaner would be better for cleaning that filter, unless I'm mistaken.

A good equipment room starts with a louvered, vent in the wall for fresh combustion air, and the room should be sealed from the rest of the house, as to prevent draft.

If you have a wood burning stove, a fresh air intake for that isn't a bad idea either.

It can prevent the pulling of air from other sources, such as windows, and doors.

Thank you JulieK for the comment link. Regarding my previous comment about our hesitation to purchase a water heater & flat panel TV after reading negative comments, it is unreasonable to think that there won't be a small percentage of problems & dissatisfied customers but it is how a retailer deals with those issues that affects our willingness to make a purchase. 

After reading other comments, we have decided to purchase a Kenmore 50 gal. high recovery water heater and I will post our comments (whether good or bad).

 
Customer service, product reliablility are the factors that we consider more important than price and are the keys to brand loyalty.

Sears has an ad (at their site) that a 30 gallon preopane heater can be purchased for $359 by "calling trheir number".

When I called to order the heater, the rep said "that's a discontinued item- you'll have to visit your sears store. I asked if I could call- he said no, they wouldn't know.

I could conceiuvably makes several calls, but I cannot drive hundreds of miles to see if sears will sell a water heater they have advertised on this site.

This is a lousy way to treat customers...

Jim B

The Sears Kenmore gas water heater, I had professionally installed at my home, is working perfectly.

I should get around to draining any sediment out of the bottom of the tank though.

So what was the final solution to the pilot light issue?  We bought a Sears water heater in April of this year, and the pilot light started malfunctioning 2 weeks ago.  Basiclally it went out every time the burner turned off.  We called Sears service, a technician came out to diagnose the problem, and he ordered a part to repair it.  We waited for the part to arrive for a week.  When it never arrived we called Sears again and they could not tell us when it would arrive.  We went back to the store, and they ordered up a replacement heater which was installed yesterday.  Today I woke up to no hot water.  The pilot light goes out when the burner turns off on this one also.  I had the gas company come in to check the gas supply and the venting to see if that was the issue, and it isn't.  Now I'm having Sears service come out, hopefully with the replacement part we need.  But if this is a common problem, there must be a documented solution.  Is there one?

I came to this site because the sears water heater I have started leaking and I was looking at a replacement. My heater was in the house when we bought it 7 years ago, so not sure how old it is, but never had a problem until now. Anyway, I read that a couple of you are having trouble with pilot lights going out and wanted to share this ... my neighbor had the same problem with the pilot light (no idea what kind of water heater she has) on her heater. One plumber came out and look at it and told her it wasn't getting enough gas to keep it going. She then called the gas company, who came out and couldn't find any problem (of course that do not check in the house, only at the meter). She then called another plumber who came out and got under house and found a kink in the gas line. Fixed it and she hasn't had a problem since. Not sure if that helps anyone ...

well thank for let me know not to buy asear water heat  because i have  wash prov with them so thank barbara