Whirlpool Water Heater "Energy Smart"

Posted by trmn8r on 2012-12-08:

The problem seems to be you have a water heater for which stores do not stock replacment parts. This isn't surprising, since the later models have electronics in them and non-standard parts across brands.

You are understandably frustrated that a failure occurred after only 2 months, but the same issue could have arisen 2 or 4 years from now - a failure on a Friday, and lack of availability for a few days.

Posted by At Your Service on 2012-12-09:

For the record, Whirlpool water heaters are not produced by Whirlpool. In fact, they're produced by American Water Heater and the Whirlpool brand-name used for the specific purpose of recognition.

The surprise to me is that they would actually try and walk you through such a diagnostic and repair over the phone. The liability is far too great if you were to do something wrong. Normally, replacement of a part only comes from a certified repair person inspecting the problem. In such a case, they will then have or obtain the part for service. They may have been trying to work with you because of the day and hour.

I don't know of any time that it's convenient for a product to have problems, but I suppose that Friday night is one of the worst. In American Water Heater's defense, I don't think you would see any difference by most manufacturers and it doesn't appear as if there was any guarantee provided that parts or work would be performed within a certain time period. If this was of importance, as a consumer, you would have wanted to shop around, making sure to obtained a warranty that was well backed, guaranteeing the product wouldn't be down for any specific amount of time. It may cost a little more, but may have very well been worth it to you.

Thanks so much for the post.