I called around to installers trying to get a water heater for our small closet. This size is rather unpopular these days, so they recommended local mom & pop type places. One place came up a few times, so I called. The guy gave me the contractor price and did a free same day drop-ship, which is usually to the curb. However, the driver was very kind and delivered one directly to my kitchen (we had no flooring at the time) and the other one to my dad's backyard (where he wanted it). We installed them both ourselves.
We got a much better quality product than what Home Depot and Lowes sell and paid less. Plus, there was no hassle with renting a truck to get them home or coordinating the neighborhood teenager (exceedingly responsible handy teen) to pick up the new ones AND recycle the old ones. (We did pay him to take the old ones to the recycling place for us.)
But, honestly, my biggest challenge wasn't price. We had to find the correct size to fit and that superseded all other considerations.
ETA: Our choice at HD or Lowes was a 30-gallon gas water heater made by GE or the base model at HD, which measurements indicated would not fit. (On the day of installation, we discovered neighbors purchased this and had to retrofit the closet and doorway, etc.) Through the mom & pop place, we were able to replace our 40 gallon tanks with 40 gallon tanks and they are a much higher quality. (I do not recall the brand name at the moment and the earthquake strap covers it.) It has been almost exactly one year now and the new tanks in both homes work beautifully from day one and have cut the costs of the gas bill.
Where is the cheapest place to get one? Luckily ours is still functioning so I can shop around but I'm not having much luck except at Home Depot and Sears. Is there maybe a cheaper place online?
