Rheem Electric Water 491/492/493 Series

My Rheem hot water system is only 4 years old and has already stopped working. I chose Rheem because of its long-standing reputation for quality and reliability, but unfortunately that has not been my experience. After looking into the issue, I have found that many other customers have reported premature component failures as well. A hot water… Read more

system is a significant investment, and I would expect it to last far longer than four years before experiencing major problems.

Rheem has built its brand on quality, but based on my experience, the product has fallen well short of those expectations. I hope Rheem takes these concerns seriously and improves the reliability of its products moving forward.

Update 10/06/2026:

I contacted your Customer Service team last Friday regarding my hot water system issue. During the conversation, I was advised that the call-out fee for a Rheem service technician would be approximately $300, which did not include any further investigation, labour, or replacement parts. As my hot water system is only four years old and only the cylinder remains under warranty, I would have been required to cover these additional costs myself. Unfortunately, this was beyond my budget, and I had no option but to decline the service.

As a result, I engaged a local plumber who was able to restore the hot water system and get it operating again. However, he was unable to identify the underlying cause of the fault, explaining that his investigation was limited to the scope of his expertise and the information available at the time.

In the meantime, I have also raised my concerns through ProductReview. Unfortunately, the outcome remains unchanged: the costs associated with having the unit investigated by Rheem are significant, cannot be determined in advance, and ultimately fall entirely on the customer. It appears that Rheem accepts no responsibility beyond the two-year warranty period for the components most likely to fail.

The hot water system is only four years old, and the need for a detailed investigation to determine the cause of the failure raises serious concerns about its reliability. A reasonable consumer would expect a quality hot water system to provide many more years of dependable service before experiencing a significant fault of this nature.

It is therefore extremely disappointing that a product marketed as a quality, reliable system has failed so prematurely, while the customer is left to bear the cost and uncertainty of diagnosing the problem. My experience has left me with very little confidence in the durability of Rheem products or in the level of support provided once the initial warranty period has expired.

Warranty is totally a fake. The system stopped supplying hot water a few years after installed. (within the 10 years warranty period) Called the number on the cylinder, was told $275 call out fee would be charged plus the actual labor. Faulty product but want customer to pay for it, you better rob the bank.

Trustable product with to trustable Installer – Ordered a new Rheem 315L Hot water system to replace my old Rheem that have worked faithfully for me for years. Since the installation during August, 2024. I am really happy with the product. Recalling the ordering & installing service provided by JR Gas & Water had been easy & quick. Staff, Sean was friendly & helpful. Highly recommend the product & installation company. Show details ·  1

Happy with this purchase – I would just like to say thank you to (. Same day hot water service ) excellent service ordered hot water system Monday and received my system next day I would recommend this company great service,delivery person very nice and polite ( Jimboomba ) Show details

Perfect hot hot water all day and night – Installed a new 160 litre Rheem electric hot water system (model 421160R7) on 23rd August 2019 (by Inline Plumbing & Electrical) for $1560 with new AVG tempering valve, delivery & removal of my 15 year old Rheem that still worked perfectly but was starting to produce rusty water. No complaints - it works. We have hot water all day and night with 4 adults in the home. Show details

315lt electric Rheem hot water system – I had a new Rheem 315lt electric hot water system purchased & installed on 21.6.18. It replaced a 315lt Vulcan electric hot water system that was about 17yrs old and we had 2 bouts of running out of hot water over several weeks, which is why I had it replaced. Until then, no problems. There are 3 adults living at my house - no small children,… Read more

no old people, we don't use the bathtubs or bath/spa because of exorbitant water costs, dishwasher was changed to cold water about 4 years ago, have night rate off peak (11pm-6am heating), laundry washing in cold water only. In the morning the water is now very hot after Rheem tech came out, replaced the thermostat and adjusted the temp from 40 deg to 50 deg. which original plumber was supposed to do. However, after 3 daily showers and 1 sink of dish hot water for things that can't go in dishwasher, by 10 pm hot water is now completely cold. I am now getting the runaround from everyone who thinks that because I am female I am stupid. I know the difference between never running out of hot water with the previous system and running out almost daily now because of this one. It obviously is not the same 315lt measurement as the previous system as the tank is smaller and thinner. I understand that Vulcan is also made in the same factory - don't know where though. I want a refund from all parties involved ($2,203.02)(plumbers & elect) as it is useless to us. But what do I buy now?

July 1st 2019 Update: Still running out of hot water

Re my previous review re this 315lt Rheem hot water system. It is supposed to be for 3-4 persons. There are 3 adults at my address. Since the recent cold snap in the past month or so on the Gold Coast, Qld, we have now 'run out' of hot water 4 times by 11 pm at night. 3 showers, sometimes 1 sink of hot water for dishes not to go in dishwasher. This is ridiculous. It does not seem to be able to cope with some of the actual colder nights. It is not suitable for 3 people let alone 4. We cannot even have friends/family come to stay because of it. It is shorter and more slimline than our previous 315lt Vulcan that we had for 17 years. A huge financial mistake.