Best AO Smith Electric Water Heaters Review & Buying Tips

Exploring the best AO Smith electric water heaters to buy, features and benefits, including the standard type, and electric heat pumps, to ensure plenty of hot water for residential home use.

Model and type review

Electric water heaters from AO Smith are designed and built in a wide variety of sizes, from the smallest 2.5-gallon for point-of-use service and a single application to the largest 80-gallon tanks found in heat pumps - recommended for the whole house water heating and families with 5-6 families members.

Popular models to buy

• Voltex HPTU-50N
  
• AO Smith ENS-50
  
• AO Smith ENT-50

The above listing is from hotwater.com, the official AO Smith site.

Features and benefits

The main features found on the best electric water heater include:

• Blue Diamond glass coating with high-quality commercial-grade characteristics - protecting the metal tank from corrosive water effects.
  
• Coregard anode rod with the stainless steel core - another defense system against corrosion.
  
• Self-cleaning dip tube - reduces the sediment build-up inside the tank.
  
• Commercial-grade electric heating elements made of stainless steel for longer life.
  
• Dry fire protection system to protect the heating elements.
  
• Brass drain valve for easy draining.
  
• Long warranty.
  
• High first hour rating and recovery.

The model size varies - the standard water heaters are tall and mainly equipped with two heating elements, while others such as short, Lowboy, compact, and Table Top - recommended for houses with the limited space, are mostly equipped with one heating element.

There are three categories of electric water heaters available; ProLine, ProLine Master, and ProLine XE, where the first group is the most affordable while the last is the most advanced.

Best AO Smith electric water heaters to buy

From the most advanced group ProLine XE of the standard type, the best models to buy come from the PXNS and PXNT series, while Voltex electric heat pumps are the best choice if looking for more benefits.

PXNS and PXNT series

AO Smith PXNS and PXNT are the top picks of all electric water heaters designed for residential and mobile home use and for homeowners who prefer an affordable unit with more convenience.

Models are equipped with the following AO Smith exclusive features where the quality of some is just like the commercial line;

• Blue Diamond glass coating - to protect the metal tank from corrosion.
  
• Coregard anode rod - to protect the metal tank from corrosion.
  
• DynaClean Difuser dip tube (self-cleaning system) that helps in the enhanced water output and reduced mineral sediments.
  
• Two 5500 kW stainless steel heating elements.
  
• Control panel for an added convenience.

The control panel comes with a touchscreen display for easy use and monitoring, operating modes, diagnostics, and dry fire protection.

The efficiency of PXNS and PXNT models with 50-gal capacity is 0.95, while the first hour rating is 75 GPH of the PXNS and 81 GPH of the PXNT.

Heat pumps

AO Smith Voltex is the electric heat pump used for water heating and is the most efficient and the only type of all electric units that are Energy Star approved. AO Smith has four models to offer and for different house sizes, but the most attractive model is HPTU-50N.

Voltex heat pump HPTU-50N is the 50-gal unit, designed with the highest energy efficiency of 3.42, and according to the manufacturer, that translates to great savings and over 60% water heating cost reduction. These savings vary and depend on the operating modes.

The advantage of the heat pumps is that they can heat water and cool the surrounding air at the same time. The footprint and installation are similar to the typical electric water heaters, with the same number of heating elements and dry fire protection. The electric user interface makes the use very convenient and under control, as the user can easily change and monitor the settings, operating modes and check diagnostics.

While the heat pumps cost more than the standard type, the ultimate efficiency, and flexibility make the investment worth considering, as buying Voltex pays off just in few years.

Warranty

Depending on the model, AO Smith provides 6-year, 8-year and 10-year warranties on all residential models.

Related articles

• ProLine gas
• Vertex gas
• ProLine electric
• Voltex heat pumps