Need to replace my water heater currently have GE that I will bet is close to thirty years old got my money's worth out of it.
Anyone have a suggestion on what is the best out there now.

AO Smith. I do believe they are the best.

Bradford White.

None of them last as long as the OG ones.

This is what I have. I have no idea if it’s the best but I do like the controls on it. It has more electronics so more things to fail but so far no issues. 7 years old.

Bradford white is the only one left that is American owned. Made in Michigan.

I’ve taken to writing on the water heater, for future reference, date of installation and who I bought it from, and their phone number. The recently replaced one at the guest house was a bit over 10 years old. The one in the main house is 14 years old.

this

replaced mine at 12 years. It was too full of sediment to drain. I will now have my new one flushed every 2 years.

I do the same with water heater and a/c unit. On the water heater I write dates flushed and elements changed, along with install date. My current water heater is 10 years old. We also had a water softener installed at the same time. Never had one last this long, due to sediment build up. But last flush a couple weeks ago, noticed a chunk of the threads for the lower element were corroded away. Used extra Teflon tape on the new element to minimize leaking. Will need to replace this unit sometime in the near future.

Waste of time and effort to drain you Water Heater, If you want to do it to have something to do, then by all means go for it. Don't pay anyone it's just a waste of money and time.

Yep, no one can compare to them

Water softener has helped extend the life of all of our plumbing appliances, washing machine, dishwashers, faucet fixtures, water heater, etc.

I second this comment.

So good they sell them at the big box stores these days.

Exactly, They were very good about 15 years ago, now they are box store quality.

I replaced the valve on mine 5 years ago and flush at least once per year. I also take out the bottom element and suck out as much sediment as possible with a 3/4" hose attached to my shop vac. My time is free, I`m retired now and hopefully it will extend the life of it a little bit. It takes me about 1.5 hours each time including getting thing ready and putting things back. The last 2 water heaters I replaced at our other house lasted 7 years each. I never flushed them or replaced any elements. They (A.O Smith) rusted out @ the bottom before any element went bad. Almost 8 years on this WH, so time will tell if it helps or just makes me feel better doing it. The water quality where we built in 2017 is much better than where we lived before.

Yeah, but I absolutely HATE soft water. I'd rather replace my WH every five years than deal with soft water.

Thanks everyone for the information going to look at AO Smith

So True. Big box stores are not going to pay for quality. They want bulk and at the very cheapest price they can get. I think it was Husqvarna, dealer told me when I saw an E at the end of the model#, that is what Husqvarna put on there to indicate a big box store model. Mostly the same as the real one but lower quality so Husqvarna could meet the price box store was willing to pay for X thousand of them. Not water heaters but same principal. Generally, you get what you pay for.

Suppressed no one else has said this.....Tankless
A little more up front but pays for itself in the long run.

Electric, yes.

Gas, no.

Whole different argument.

My one year old ream from home depot cracked at a weld. Plumber laid out my options. He's coming tomorrow to install a new water heater. Box store = cheep. Lesson learned.

It’s eye opening when you figure out box store now do the “ Walmart spec build” ideology to hit price points and margins

Same with mowers.