Water Heater Issues

The water heater leaks. It still delivers hot water for showers, etc., but the city just billed me for 3x the water use over the same period last year. Not to mention the electricity for heating the water dribbling out.

Current is a Whirlpool EE2H50RD045V, 50-gal 240V 4500/4500. Installed 9/2003 (13.5 years ago) with a 9 year warranty. Serial number 0340103969 (who cares?). The Energy Guide sticker says that it uses 4772 kwh/Year.

I can replace it with models costing less than $500, and it looks like a pretty easy swap out. There's a handy cold water shut off right at the tank. Here's a spreadsheet of the available models.

The water heater has been leaking for some time, it seems--since January 2017 at least.

Aurora Plumbing was just here and gave me a bid of $1700 for a 10-year warranty Rheem, plus another $500 for labor. Or, for $750, they'll install a customer-supplied model. That's kind of nuts, since the model I like is the

Rheem Performance Platinum 50 Gal. Tall 12 Year 5500/5500-Watt Elements Electric Water Heater with Wi-Fi Module Included for $609, available at my local Home Depot. (The existing model is a Medium, meaning shorter; this is a Tall). 12 warranty on tank and parts, 3 year in home labor warranty. Dual 5500-watt stainless steel heating elements. EcoNet WiFi built-in.

Rheem XE50T12EC55U1W Performance Platinum 12-year warranty water heater.