Water Heaters in Connecticut

Hey guys, I'd like to get some input on a current program that I'm running for my company. I work for Hubbell Water Heaters, we're a hot water tank manufacturer location in Connecticut.

This is a water heater rental program that we started about a year ago. This program allows individuals to actually rent their water heater for a low monthly payment. Within the monthly payment, the program includes install, service repair and replacement at no additional cost. Our agreement consists of five (5) years so that we can spread the payments throughout that period of time to offer the lowest monthly amount possible. The monthly payments could be as low as $14.99 a month.

Some people don't have that $1500-$2000 to spend on a new water heater and install costs so that was the real reason for creating this program. We've found that others consider joining the program just for the convenience of paying the same amount each month and knowing that whatever issues they experience, it will all be taken care of. I've been running digital advertisements targeting homeowners all over Connecticut to let them know that it is an option if they are ever in need. Unfortunately as of right now we are only servicing Connecticut but are hoping to eventually expand as the program develops.

I recently worked with a property manager where we ended up installing 50 rental water heaters into an apartment complex where each unit had their own mechanical room. The property management company pays us a fixed monthly payment for the 50 units. If there is ever an issue, the tenant would call the property manager and then they would call Hubbell to come out and service the unit. Whether it's just a part that needs to be replaced or the entire unit, the property manager will not pay anything additional from that fixed monthly payment. You can sort of consider this service as having a property manager just for your water heater. The big selling point was that property managers don't need to worry about those water heater issues or those emergency calls during the middle of the night anymore.

I'm curious to hear what some others may think of this program. I love the part of being able to help those residential homeowners who don't have enough for that upfront cost and instead could just pay monthly and have all service fully included. After working with this property management company, it opened my eyes to a completely different market.

What do you guys think of this program? Do you think it's a good idea and has potential? Regardless if yes or no, maybe you could add a note explaining why.

Thank you so much for the time. I really look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Please allow me to provide clarity on this. This is in fact NOT a business solicitation. It does have a connection to HOA and all I'm asking for is some honest feedback on the topic.

Thank you!

Hey Tim,

Thank you for the feedback! Something that I read up on was that some HOA have some type of rule where certain locations require tenants to get a new water heater say every eight (8) years or so.

Have you heard anything on this at all? Do you know who would be responsible for this type of decision making? I thought it was an interesting approach because as you said, water heaters are typically the individual homeowner's responsibility. If there isn't some type of regulation and you have all outdated water heaters, the property manager is surely going to have quite a few calls come in.

From my understanding, hot water would be considered an emergency and needs to be fixed right away. This would cost the property management company some extra money since it's an emergency. If the HOA said that each tenant needs to replace their water heater every eight (8) years as some type of preventive maintenance, it would definitely limit the amount of emergency calls that come in.

I'm just shooting some thoughts out there. I'm curious what you think.

It's absolutely a business solicitation. Over under on the "if you give me your contact information we can discuss a plan for you"? 48 hrs.

Over/under on how fast this thread gets deleted? 24 hrs.

The HOA/property manager has nothing to do with water heaters in our association. It is the responsibility of the individual unit owner.

if a quality (non 'big box store') heater PROPERLY installed according to good or best practice (not merely meeting MINIMUM code) YES, YES, a thousand times YES

ps. "used Oats" refers to pre-digested Oats