[shawnz]

Have you thought about switching to a tankless hot water system?

[mikegreen]

So I can spend $2800 on a water heater that has questionable reliability, requires a bigger gas line, and will save me 40% off my $18 a month water heating bill?

Yes. I've thought of it, but no, it is not a good idea.

[crymer11]

I think your pricing is a little off; my parents have had a Rinnai heater now for more than several years with no reliability issues and spent far less than $2800. Even Amazon has them priced much lower [1].

1 - http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=rinnai+water+h...

[rhizome]

This looks like a good resource on the topic:

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/waterheaters.html