Our home was built 10 years ago and thus fare we have had to replace solar panels every two years. Last night another shattered ( first good frost of the season). When we initially chose Rheem, we were told that the product was suitable for our area ( Southern Riverina NSW). Sadly this has not been the case. The respinse from Rheem has been mixed: ranging from indifference, abuse and cooperation. Do not buy Rheem

Bought an existing home with the already installed rheem solar collector panels. The Plastic unions blew the first cold night we had, i recalled noticing what i thought was "spare ones" in a cupboard but upon inspection found them to be a tidy collection of blown unions and caps. After much research i found this to be a VERY common fault so contacted rheem for help and just got an endless email runaround and offers to come and fix the collector at my own expense ...... Install a rheem.... at your peril.

As the title notes, we are based in an arid/ desert environment that is central Australia. After 8 yrs I'm considering getting it serviced. System consists of the storage unit, collector (Solar panel) and Instant. Have emailed and phoned service agents, hope communication is as good as the unit itself.

End caps rupture every year since 2006 somtimes twice per year and always in winter today the actual solar panel on the roof also ruptured very poor product. In my opinion don't bother buying reem I find it interesting that they have solar water heaters in countries that have temperatures below 0 .why is it we have a little frost and bingo end caps fail.

Spot on, Debbie! Four years old and the joint started to leak on our Rheem Australis! They sent a plumber who eventually stopped the leak for only a few weeks. No warranty of course; all at our expense! Now it's leaking badly and I have no confidence in dealing with Rheem again. I could tighten the joint myself but the nut is hard to access with a spanner. The plumber had the same problem and rough-handled the unit to try to repair the joint. An obvious design fault. It seems the tank and absorber panels move out of position to one another or are installed poorly and eventually the joints fail. We feel cheated and disgusted with the situation.

Just had my second 'fountain' on my roof when the non brass 'End Connector' failed. It was shooting water up about 3-4m into the air an on my neighbour.

Am replacing with brass as the Rheem mob installed the roof collector panels with plastic or composite fittings which are obviously inferior.

Cost feb 2014 $21 each + installation.

Twice in 18 mths. I was OS 1st time so no idea what they used but I just bought 2 new brass ones and will fit now. A bit lane that Rheem don't use the good gear 1st time around. Poor quality does not reflect well on their brand.

Poor quality end plugs.

The money you save in electricity you will spend in getting the product fixed. The plastic joins on the collectors cannot hold up to the Australian climate causing them to crack and you end up with a water fountain on your roof.
Cheaper hot water
Plastic joints and ends constantly need to be replaced. Common fault and to replace the plastic to Brass is $500, so what you save in electricity you spend else where.