What do you know about century-old Ruud water haaters?

[dhman]

I have a vintage Ruud Water heater- any advice on selling?

Hi Everyone,

I have a vintage Ruud water heater that I got while helping my brother clean out an old house for an estate here in Pittsburgh. The unit is in great shape and was still in service until the homeowner was convinced by a plumber to install a new high efficiency unit a number of years ago. I have tried to research online what this might be worth, but have seen estimates that vary widely. I know it is a very cool looking item and it would be a shame to just scrap it. If I had somewhere decent to display it I would keep it myself, but I just don't have the room. Any ideas on what something like this is worth and/or where I might try to sell it? Any advice from any of you more knowledgeable than me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for any tips you might have.

Dave

P.S. I will upload photos later today after I get home. In the meantime I have included a link to one that looks similar (although the one I have is in nicer shape)

http://s3.amazonaws.com/f01.justanswer.com/JACUSTOMERcp9ik61j/2013-02-04_192803_img_7492_resized.jpg

 

[launderess]

According to posts on plumbers forums

Those old Rudd water heaters aren't worth much unless someone wants it for parts or to actually use. Plumbers see them quite a lot in some areas it seems and when taken out of service are usually sold as scrap unless there is a demand to part out.

Given today's prices am willing to bet the copper will fetch probably more than someone wishing to purchase the whole unit.

http://www.post-gazette.com/life/ho...per-era-is-still-cooking/stories/200607290093
http://www.contractortalk.com/f28/100-year-old-demand-water-heater-61744/

 

[dhman]

Thanks for your post

Thanks for your post Launderess. Yeah, I kind of figured that might be the case, but I really hate to scrap it (although the wife is after me from time to time about this). It is really so cool looking and has such great craftsmanship it just wouldn't seem right. Fully restored it could even be a show piece. Check out the link below to see one unique idea I've seen out there -

https://www.etsy.com/listing/117919...FJRlWoiOay_Fo3I0mNSPsz9wYZ997Ln94eHDzWK_D_BwE

If I can't find it a good home soon though, might not have a choice. With 5 kids space is at a premium around here.

P.S. I have uploaded some photos as promised.

 

[dhman]

Thanks for your post

Thanks for your post Launderess. Yeah, I kind of figured that might be the case, but I really hate to scrap it (although the wife is after me from time to time about this). It is really so cool looking and has such great craftsmanship it just wouldn't seem right. Fully restored it could even be a show piece. Check out the link below to see one unique idea I've seen out there -

https://www.etsy.com/listing/117919...FJRlWoiOay_Fo3I0mNSPsz9wYZ997Ln94eHDzWK_D_BwE

If I can't find it a good home soon though, might not have a choice. With 5 kids space is at a premium around here.

P.S. I have uploaded some photos as promised.

 

[dhman]

Thanks for your post

Thanks for your post Launderess. Yeah, I kind of figured that might be the case, but I really hate to scrap it (although the wife is after me from time to time about this). It is really so cool looking and has such great craftsmanship it just wouldn't seem right. Fully restored it could even be a show piece. Check out the link below to see one unique idea I've seen out there -

https://www.etsy.com/listing/117919...FJRlWoiOay_Fo3I0mNSPsz9wYZ997Ln94eHDzWK_D_BwE

If I can't find it a good home soon though, might not have a choice. With 5 kids space is at a premium around here.

P.S. I have uploaded some photos as promised.

 

[dhman]

Sorry for the duplicate posts

Sorry for the duplicate posts, but each time I tried posting after previewing my message, I got an error message (which I forwarded to your webmaster as requested). When I discovered my message had in fact posted several times though, I was unable to delete the duplicates.