Bradford White RG240T6N 40-Gallon Residential Gas Water Heater
Bradford White RG240T6N 40-Gallon Residential Gas Water Heater Review
The Bradford White RG240T6N is a 40-gallon residential natural gas atmospheric water heater representing what most US plumbers consider the trade benchmark in this category. The product is sold exclusively through plumbing wholesalers — you cannot buy one at Home Depot, on Amazon, or directly online without a contractor account. The wholesale-only distribution model is intentional: Bradford White's market is the licensed installer, not the homeowner DIY market.
Specs: 40,000 BTU input, 73-gallon first-hour rating, UEF 0.62, 6-year tank and parts warranty. Atmospheric vent through B-vent. The defining hardware features are the proprietary Vitraglas tank lining (Bradford White's branded high-temperature porcelain enamel, considered the most uniform residential glass lining in the industry) and the ICON intelligent gas control system. ICON is thermopile-powered — the gas valve is driven by heat from the standing pilot rather than from external 120V power. The practical effect: when the power goes out during a winter storm, your hot water keeps coming.
Construction is genuinely heavier than the equivalent-capacity Rheem or AO Smith. The tank wall is thicker, the flue baffle is heavier, the anode rod is meaningfully more substantial. Whether this maps to longer service life is debated; plumbers who see the failed units in service form opinions that consistently favor Bradford White over the same-spec retail-channel competitors.
Installation requires a licensed plumber per the warranty terms. DIY installs void the warranty — Bradford White actively enforces this, and there's no workaround. The right buyer is a homeowner who specifically wants what the trade installs in their own homes, accepts the higher per-unit cost (typical plumber-installed price $1,800–$2,400), and values the ICON thermopile control's power-outage resilience. Buyers focused on the 12-year warranty length of the Rheem Performance Platinum should choose Rheem instead — the warranty length is materially different.