Lowe’s Installation, A.O. Smith Warranty Dispute — A Documented Consumer Experience

Initial Purchase & Installation

Ordering through Lowe’s was straightforward. We called, explained what we wanted, and received a quote of approximately $3,600 for the unit and installation. It felt like the right call. That confidence didn’t survive the day of the install.

• Unit purchased: A.O. Smith Signature 900 50-Gallon Hybrid Heat Pump Water Heater with Leak Detection, purchased and installed through Lowe’s.
• Model number: HPSN10-50H45DV (Lowe’s item #5015995295). Unit sticker reads HPS10-50H45DV 200.

• Final invoice: $4,424 — $800+ over the original estimate. Before any work began, we were presented with a revised number. No consumer is going to feel good about agreeing to a price, then being told it’s $800 more before the first tool is picked up. It felt like a bait-and-switch.
• Labor: Billed at $1,825 for one plumber and an apprentice. I agreed to the flat-rate upfront, but the job moved surprisingly quickly — and in retrospect, the labor cost was difficult to reconcile with the actual project time. It’s worth noting that this is the same figure Lowe’s is now implying I’ll need to spend again to have the unit replaced.
• Condensate pump: Billed at approximately $400 — a significant markup over its $60 retail price.
• Extras: Drip pan ($50), condensate pump ($425), permit ($140), and repipe ($185), totaling $800 in add-on costs. These basic components and services should have been part of the initial quote.

• Condensate pump left unsecured on the floor: The unit was unboxed, set on the floor, and plugged into a standard outlet using an extension cord I provided. It was never hardwired, secured in place or wired into the water heater.
• Improper condensate drainage — against manufacturer specifications: Rather than routing condensate to a dedicated floor drain or utility sink as A.O. Smith’s installation guidelines specify, the installers plumbed the pump to drain up and over the furnace and into the A/C unit’s condensate line — which exits the home through an exterior pipe. In freezing Connecticut temperatures, that exterior line freezes solid, leaving condensate nowhere to go. This is not an approved installation method, and strictly called out as such in the water heater installation instructions.
• Unsecured drain hose: The drain hose from the water heater into the condensate pump was simply dropped into the pump opening — never fastened or secured. At a later date, this hose was unknowingly knocked free and left a large puddle of water on the floor (at first, I even suspected yet another water heater failure).
• Questionable electrical work: Romex (NM cable) runs exposed from the ceiling and enters directly into the side of the water heater at approximately 4.5 feet off the ground — with no junction box or conduit. Under the National Electrical Code (NEC Article 334), standard NM cable is not permitted in damp locations, and a basement in close proximity to a water heater qualifies as one. This installation would likely not pass an electrical inspection. I am not an electrician, but this did not look like professional work.
• Leak detector not installed: The leak detector shutoff unit I had purchased was not brought to the job at all. Had I not brought this up as an issue after install, I would simply not have recieved this add-on. My belief is that Lowe's somehow did not supply the part during order pickup.
• Getting it fixed was its own ordeal: Resolving the missing leak detector meant navigating Lowe’s → Lowe’s Home Improvement → 1-800-Heaters → local plumber — every call made by me. Accountability at every level was non-existent, and getting anyone to come back out was exhausting.