Buggy and awkward
This app is frustrating. Buttons don’t work, back arrow takes multiple taps before it actually responds. Scheduling is confusing…etc
Worst app and worst equipment
I have had to eat over $10k in Rheem equipment because of constant failures. Each time something fails, they will replace junk equipment with more junk and I had to pay labor every time. I was at $5k in labor cost and looking at another $1.5K to replace the most recent failure. Run away from this garbage as fast as you can.
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App sucks
Doesn’t work, will not let me connect, keeps trying to take me to a bitly site and never connects. I’ve tried so many tutorials and nothing has worked to connect it. Do not recommend.
Intelligence module replaced January 2026
Since replacing the module system works as expected. Am able to to program schedules etc am able to set in vacation mode without confusion on how it is operating
Well insulated. In the summer (unit in garage ) I can heat water to maximum at point of 60c and onto days of normal usage (two adults) with out it cycling on
—-original review—-
Doesn’t connect or configure easily. Appears can only have one connected /configured device. Perhaps the sharing mode will address this
Prior to going out of town place unit in vacation mode and top level screen shows ‘I’m away” if I click any settings I’m warned that doing so will place unit in “home mode”. Once I accept and am able to look at setting unit now in energy saver mode. This is the same mode that shows in the top screen so I’m never quite sure vacation mode is in effect. Perhaps away and vacation mean the same thing but I’m not sure and can’t really verify
Well insulated. In the summer (unit in garage ) I can heat water to maximum at point of 60c and onto days of normal usage (two adults) with out it cycling on
—-original review—-
Doesn’t connect or configure easily. Appears can only have one connected /configured device. Perhaps the sharing mode will address this
Prior to going out of town place unit in vacation mode and top level screen shows ‘I’m away” if I click any settings I’m warned that doing so will place unit in “home mode”. Once I accept and am able to look at setting unit now in energy saver mode. This is the same mode that shows in the top screen so I’m never quite sure vacation mode is in effect. Perhaps away and vacation mean the same thing but I’m not sure and can’t really verify
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Not only a Water Heater
Fantastic product when we installed it in the basement of the house. In the summer, it also helps to keep the house cool buy pumping the heat from the air in the basement into the hot water, as well as dehumidify the basement air. The wifi connection makes monitoring the operation and adjusting the settings as easy as just a few taps on the phone screen. The build quality is also premium compared to the natural gas and electric ones.
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Water heater
I purchase a 50 gal tall gladiator hot water heater with emergency cut off and app
30 days ago
Outstanding u can control everything from the phone
30 days ago
Outstanding u can control everything from the phone
Awful
Not the app itself. Just the way the heater freaks out over a tiny amount of water and the app says it overrides the shutoff but it doesn’t. And you wait. And wait. And want to return the heater entirely. But you can’t. So you wait.
Key create user link inaccessible
Diagnostics works great for what it is. Unfortunately, the only other option is to log in but the create user link is hidden under the Rheem footer bar and inaccessible.
Hard to be how bad it is
I wonder if one could do a worse job at building this app. The UI is incapable of clearly communicating state. Is the device on or off? Are you in away mode o home mode? What a disaster
Updated water heater
We renovated our home and upgraded to a heat pump water heater. It’s convenient and energy saving features are great as it can be adjusted with the app on the fly. The only issue is it not liking the temperatures of the garage in the summer and I get error codes 005 to clean the filter. It’s not a dirty filter that’s the issue it’s the overall temperature of the garage when it reaches 90 degrees or so.
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Great water heater
The app takes time to update status of remaining water level. Other than that it’s a great app. The water heater has saved me several hundreds of dollars in the last 2-3 years.
DO NOT BUY!
As a user for several years and constantly having to run down 3 flights of stairs to MANUALLY get my water heater to respond to this TERRIBLE system. I finally just gave up and set up my own smart system to do what this thing was sold as being able to do. Never had an issue since. The CEO of Rheem should be embarrassed !Buy a Bosch!
Here is my technical assessment:
EcoNet Wi-Fi components specifically are where a lot of the issues originate. The actual water heater tanks and heat pump hardware are usually much better than the networking layer attached to them.
The pattern that shows up repeatedly is:
* the heater itself works,
* but the Wi-Fi/app ecosystem becomes unstable.
A lot of owners describe the system as:
* fragile,
* outdated,
* very picky about networks,
* and heavily dependent on Rheem’s cloud services.
Some recurring issues people report:
* “Wi -Fi connection error”
* random disconnects
* inability to reconnect after router changes
* getting stuck in Vacation mode
* schedules not saving
* app saying connected when it isn’t
* system disappearing from the app entirely
* reconnect loops after power outages
Those reports are extremely common across water-heater owners.
One of the biggest technical problems is that these components are based on older 2.4 GHz IoT networking assumptions and often struggle with modern Wi-Fi environments:
* mesh networks,
* WPA3,
* combined SSIDs,
* client steering,
* modern roaming features,
* VLAN isolation,
* advanced firewalls.
People with:
* Eero,
* AT&T Internet Air,
* UniFi,
* modern ASUS systems,
* pfSense,
* enterprise APs,
tend to hit problems disproportionately often.
A very common workaround is:
* temporarily disabling 5 GHz,
* forcing WPA2 only,
* disabling WPA3,
* turning off cellular during pairing,
* using a separate legacy 2.4 GHz SSID.
That alone tells you the module stack is fairly dated.
There are also reports suggesting the Wi-Fi component themselves physically fail at a nontrivial rate:
* partial Bluetooth operation but dead Wi-Fi,
* corrupted firmware,
* failure after outages,
* intermittent control board communication.
The architecture is also more cloud-dependent than many people realize. If Rheem’s backend has issues (and it seems to often):
* remote control may stop,
* schedules may fail,
* the app can show stale data,
* and in some cases units appear to retain the last cloud-issued state.
That last point especially frustrates technically inclined users because:
* there is very limited local-first control,
* limited documentation,
* and limited transparency around APIs/protocols.
A lot of advanced users eventually bypass EcoNet entirely and use:
* Home Assistant integrations,
* ESPHome serial adapters,
* or direct diagnostic-port access.
There’s a pretty active DIY community around “making Rheem Wi-Fi products usable without EcoNet.”
From a systems-engineering perspective, the system feels like:
* low-cost IoT hardware,
* designed around minimal BOM cost,
* with a cloud-first software model,
* and relatively limited long-term software robustness.
The water heater itself is usually the stronger part of the product. The smart component often feels like an afterthought bolted onto an appliance platform rather than something architected as a robust control system.
Here is my technical assessment:
EcoNet Wi-Fi components specifically are where a lot of the issues originate. The actual water heater tanks and heat pump hardware are usually much better than the networking layer attached to them.
The pattern that shows up repeatedly is:
* the heater itself works,
* but the Wi-Fi/app ecosystem becomes unstable.
A lot of owners describe the system as:
* fragile,
* outdated,
* very picky about networks,
* and heavily dependent on Rheem’s cloud services.
Some recurring issues people report:
* “Wi -Fi connection error”
* random disconnects
* inability to reconnect after router changes
* getting stuck in Vacation mode
* schedules not saving
* app saying connected when it isn’t
* system disappearing from the app entirely
* reconnect loops after power outages
Those reports are extremely common across water-heater owners.
One of the biggest technical problems is that these components are based on older 2.4 GHz IoT networking assumptions and often struggle with modern Wi-Fi environments:
* mesh networks,
* WPA3,
* combined SSIDs,
* client steering,
* modern roaming features,
* VLAN isolation,
* advanced firewalls.
People with:
* Eero,
* AT&T Internet Air,
* UniFi,
* modern ASUS systems,
* pfSense,
* enterprise APs,
tend to hit problems disproportionately often.
A very common workaround is:
* temporarily disabling 5 GHz,
* forcing WPA2 only,
* disabling WPA3,
* turning off cellular during pairing,
* using a separate legacy 2.4 GHz SSID.
That alone tells you the module stack is fairly dated.
There are also reports suggesting the Wi-Fi component themselves physically fail at a nontrivial rate:
* partial Bluetooth operation but dead Wi-Fi,
* corrupted firmware,
* failure after outages,
* intermittent control board communication.
The architecture is also more cloud-dependent than many people realize. If Rheem’s backend has issues (and it seems to often):
* remote control may stop,
* schedules may fail,
* the app can show stale data,
* and in some cases units appear to retain the last cloud-issued state.
That last point especially frustrates technically inclined users because:
* there is very limited local-first control,
* limited documentation,
* and limited transparency around APIs/protocols.
A lot of advanced users eventually bypass EcoNet entirely and use:
* Home Assistant integrations,
* ESPHome serial adapters,
* or direct diagnostic-port access.
There’s a pretty active DIY community around “making Rheem Wi-Fi products usable without EcoNet.”
From a systems-engineering perspective, the system feels like:
* low-cost IoT hardware,
* designed around minimal BOM cost,
* with a cloud-first software model,
* and relatively limited long-term software robustness.
The water heater itself is usually the stronger part of the product. The smart component often feels like an afterthought bolted onto an appliance platform rather than something architected as a robust control system.
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Very glitchy
Can’t update schedule. The app Keeps freezing. Bad product.
Not working with iPhone
I have tried to work with their Tech and it won’t let my phone connect. My phone didn’t have any trouble with the original app so now I’m stuck not being able to access my hot water tank.
The shut off valve creating problems through out the house
I was truly excited to get this install water heater and see how it compares to are old gas heater
Every time the shutoff value is active it created a vacuum in the water system and water spurts out through all its access points, it now has damaged other parts of the house
The shutoff value seems over sensitive and regularly shuts down our water heater
When I tried to get support for this I spoke four Rheem people and they all blamed the App
Not sure this blame culture is what I wanted to install in my home
No one in Rheem wants to own this problem but prefer to pass the buck
Have one support system that tracks and makes sure there is really ownership
Every time the shutoff value is active it created a vacuum in the water system and water spurts out through all its access points, it now has damaged other parts of the house
The shutoff value seems over sensitive and regularly shuts down our water heater
When I tried to get support for this I spoke four Rheem people and they all blamed the App
Not sure this blame culture is what I wanted to install in my home
No one in Rheem wants to own this problem but prefer to pass the buck
Have one support system that tracks and makes sure there is really ownership
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Registration error
Not able to register account via instructions. Called support multiple times to no avail. Unresolved and not able to access domestic hot water heat pump via app.
Good luck
Good luck trying to get connected. I’ve spent hours. It’s not easy. Still haven’t accomplished it. #why???
No Go
Won’t even let me create an account. Http throttled error.
Don’t buy Rheem if you value good apps
I’m not sure who the product manager in charge of this app is, but the Rheem furnace and heat pump sales team should banging on their door, asking them to fix it. This app is going to cost sales. I bet it already is. If I could return my heat pump system just on the back of this app experience, I would. As it is I’m recommending that the people I know that are installing new systems use anybody but Rheem if they value home automation or anything above minimally functional apps.
Just getting rid of the stupid intro animation, or at least preloading the API calls while it runs would display something other than utter disdain for the users. Have the people that tested this app ever used an iPhone or did leadership just ignore every single piece of non-critical UX feedback that was logged?
Absolutely, the thing I want when I want to change the temperature in my house is an enforced 15 second delay from loading the app from a cold start. Every. Single. Time. 🤮
There’s no HomeKit support, no Matter, no multi-user geofencing for home/away. Home automation foundation Apple has already done for you: not available in this steaming pile of cross platform junk.
Did I mention there’s apparently no local caching of data or background API calls, so every tap is like loading the slowest website you’ve ever used?
I bet you I could vibe code a native swift UI app with better experience on top of the existing clearblade API with a clever prompt, a $200 max plan, and a week or two. I bet you could have a great experience if you actually fire clearblade and hire a mobile development team that has more than two weeks of mobile product experience.
This app gets one star for being technically functional (and because 0 stars is not an option). Everything else about it is terrible. If you care about native app experiences, home automation, or integration - don’t buy a Rheem water heater or thermostat.
Rheem - this isn’t hard. Enable matter on your thermostat, break up with clearblade, and roll out a mobile app that’s not an embarrassment to an otherwise proud brand. Or just actually get a full partnership with ecobee on a communicating thermostat.
Ugh. This app is terrible. I miss my ecobee.
Just getting rid of the stupid intro animation, or at least preloading the API calls while it runs would display something other than utter disdain for the users. Have the people that tested this app ever used an iPhone or did leadership just ignore every single piece of non-critical UX feedback that was logged?
Absolutely, the thing I want when I want to change the temperature in my house is an enforced 15 second delay from loading the app from a cold start. Every. Single. Time. 🤮
There’s no HomeKit support, no Matter, no multi-user geofencing for home/away. Home automation foundation Apple has already done for you: not available in this steaming pile of cross platform junk.
Did I mention there’s apparently no local caching of data or background API calls, so every tap is like loading the slowest website you’ve ever used?
I bet you I could vibe code a native swift UI app with better experience on top of the existing clearblade API with a clever prompt, a $200 max plan, and a week or two. I bet you could have a great experience if you actually fire clearblade and hire a mobile development team that has more than two weeks of mobile product experience.
This app gets one star for being technically functional (and because 0 stars is not an option). Everything else about it is terrible. If you care about native app experiences, home automation, or integration - don’t buy a Rheem water heater or thermostat.
Rheem - this isn’t hard. Enable matter on your thermostat, break up with clearblade, and roll out a mobile app that’s not an embarrassment to an otherwise proud brand. Or just actually get a full partnership with ecobee on a communicating thermostat.
Ugh. This app is terrible. I miss my ecobee.
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Hybrid hot water
Can’t get the hybrid hot water heater to connect to wifi.
