How about a tankless system? When our water heater gave up the ghost we went to a tankless system and it works quite well.
Our hot water lines were originally plumbed in the attic so we have the same surefire notification system of any problems....
I looked into that but the price was more than I could afford...assuming the salesperson wasn't lying. He claimed I would also need to install a water softening system to avoid voiding the warranty of the tankless heater.
-Blast