I've had the SS model for a few years. Surprisingly it's disappointing that it is rusting like a bandit. The tray that catches the drips with the hole to the water dish looks it was hit with buckshot. I use aluminum foil over it now to be sure the drips go in the water dish. The water dish also rusted away. I put my own in there now. The inside is rusted. The Outside looks ok. The screws on the heater are steel so they are totally rusted. The guage of the stainless is super thin and as anyone knows, once the stainless turns "active" , it deteriorates just like steel. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't know what to do as I've had no experience with the regular model but if you think you're getting a lifetime unit because it's what some are calling "stainless steel", you will be disappointed.