Thinking of switching to a tankless water heater.

I was going to do that a couple years ago and was told by a couple of the plumbers I asked who sold them that the water pressure sucked. Technically the one I was looking at was rated for 2 uses at one time (like a shower and dishwasher) but he said I wouldn't have been happy with it.

Since they made a lot more selling the tankless (they were like $2K installed at the time) I figure he was telling the truth -- or he also worked for the gas company.

I haven't looked at them in a couple years -- maybe they have gotten better.
 
I had one installed last year.

  • It's made by Rinnai (the only one I'd recommend after doing 2 years of research)
  • Had it installed by the local natural gas company
  • They increased the size of the service at no charge
  • Took 2 guys 5 hours to install
  • Gas company provided free financing for 12 months, just added it to my monthly bill
  • Most require a professional installation to keep the warranty in effect
  • Most makers have an interior & exterior models
  • Exterior easier to install
  • I went with exterior, looks like a white briefcase on the side of the house
  • The model I have supports 3 uses / users
  • Most have electronic temp controller (mine is set at 110deg)
  • Will supply 110deg water for the 3 uses as long as I don't run out of gas or water
  • Tiny increase in gas bill

Only drawbacks are the cost & you tend to take longer showers because the water always stays hot.

PM me if you want to discuss more.
 
Everything Jim said. I had mine mounted inside a closet in the lower level of my house. The plumbers had to knock a small hole in the exterior wall for the vent, but it is hardly noticable from the street. The only, and I mean only drawback is that it may take a little longer for the hot water to reach to furthest part of the house since there is not a bunch of hot water sitting in the pipes. A very small price to pay for the overall benefit these units provide. BTW I have a commercial unit in my house, but the residential units are basically the same, only smaller and the temp control does not go as high. If I wanted, I could have constant 160 deg water... great for getting those greasy dishes clean!:D
fastblackmerc said:
I had one installed last year.
  • It's made by Rinnai (the only one I'd recommend after doing 2 years of research)
  • Had it installed by the local natural gas company
  • They increased the size of the service at no charge
  • Took 2 guys 5 hours to install
  • Gas company provided free financing for 12 months, just added it to my monthly bill
  • Most require a professional installation to keep the warranty in effect
  • Most makers have an interior & exterior models
  • Exterior easier to install
  • I went with exterior, looks like a white briefcase on the side of the house
  • The model I have supports 3 uses / users
  • Most have electronic temp controller (mine is set at 110deg)
  • Will supply 110deg water for the 3 uses as long as I don't run out of gas or water
  • Tiny increase in gas bill
Only drawbacks are the cost & you tend to take longer showers because the water always stays hot.

PM me if you want to discuss more.
Click to expand...
 
I use an outdoor wood boiler to heat the house and my water. My tap water is between 180 to 190 degrees and never runs out.

It takes about 2 minutes to brew a pot of coffee.:D
 
Also at my house the fellow I bought it from has a "few" vetts and had a hot water outlet on the outside for washing his cars:)

Hot water is great for washing your car:) :up:
 
My daughter and son-in-law went with two of them when one of their regular gas water heaters croaked.

The only down side I see is they make a lot of noise when the burner is going. Probably want to install it in the garage. Otherwise it seems to be the way to go.
 
I looked into one and my friend, who owns a plumbing company told me not to get one.
We are on a well and he said they have problems with the internals getting gunked up with mineral deposits.
I got the 50 gal quick recovery, I can take a shower for an hour!
 
Neighbor next door built himself a new two story house and put in two tankless systems in the second story. He really likes 'em no problems plenty of hot water. We are in the city with plenty of water pressure and the water isn't full of minerals like Arkansas. He also installed water pre- heaters near the sinks because the water has a long way to go from the tanks to the remotest bathrooms.
 
Tankless w/h

That sounds like alot of work to do a simple task that has been done the simple and easy way for about 100 years! I am a licensed, and have been a plumber for 20yrs. Plain and simple, these are not designed for American homes.It is perfect if you have one bath and have a desire to run hot water forever.Up front costs are huge,150-200,000 btu usage to 45-50,000 and dont forget nothing works forever. Repair costs are steep. I dont see how you could ever recoupe your money.
 
I disagree

I have a big one at the beach house and a small one at home. I love them, save me 50% a year in gas bills, payed off in 6 months. Down side, the small one will only run one facet at full force in a 1/2" copper pipe or if the wife turns the washer on both will get half flow but it's still hot and will stay hot for as long as the facet is open. The big one at the beach house will run 3 showers at the same time full blast which is what I bought it for. Little one cost 600.00 and I did a self install in a hour, big one 750.00 and had a plumber install in one hour. This is the greenest thing you can do that gives so much performance at the same price as a water tank unit.
P.S. The big one is about 2" bigger in all dimensions than the small one and that is the size of your bed pillow.Tom
 
I have to agree with Tom... There really are no down-sides to the tankless technology... The only problem you can have is an inexperienced installer. They MUST be sized correctly. The tankless heaters "flow" is based on the GPM (gallons per minute) demand of the fixtures in the house. For example, if you have five fixtures that, if all on at the same time, require 6 GPM then 1 regular residential unit will work at a 55 degree rise (60 degree incoming water temp with a desired temp of 115 degrees)... If any combination of these fixtures are used you will always have maximum flow, but if your GPM demand is more than the maximum flow of the heater at the desired set temp than the heater will decrease flow to maintain a constant temp... Therefor sizing is important. As it was stated earlier, the BTU demand of these heaters are much greater than a traditional tank-type heater so the gas line size/input may need to be increased as well. I can tell you this though, it costs much less to heat water only when you need it than it is to keep 75 gallons at 115-120* 24 hours a day...

Sorry for the rant... - C
 
I have an electric one at work and it sucks!!! We are going on our 3rd one in 4 or 5 months. Its a REDRING PowerStar tankless water heater.
It is only being used for a one person bathroom and cant even handle that!!
 
I looked into this too. What I have found out thus far. In the northern climates, where supply water can get very cold, they will not work in supplying hot water to a user. The rise in temp is maxed at about 65 degrees F. Here in Buffalo, our water comes from Lake Erie. In the winter, the lake freezes. The water is 32 to 34 degrees for months around here. 97 to 99 degree water is barely a "Hot Shower".

I am passing on it. I understand you can put two in tandem to get the temp increase needed in cold climates. I would suspect that would not be so effecient, and a costly initial outlay.

Just my two cents.

I wish I lived in a milder climate.
 
The electric tankless heaters do suck... They aren't nearly as efficient. The only electric tankless heaters that are remotely okay are Eemax point-of-use heaters that go under a lav or two to run a couple lav faucets etc...
 
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