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Tankless Water Heater

Brickhouse

Brickhouse

J.C. Newman owes me royalties.
Joined
Apr 12, 2006
Messages
10,177
Location
Smithton, IL
I'm in the process of building a new home and am toying with the idea of a tankless water heater. I've heard a lot of good things about them, but they're so new that I'm nervous to make the jump.

Anyone out there currently running one? If so, what say you on the topic.

Also, if anyone else has an opinion I'd be curious to hear it.

Thanks
 
I dont personally have one, but a coworker just installed one in his house over the weekend.

I asked him about it, and so far he likes it.

If you have any specific questions I can ask him for you on Monday.
 
Great article a few months back in Fine Homebuilding. They work well if you only use one hot water appliance at a time, and they work GREAT if you dual zone them. One for appliances and one for bathrooms, or just the master bath. Saves mucho money as you only heat what you use. Initial cost scares some people but if you maintain them and use them correctly (GPM rating calculations) they are a joy to use and pay for. I've put dozens in homes and even a few in businesses. If you are worried about enough hot water, you can back them up with a small (10gal) water heater. No the way I'd go but you can.
 
I use one at work with high water demands at very high temps (170F) and it works flawlessly. There is no way I would go back to a standard tank heater. Just make sure that you over size it for your needs and you will never think twice about hot water.It is a big up front cost but you will definately save money in the long run (especial with the cost of natural gas & propane climbing).Also, they are a blessing for us folks in earthquake country, less worries of riping out water and gas lines with a good shake.

I have been using a Noritz for two years on a daily basis with no problems at all!
 
I understand the upfront costs. I'm looking at an 8gpm unit that can run about 3 faucets a shower and the washing machine all simultaneously at 120 degrees forever. Sounds pretty good. I just haven't seen many and I know they are new, so I was hoping for some good feedback.
 
Tankless water heaters have been around for a while and have only become popular recently. They have come down in price recently and are some great models at a reasonable price these days. I helped my Dad put one in at his house almost 3 years ago and he loves it. Runs his washing machine and dishwasher while taking a shower without running out of hot water. I am going to be putting one in my house as well as they pay for themselves relatively quickly when you take into account the rising prices of natural gas and electricity. Once you have one you'll never want to go back to the a tank water heater.
 
I will tell you this - I just had my hot water heater crap out. I called Mr. Waterheater to replace it. I asked the owner of the franchise about the tankless option. He told me he would do it - almost 6x's the cost, but in Pittsburgh weather, they just don't do the job. Water never gets hot enough if it is really cold out. When the actual worker came to install my 50 gallon tank, I asked him about them. He told me that they have removed several already from houses where people were not happy. He also said that based on the age of the house - size of water pipes - bla bla bla, installation could easily go over the cost quoted by the owner. I would be very cautious. If I were you I would do some searches on google for some articles of people that have had them installed. Good Luck.
 
I live in PA like Cookie (nothing personal but I think he was BS'd in a major way) but decided to research it out and I put one in a propane fired one almost 7 years ago. My electric bill dropped $22 and while gas usage went up the unit did pay for itself in 5 years. I didn't get one as large as what you are looking at but I can run the washer and take a shower so hot I can't stand it with no problems. I'll never go back to a standard water heater.
 
I'm hearing that one of the large "cons" is that it takes a bit of time to get hot water running.

I.E. You have to let a faucet dump about 3/4gal of water before you have hot water. Any truth to that?
 
cookie_1978 said:
I will tell you this - I just had my hot water heater crap out. I called Mr. Waterheater to replace it. I asked the owner of the franchise about the tankless option. He told me he would do it - almost 6x's the cost, but in Pittsburgh weather, they just don't do the job. Water never gets hot enough if it is really cold out. When the actual worker came to install my 50 gallon tank, I asked him about them. He told me that they have removed several already from houses where people were not happy. He also said that based on the age of the house - size of water pipes - bla bla bla, installation could easily go over the cost quoted by the owner. I would be very cautious. If I were you I would do some searches on google for some articles of people that have had them installed. Good Luck.
Click to expand...

I dunno Rob, mine works fine here in MT, where it isn't exactly warm?
 
The heaters work off an flow sensor so it takes a second (literally 1 second for mine) to turn on and then the hot water has to get to where ever you are in the house the same as a tank heater. In terms of water waste I doubt that I can fill a 8oz glass before the unit kicks on. I can't say with authority how the electric versions would work.

Brickhouse said:
I'm hearing that one of the large "cons" is that it takes a bit of time to get hot water running.

I.E. You have to let a faucet dump about 3/4gal of water before you have hot water. Any truth to that?
Click to expand...
 
I've been running one for a bit over two years. The biggest problem I have encountered is that most of the plumbers in the area don't understand them, or know how to deal with them. My set-up includes the original tank heater, and a 6.8gpm Takagi tankless. I finally have it working the way I think it should, after three goes with the plumbers.

In my system, I have the tank turned on in "vacation" mode, putting out about 60-70* water. That water goes to the tankless and from there to the house at 122*. Additionally, I have a recirculation pump hooked up that recycles the water in the hot lines based on a clock timer (mine runs every half hour from 6am to 11pm).

These units work based on the rise needed to produce the water temp you have set for output. As long as they are working, they will never put out a water temp less than or more than that. What changes based on the incoming tempature is the flow. The colder the water coming in is, the less of it that the unit can heat each minute. This is why we turned the tank back on to "preheat" the water just enough to get the full benifits of our system in the winter months.


As for cold water in the pipes when you call for it, Yeah? WTH, it's been sitting there in the pipe getting cold since the last time you used it no matter what kind of heating source you have. Recirc systems are easy with a tank, a tad more complicated with a tankless, but certianly do-able.

As I stated above, I truely believe most of the bad press comes from plumbers who don't understand these units and either bad mouth them to keep from having to deal with them, or install them in such a way as to not take full advantage of them, leading the end user to complain about a unit that doesn't do "what it was promised to do".


On a final note, after all my research (2 years ago), I would personally not buy anything other than a Takagi or a Renai(sp).

Look for an email from me.
 
Rinnai, We sell them. The thing that gives them a leg up on the Bosch and other units is that they will not allow cold water through the system.

I just took a damaged one that my work was pitching and my dad installed it in his house. He loves it. Matt explains it very well above.
 
My cousin has one @ his cabin and know the initial investment pays off in a few years, but when mine dies I'm going to get one and they save on space, but as others have said you need a plumber that know what they are doing
 
As others have, for the most part, stated, you definitely will never return to a standard water heater again. Tankless is by far the way to go and, yep, it will fire up so hot that you won't even be able to tolerate it. I love mine.
 
OK - so how do I figure out what size/kind I require?

(Yea..my current HWH has a nice 'rust spot' on the side of the tank.....I just noticed it!)
 
With a Rinnai it is how many units you need, not really which unit you need. Most likely one. You can hook them in tandem and one will run unless you need more then the other will fire up.

The good thing about the Rinnai is that it has a modulating gas valve. It will fire at 15,000 BTU all the way up to 180,000 BTU.
 
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