Posted on 12/11/2013 6:43:34 AM PST by knarf
Yes, but I live in so cal. Of course it take a few seconds to get to the faucet. Your tank wh does to! I have 2. Both Nat Gas. 1 is about 10 years old (Takagi) and never had an issue. I just remodeled another part of my house and put in a Noritz. I think they work great. You just don’t have the extra water if the SHTF scenario!lol But then again, I have a 35,000 gallon pool.
My gas bill is about that... with about twice that in “fees and taxes”.
Makes me ill.
We considered it but the plumber told us they require maintenance twice a year that can only be performed by a plumber and requires expensive chemicals.
So my advice is talk to a plumber first.
I have one in a rental house I own. It is very effective.
The time issue you describe should not be particular to the type of water heater used. Nor should one area lose hot water when another is turned on. Pressure perhaps, but not loss.
I do know that ground water temperature is a major issue with these, so don’t try to skimp by if you have cold ground water, you WIL require the higher BTU unit.
I have been happy enough that I’m going with one in my new renovation plans at my home.
If you live up north, I would question how in the inflow line is kept from freezing, as the unit obviously must be on an outside wall.
It seems to me that I did the numbers on this once and determined that electric for a tankless was impractical.
Raising the water temperature from cold to hot as it runs through the unit takes something like 120,000 BTU’s per hour. Even if it could be designed, it would draw 100 amps.
The gas models typically need a larger than normal gas line. Most of them are ~199,000 btu’s. They also have hybrid models now that have a small tank so you don’t have to wait so much for hot water. They require more maintenance to keep the heat exchanger from getting gunked up.
If you have electric now, consider getting a heat pump water heater. Expensive, but you should get a tax credit for installing one.
On the advice of a friend who had one, I had a gas tankless heater installed and it is very economical. I live in SC so it does not get all that cold. I also cook with gas and the gas part of my bill runs about $15.
We are appraisers and have looked at what builders and remodelers do. Whenever possible, the GAS tankless units are installed. The heat exchanger is much more efficient than the electric exchanger, and that’s where the heating takes place.
If you can’t get gas or propane to the unit, stick with the current high-efficiency upper end electric tank-style units. You will be much happier.
You’ll have no hot water in reserve when the power goes out.
You’ll have to put in new circuits and run a dedicated line to each unit you install if you do multiple electric units.
These work better if located very near the point of use.
You may need a permit/inspection in your location or with your insurance company before you can install.
Any savings depends on how much water you use.
Have you been using a timer on your tank heater? You can cut your heating timme from 24 to 2 hours a day and save a lot of money.
Not if its a gas unit. Those take just a few amps to run the thermostat.
Iooked into it. I decided that the more efficiently insulated traditional would provide increased benefits and is supposed to last 15 years. The tankless cost was as hard to justify as a Prius. I’ve been very pleased with the new water heater. They’ve come a long way. Not sure I’ll be in this home more than 15 years...
We installed a tankless (propane) about a year ago. It’s really nice - although it takes a couple of extra minutes for the water to get hot. No worries about running our of hot water, either. We have been able to run two showers at once - so we apparently have a big enough system for our household.
They are a bit more expensive, but they don’t have the issues of rusting out as fast as the tank heaters do. And no anode to keep replacing.
Make sure you get a recommended size for your application.
I would not recommend an electric, though - simply the physics of electric heating elements mean a lot of wasted heat. Gas of some sort is much more responsive, IMO.
Just reread and saw you were considering electric heater. I’d suggest going gas. Much better.
sfl
The ones I’ve seen for cruising sailboats work pretty well.
My sister has one, it’s gas, but when the electricity goes off there is no hot water because you need to have electricity to lite the gas.
I’m sure there is some kind of backup you can get so you can fire it up when the electricity is off.
The gas work if get one with enough BTU. keep in mind that if you are already on, natural gas at least, and your current supply line to the fixture is half inch it is to small. A tankless will require at least a 3/4 in. supply, also the instant hot water claim is baloney. yes you will get instant hot water at the unit when it fires but unless you have a circulating pump system which will require a storage tank and circulating pump you still have to push all the cold water in the line out before you receive the hot water at the fixture. Also you must install a premium filter in advance of the heater to protect it from mineral build up. Once the heat exchanger starts to build up with calcium it requires a chemical flush and the exchangers can withstand only so many before the require replacement. Always do the math, what is the liftime savings in energy vs. the cost of the unit, new vent ducting, gas line and installation compared to using a regular water heater? For me it made no sense.
If you happen to live in the northern states where heat pumps don’t work well, a heat pump water heater won’t work well either. They also need to be in an unconditioned space, like a garage.
In Japan, gas fired tankless is about the only thing used.
Cost and space being the driving factors.
I used one for years while living there, never had a problem, never ran out of hot water.
Ours is mounted on an interior wall of the furnace room. The only requirement I am aware of is access to water and fuel - not outside wall placement.
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