Have had a gas tankless for 7 or 8 years. We absolutely love it. We spent more initially than a traditional tank-type, but it has now more than paid for itself in savings.
We went with a Takagi unit (Japanese), which was (and is) considered a higher-end brand. Mine was at the top of the consumer/homeowner units, about on par with their lower-level commercial units.
Pros: (1) you never run out of hot water. You can have 10 house-guests, and the water is as hot for the last as it is for the first; (2) they cost less to run: you only heat water when you need to, not wasting energy on keeping the tank hot; (3) it’s compact: my tank-type heater was the traditional 4-5’ high, 2.5’ around, up on a stand. The Takagi is the size of a carry-on suitcase and mounts on the wall.
Cons: (1) initial expense (unit itself, venting, bigger gas-line from meter to unit); (2) useful flow is lower: you can’t expect to run 3 high-demand fixtures simultaneously and get water that is hot enough. This isn’t a problem in our empty-nest household. Any adjustments are not worse (and arguably better) than schedule adjustments made sharing the limited hot water in the tank-type.
Would do it again in a heart-beat.
“Would do it again in a heart-beat.”
Your experience mirrors ours. The Takagi is a superior unit. The trade off is you get 5-7 gals/minute forever as opposed to 10/12 gpm until the 40 gallons is gone! Problem here in CA at the moment is the water itself, there isn’t any!