OT: Tankless Water Heaters

davidpesce

davidpesce

New member
I've been hemming and hawing over getting one of these. Wondering what my trusted URS members think of them!

Who's got one?

Love/hate it? Why?

How many bathrooms?

What model?
 
We just had a new gas water heater put in. The installer said that the pay back is just not there. He said the reliability is not great. We have a 70 gallon unit so we never run out of water. We certainly thought about one though.
 
You use less electricity. Greener hot water. Gets rid of an eyesore of an appliance and saves space. I'd go for it even though the financial returns arent jaw dropping.
 
Don't buy cheep - research models. I have a Chemi workmate who was very diligent in his search. I will get the name form him today. His point last year was, last year, NYS had a tax credit that really made the change to tank-less very attractive. As usual, I missed the opportunity for free Uncle Sam $$. I will post his model later..


Good Luck

PS - don't buy Bosch lol
 
I have the Bosch and I love it! Purchased at lowes.
It's been running great for 7 years now with no problems at all.
I have 2 full baths it handles the demand with no problems.
 
Many experienced plumbers have no idea how to install these and adjust them properly and therefore steer you away from them. If properly adjusted they will pay for themselves. The prices are coming down. You can buy them and install yourself but it is unlikely that you can fine tune it for maximum efficiency. Find a plumber who has installed many of them. A place to get some of that info may be your local plumbing supplier. Go to a real supply shop (not Lowes, Home Depot, or HEP) and ask about their models and which plumbers seem to be installing them.

Full disclosure: I do not have one but will be getting one very soon. I have already done much of the research. It is NOT new technology. They have been in use for a long time everywhere accept the US.

Dave
 
Have a Rinnai and just love it. We switched from Propane to natural gas (had the LP version and replaced it when we switched) and saved quite a bit. You save money by not keeping water hot all the time, just when you need it. Wouldn't be without it!

We have 2 baths, washer, dishwasher, bar sink and laundry sink and it can supply water to all at the same time. The gas heaters save money, but I think the electric ones would cost more in the long run.
 
Last edited:
diverdick said:
Don't buy cheep - research models. I have a Chemi workmate who was very diligent in his search. I will get the name form him today. His point last year was, last year, NYS had a tax credit that really made the change to tank-less very attractive. As usual, I missed the opportunity for free Uncle Sam $$. I will post his model later..


Good Luck

PS - don't buy Bosch lol
Click to expand...

This comment has only one data point, my mistake.

A dealer that sells them told me that there is a T/C (Thermal Couple) that snakes its way through the piping that when it goes bad, can be troublesome.
He noted he had a customer w/o hot water for 2 weeks waiting for the part.

May be an isolated incident, I rescind my comment.

Collect data is my only opinion.

Most Kind Regards,
--Rich
 
I've installed them. IMO not worth it. Most are installed wrong. They demand a large amount of gas which means you usually have to increase the size of your gas line in your house-if installed properly. There are moving parts in it to fail. You should get the back wash kit if it doesn't come with it and back wash it often. You need to run the water to get the thing going so when you shave, turning the water on and off you will never get hot water. Many people I've talked to are using more water and more gas with these units. If you have a large whirlpool tub or a large 4+ family, it may pay off. If there is 3 or less, i'd save your money.
 
diverdick said:
His point last year was, last year, NYS had a tax credit that really made the change to tank-less very attractive. As usual, I missed the opportunity for free Uncle Sam $$.
Click to expand...

Energy tax credit has been extended for this year. Limit is $500 though as compared to $1500
 
IMO, if your old heater is still working fine, not worth replacing it "just because". And even if your old tank is dying, I'm not sure that any energy savings could re-coup the installation cost. If you can do it yourself, maybe worth it, but they're not the simplest things to install.

Chris, I thought electric models without moving parts were more popular than the gas ones...? Guess not :)
 
I'm not familiar with the non gas ones. I would assume that even those would have an impeller in it to sense water flow and to turn the heater on.
 
I was looking at them a while back and found some on Amazon.com. From what I saw, the US made ones are not as good as the foreign ones. These heaters have been used in Europe and Asia for years while they only started becoming popular over here in the last couple. I know we had them in Hong Kong since I was a little kid some 20-30 years ago, we had to use them actually due to the small spaces in most apartments.

PS: Expect to pay more for installation than the unit itself, especially for the electrical ones.
 
My existing one is on it's last legs. And I'm in the process of renovating the master bedroom upstairs. If I take out the chimney I can put a full tub instead of a standup shower in the bathroom. Which means I'd need a heater that can direct vent. The direct vent tank models are just about as expensive as the tankless ones. So price really isn't the concern.

I'm an eco-friendly type as well, so the tankless has it's allure.

Thanks for all the thoughts and comments!
 
We install them all the time at work they work really well but are very expensive honestly you wont break even on your investment for about 10 years but the never ending water is the advantage
If you do decide to put one in be sure that you gas service can handle it we run a 1 inch line from as close to the gas meter as possible and sometimes we even have to have rge increase the size of the meter
 
diverdick said:
Don't buy cheep - research models. I have a Chemi workmate who was very diligent in his search. I will get the name form him today. His point last year was, last year, NYS had a tax credit that really made the change to tank-less very attractive. As usual, I missed the opportunity for free Uncle Sam $$. I will post his model later..


Good Luck

PS - don't buy Bosch lol
Click to expand...


I followed up with my friend who installed one last year after much research. This is the brand below

Good Luck!

http://www.navienamerica.com/
 
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