Tankless Water Heaters? Anyone have experience?

#1
volinbham

volinbham

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#1
I'm considering a tankless water heater. I have a small house with one bathroom.

Anyone have good or bad experiences to share?
 
#6
#6
I did a commercial for a plumbing company this week, and it so happens I asked the guy about those things.

He said they are a bad investment, because it takes three times the energy to flash heat the water...
 
#8
#8
orange+white=heaven said:
I did a commercial for a plumbing company this week, and it so happens I asked the guy about those things.

He said they are a bad investment, because it takes three times the energy to flash heat the water...
Click to expand...
Interesting. That is different from what I have read. I have no first hand experience, though.
 
#12
#12
orange+white=heaven said:
I did a commercial for a plumbing company this week, and it so happens I asked the guy about those things.

He said they are a bad investment, because it takes three times the energy to flash heat the water...
Click to expand...

as opposed to your water heater firing all day to keep the full 50+ gallons hot? :p And it does that all day, every day. Me thinks he just likes the ease in installing the old tanks.

We have a small electric one in our cabin that is perfect for 1 bath (shower and sink) and 1 kitchen sink. We only use it a few times a month. We did have to upgrade our electrical panel to handle it though so that's a consideration.

I have a gas whole-house one in my house and love it. The gas bills are lower than last year plus I got the external model and gained back some space to add another 1/2 bath. My house isn't big so any new space is welcome. It was a bit more expensive than the tank heater but I got a nice rebate for installing it so it worked out to around $100 more (less installation)
 
#14
#14
utvolpj said:
as opposed to your water heater firing all day to keep the full 50+ gallons hot? :p And it does that all day, every day. Me thinks he just likes the ease in installing the old tanks.

We have a small electric one in our cabin that is perfect for 1 bath (shower and sink) and 1 kitchen sink. We only use it a few times a month. We did have to upgrade our electrical panel to handle it though so that's a consideration.

I have a gas whole-house one in my house and love it. The gas bills are lower than last year plus I got the external model and gained back some space to add another 1/2 bath. My house isn't big so any new space is welcome. It was a bit more expensive than the tank heater but I got a nice rebate for installing it so it worked out to around $100 more (less installation)
Click to expand...

One of my reasons for looking into it is to gain space. My house is on a slab so the current HWH takes up a small closet.
 
#15
#15
volinbham said:
I'm considering a tankless water heater. I have a small house with one bathroom.

Anyone have good or bad experiences to share?
Click to expand...

I have one and it's awesome. I have a 6,000 sq ft house and the heater is in the basement. So it takes a little time (2-3 mins) for the hot water to get to the upper floors in the morning, other than that it's fine. And if you have guests, everyone gets a hot shower without having to wait for the water to warm up. Also saves on energy $'s and is maintanence free. And takes up MUCH less room. I replaced two tanks with one tankless and would do it again in a heartbeat. Hope this helps.
 
#16
#16
UGADawg4Life said:
I have one and it's awesome. I have a 6,000 sq ft house and the heater is in the basement. So it takes a little time (2-3 mins) for the hot water to get to the upper floors in the morning, other than that it's fine. And if you have guests, everyone gets a hot shower without having to wait for the water to warm up. Also saves on energy $'s and is maintanence free. And takes up MUCH less room. I replaced two tanks with one tankless and would do it again in a heartbeat. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

2-3min? Call the plumber who did your installation and have him come back to add a circ pump. Make sure it's a plumber certified to install the heaters because circ pump installation is a little more difficult for tankless heaters.
 
#17
#17
UGADawg4Life said:
I have one and it's awesome. I have a 6,000 sq ft house and the heater is in the basement. So it takes a little time (2-3 mins) for the hot water to get to the upper floors in the morning, other than that it's fine. And if you have guests, everyone gets a hot shower without having to wait for the water to warm up. Also saves on energy $'s and is maintanence free. And takes up MUCH less room. I replaced two tanks with one tankless and would do it again in a heartbeat. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
he wasn't asking about a triple decker trailer.
 
#18
#18
another thing to remember volinbham is that they only put out so much hot water at a time (6-8gpm IIRC). Based on what you said I don't think it will be an issue but we did have a couple of customers complain that they couldn't fill their jetted tub, shower, wash dishes, a load of laundry, etc all at one time.
 
#19
#19
We install instantaneous HWHs all the time. Especially in places where it just doesn't make sense to run pipe for hot water and hot water return.

Depending on the amount of pipe you save, the front end investment can be greater, but the return shouldn't be TOO long. That plumber you talked to was wrong OWH... depending on how much hot water you use!
 
#20
#20
I can tell you that just about every home I visited on the Parade of Homes tour had tankless heaters. I also got to see the new GeoThermal heat pump systems. Cool stuff.

My guess is that if the tankless heaters are being installed in $1-2.5 million dollar homes with an excess of 5000 square footage, there must be distinct advantages (aside from space -- which was obviously not an issue).
 
#21
#21
kiddiedoc said:
I can tell you that just about every home I visited on the Parade of Homes tour had tankless heaters. I also got to see the new GeoThermal heat pump systems. Cool stuff.

My guess is that if the tankless heaters are being installed in $1-2.5 million dollar homes with an excess of 5000 square footage, there must be distinct advantages (aside from space -- which was obviously not an issue).
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As much as 50% greater efficiency than standard tank models.
 
#23
#23
UGADawg4Life said:
In GA we have 3-story homes that aren't trailers. You need to get out more and see a world outside your trailer park, BigPapaSmurf.
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did you just use my trailer joke back at me?

Try these: "I'm rubber, you're glue....." or maybe "I'm dumb? You're dumb." They're much more clever and would show some originality.
 
#24
#24
utvolpj said:
as opposed to your water heater firing all day to keep the full 50+ gallons hot? :p And it does that all day, every day. Me thinks he just likes the ease in installing the old tanks.

We have a small electric one in our cabin that is perfect for 1 bath (shower and sink) and 1 kitchen sink. We only use it a few times a month. We did have to upgrade our electrical panel to handle it though so that's a consideration.

I have a gas whole-house one in my house and love it. The gas bills are lower than last year plus I got the external model and gained back some space to add another 1/2 bath. My house isn't big so any new space is welcome. It was a bit more expensive than the tank heater but I got a nice rebate for installing it so it worked out to around $100 more (less installation)
Click to expand...


This is a good post, right here. All of this is true. The electric models will require an additional 220V (or 120V) feed because of the amount of current. Also, they do sell whole house electric models... just have to consider the flow rate that it is rated for. The higher the rated flow, the more sinks/faucets you can use.

I would prefer a gas model, but I haven't met many people that have complaints about the electric ones.
 
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