tankless water heater?

[Mr. H.]

I tried installing one of those, but it was a tankless job and I resigned myself to defeat.

 

[strollingbones]

damn that tankless is looking pretty bad here......i guess i will be finding a 50 gal tank

 

[strollingbones]

i could see gas being a problem in installing but electric is pretty easy

 

[Big Fitz]

If you can, one of the better ideas is to get a solar water heater if you have the space. Use it for feedwater heating. It won't do the hard work, but it can save on costs if you can get or make one cheap.

I used to want one too, but they haven't gotten the kinks worked out yet IMHO to make it very usable for American tastes.

 

[signelect]

Spend a thousand to save a hundred. sounds a lot like congress to me. Yea libs, you have invaded the plumbing industry.

 

[Big Fitz]

Spend a thousand to save a hundred. sounds a lot like congress to me. Yea libs, you have invaded the plumbing industry.

That's why I said build your own if you can do it cheap. Why buy prefab unless it's only a few hundred bucks and you plan to be there for more than a decade.

Solar CAN be good for this kind of stuff, but you need to research it. It may not be worth your effort. It's always been only supplimental power. I know that my grandmother got solar heaters put on the side of her house and it dropped her winter heating bill by 30-50% depending on sun. So it was worth it to her. Same deal here. Just keep it in perspective is all.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

I used to live on a homestead for 3 years with no running water or electricity. So one thing I won't compromise on is long, hot, soapy showers!

I recently had an energy audit to see what improvements I can do to my home. We have a state program here that will reimburse some of the costs, up to $10,000. Anyway, the subject of tankless hot water heaters came up. What the energy auditor recommended instead, was to have a hot water heater that was heated by my natural gas boiler (furnace). During most months of the year, the boiler is running anyway, and it wouldn't cost anything extra to heat the water from the tank that would be routed to flow through the boiler system. Even in the summer, the boiler is not shut down, so it would crank up to heat the water. But the overall energy and $ savings for a year would be significant, he said. And I wouldn't have the inconsistencies and shortcomings that have been reported with tankless heaters. Since long, hot showers are a top priority for me, that's what he suggested.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Two of the biggest farces foisted on murkins has been Hot Water heaters and box springs. Complete idiocy. Wall paper and carpet are also high on that list.

yea but you live in a shack in the jungle.....see the difference?....

 

[uscitizen]

I love em. Use em in my house and they work fine. Mine are electric.
One under my sink int the kitchen and one in the closet in each of the bathrooms.

They use no electricity unless you run hot water.

Only disadvantage is that if the power goes off you lose hot water immediately unlike with a tank system.
Not a problem with me as I have an automatic generator system.

 

[uscitizen]

i could see gas being a problem in installing but electric is pretty easy

Ohh they are no problem at all if replacing your tank type WH in the same location.
If not in the same location you will need a breaker and wiring ran to the location.

And yes they can leak as with age and such just like the tank type water heaters.
And they will plug up eventually if you have high mineral content in your water.

 

[chikenwing]

Do you have hard water?? if so get a softener or you have problems down the road.

 

[zonly1]

Tankless water heaters have an advantage in confined space, otherwise they are relatively expensive compared to a standard water heater and may contribute to lower gas bills but that is difficult to determine since there is no split dedicated gas meter to determine what ea gas source usage is or is not. Make sure you are close enough to the meter OR you may need to size up the pipe to the tankless from the meter to get the desired flow rate base on manufacturer specs .

Size does matter in this case.

 

[TruthSeeker56]

I install and service tankless water heaters, "on the side". They are great. All of the complaints I've seen in here so far are due to lack of knowledge, false rumors, low-quality products, and having the wrong type for the job.

Once you adjust the water flow and burner flame to the right settings (and they can be "touchy"), tankless water heaters are virtually maintenance-free and very reliable. All "quality" ones have automatic shutoffs (usually 20 minutes of continuous use).

These crazy prices and ridiculous tests that Consumer Reports talks about are way out of wack. I install whole-house tankless water heaters for around $500-700, including the price of the heater and all materials, and the brand I use are warranteed for 10 years. A regular 40-50 gallon residential water heater costs $400-500 or much more, depending on the brand name, plus installation, which can cost hundreds more.

 

[earlycuyler]

any one have any experience with them

Love mine all over the place. HOT !!!!!!! water on demand and they are not huge ass units. Worth the investment .

 

[Nosmo King]

damn that tankless is looking pretty bad here......i guess i will be finding a 50 gal tank

I have a gas tank less water heater and I love it! It's actually 86% efficient (for every dollar I put in natural gas, I get $.86 worth of heated water). It's been in for 15 years now and not one problem other than changing a filter every two years.

The standard size hot water tank is 40 gallons. If you have hard water, expect no more than 12 to 15 years of service without routine maintenance. By simply draining 5 gallons from water heater tank, and occasionally checking the sacrificial anode, you can extend service on a gas burning water heater to 20, perhaps 30 years. Don't drain the tank without shutting off the infill valve. Also, have someone open a hot water tap someplace upstairs to break the vacuum. And drain only 5 gallons from the bottom. the exercise is to save money. Draining the entire tank means buying 40 gallons of water to replace it as well as the gas or electricity to heat it to temperature.

 

[Big Black Dog]

I've been promising to get the wife a hot water heater so she can take hot showers and not have to heat the water up on the stove to wash her dishes. Maybe if I do, it will quieten her down a little bit.

 

[Big Fitz]

Sure sign of the approaching apocalypse... True story.

The Following User Says Thank You to Big Fitz For This Useful Post: Old Rocks (Yesterday)

 

[JWBooth]

Sure sign of the approaching apocalypse... True story.

The Following User Says Thank You to Big Fitz For This Useful Post: Old Rocks (Yesterday)

Bwahahahahahahahaha
Its the end of the world as we know it.

 

[JWBooth]

If you can, one of the better ideas is to get a solar water heater if you have the space. Use it for feedwater heating. It won't do the hard work, but it can save on costs if you can get or make one cheap.

I used to want one too, but they haven't gotten the kinks worked out yet IMHO to make it very usable for American tastes.

I've been planning on building one for my place as soon as I can find a good, solid, clean 80g tank.

 

[Big Fitz]

Sure sign of the approaching apocalypse... True story.

The Following User Says Thank You to Big Fitz For This Useful Post: Old Rocks (Yesterday)

Bwahahahahahahahaha
Its the end of the world as we know it.

and I feel fine.