tankless water heaters?

[Dragons Pearl]

Has anyone out there got a tankless water heater in their house? I have an electric tank water heater and my oldest thinks she has to drain it every time she gets in the shower. The gym has a tankless and I talked to the owner and he loves it. Just wanted to get a few more opinons before I got serious about buying one. Looking at Lowes.com and checking out the Bosch ones. They have a 6.4 gpm for 998.00. Kind of a big output so I want to be sure it will work for us.

Thanks in advance!

[Beaverslayer]

Paul,

Back in the day when I designed and engineered carwash systems, the tankless waterheater was in it's infancy. I imported 6 from a supplier in Europe (as they are very popular over there). They worked exceptionally well for supplying hot water on demand, and staying up to pace with the ammount of cars being washed.

Over the years I have known quite a few people who have put them in their homes to replace the tank style, and not one has ever looked back.

They are VERY efficient and you can let your daughter shower for 30 hours and there will still be hot water for you to have that normal 5 minute shower of yours.

With a tank heater you are constantly heating the water, even at 2 in the morning when all are sleeping. The tankless heater will only heat on demand. I would say that the 6.9 gpm is the one to go with, as the larger volume will make it possible to shower, and also fill a sink full of hot water at the same time to wash dishes. If you were to purchase a smaller one, you may find that the tenperature of the heated water isn't quite what you like. As the average house has a water supply in the nieghborhood of 5 gpm, this one should work out just fine.

Ken

[electrathon]

I have been looking into these for the last few weeks and I am getting ready to buy one. Most of the trouble that happens is from improper instalation. Usually not enough gas supply. They take 180,000 BTU on start up and at full output. That is more than the capacity of many meters out there. You likely will need to replace the meter and the gas supply line intp the heater. The vent also must be installer properly. Generally you must use the manufactures vent piping. FOLLOW ALL DIRECTIONS EXACTLY! Also you are better if you replace all of the large diamiter piping in the house with smaller pipe to each room, supplied by a manifold right off the heater. The cold water in the pipe will purge faster that way.

Depending on your location too you will get a lot less water out of them than you think. The GPM are based on inlet temp. Most areas of the country will get about half of the GPM that the big numbers show. Also it is easy to overdraw their output if filling a tub, they work better for showers. Do a lot of research before you decide on a brand. Most of the units sold by the chain stores are inferior.

[pete]

I agree. We built our home 2 years ago and got one primarily for the kitchen for the sink. It feeds the downstairs bathrooms

but obviously didn't connecct it to the dishwasher or washing machine as they have their own system within. Great for the sink but a wait for the bathrooms as it takes time to get the water all the way across the house. Pretty "instant" hot water. I need to turn it down in the summer as it runs about 10% hotter than the outside temperature. Same as the winter. about 10 degrees different so when it's really cold out the water doesn't get hot enough by about 10-15%(degrees not percent)

I wouldn't suggest it for a 2 story house as it takes too long to get up there. We have a circulating pump for the second floor and have hot water in the pipes all the time. Cold to near scalding in 2-3 seconds!

Yes- I put anti scald fixtures up there.

Good and effecient system. I'de do it

pete

[Beaverslayer]

Paul,

Here's a bit of info that might come in handy for you.

Tankless Water Heater Selection

Ken

[Luke Hatley]

Looks to me like it would be perfect for a new home..

But a re model, could be kinda costly

[Dragons Pearl]

Thanks for the info guys! I will be looking into it a little more now. Not sure if I can run the exhaust up the same pipe as the furnace, but I may just have someone bore a hole in the basement wall and exhaust straight out. Would put the heater closer to the faucets too, so less time waiting for hot water.

Also gonna check a few places to see how much they would charge to put one in. That scares me lol.

[electrathon]

Not sure if I can run the exhaust up the same pipe as the furnace, but I may just have someone bore a hole in the basement wall and exhaust straight out. Would put the heater closer to the faucets too, so less time waiting for hot water.

Absolutly NOT! They all use a dedicated vent pipe, most draw air in the same pipe as it uses for an exaust. They also use outside air for combustion, not inside air, which is a very good thing.

Closer to the faucets is very good, even ideal.

Generally you can mount it on an outside wall and drill through above the foundation above the sill plate. Watch for clearances to opening windows, the ground etc. The specs will be in with the individual unit.

I am installing mine on Saturday. I am excited to see how it works. I went with quality over cost and bought a Renai.

[hiloboy]

i'd say go for it .. i have had two homes with tankless water heaters and it is the best money i ever spent.. my first home was two story 3 1/2 bath ,dishwasher,washing machine,with 5 peaple and i never ran out of hot water. and in 12 years i had to call a service man one time and it cost me $75.one thing he told me to do was take the water restrictors out of the faucets thought out the house. he said that if you don't the heater will not work as well because its not getting the full demand for hot water because of the restrictors and there was a big differants after he did that..this is the type heater i have http://www.palomaindustries.com

[Beaverslayer]

That's the type of heater I used to import for the carwash industry, and never had problems with it either.

Ken