Any one familiar with the "Insta-Gas" hot water heaters??

[masterc]

I've seen them at Home Depot. They are also called tankless hotwater heaters. They are popular in Europe, where natural gas and electricity are very $$$. I was wondering why they haven't caught on here in North America.
They seem have a lot of positives... no tank of water being heated all day when t's not being used... small size... hot water on demand...

Any idea why we don't see them installed in homes??

 

[TechnoKid]

They are very expensive compared to the price that home builders can get get regular heaters at in a bulk price.

 

[pelikan]

We had one in our house when I was growing up. My Dad was in the solar business. So we had solar panels to heat water and the "on demand" water heater just brought the temp up a bit more. These water heaters are super efficient. I expect we'll all have them eventually.

 

[jmelnek]

It just takes time....Computers did not grow like they have overnight....I had one installed on my home last year and it is amazing how fast you have hot water. If you want it can last all day but it will cost ya.....They say that they pay for themselves within 5 yrs....Thats not a bad investment....

 

[masterc]

How do you prevent scalding?
Do they have some sort of thermostat?