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tankless water heater?
- Thread starter relaxandreflect
- Start date
MikeyIs4Dcats
Lifer
they are nice...but expensive
From what I understand they are more of an on-demand heater that you can use to feed something like a shower so you won't run out of hot water. So you could use these units to feed one or more of your main showers in the house, and then you could get away with a smaller, more efficient standard hot water heater.
Ryan
Ryan
They work and work fine. However, they limit the amount of water pressure you can acheive. I was in the market for a new water heater and I definately considered getting a tankless but when I looked at all the options, I went with a standard tank.
The amount of money you need to spend to get one that can run two showers at the same time is crazy expensive.
The amount of money you need to spend to get one that can run two showers at the same time is crazy expensive.
dug777
Lifer
afaik these babies are xpensive as...assuming ur r referring 2 those ones that heat water on demand...much more efficent 2 have a hot water heater that heats a medium sized tank with good insulation, but depnds on ur daily usage patternsa i guess-wait this would still b better if u coul program teh heat times 2 suit when u use it...
relaxandreflect
Senior member
our builder took us by his house, and is putting one in his. we would use the same one he is using which is a noritz, but on the high end.
We have an "on demand tankless heater" in our house, im too lazy to go downstairs and check the brand, but our water pressure is great, and it heats water about 3-5 seconds after you start running it out of the tap (which is probably the time it takes to get from the heater to sink/shower).
The only problem i could report is that because the water heater is "flow" based to heat it, when you use low pressure for whatever reason, it can go cold. This is only if you get pressure down to near trickle out of the faucet, not to mention if it did stay on it would probably overheat the device.
The only problem i could report is that because the water heater is "flow" based to heat it, when you use low pressure for whatever reason, it can go cold. This is only if you get pressure down to near trickle out of the faucet, not to mention if it did stay on it would probably overheat the device.
Pliablemoose
Lifer
Gaah...
I tried to get one installed & ran into nothing but headaches.
The excuses:
Your gas line may be too small
You will need a new chimney
It'll burn up all the air in your garage during combustion
I gave up, essentially, if you're building a new house, and plan for it they're great, if you have an older house, they're a PITA to retrofit, and it's unlikely you'll save $ with an extensive retrofit.
I tried to get one installed & ran into nothing but headaches.
The excuses:
Your gas line may be too small
You will need a new chimney
It'll burn up all the air in your garage during combustion
I gave up, essentially, if you're building a new house, and plan for it they're great, if you have an older house, they're a PITA to retrofit, and it's unlikely you'll save $ with an extensive retrofit.
As usual, no one knows what they are talking about. Lol.
They come in gas and electric varieties.
You can get "point of use" tankless water heaters, for instance, would install under your kitchen sink and give you hot water right there, but you can also get whole house ones.
I have done basic research into the whole house electic ones, and a neighbor just had one installed. They work by detecting water flow through the pipes - so when you turn your hot water on, it takes the unit a fraction of a second to notice the water movement, and then it instantly kicks on the heater.
You size the unit (ie how expensive it is) based on your lowest INCOMING water temperature. For instance, here in South Florida, our incoming water temp is probably never lower than say 60 degrees. So you find the unit that can offer you a temperature raise of, say, 50 degrees. That unit will be able to put out 110 degree water NONSTOP ALL DAY LONG. As soon as you stop using it, the heater turns off. As soon as you start again, the heater kicks back in.
If you live in an area where the incoming water temp can get very cold - one of this units is probably impractical. Even in south florida (if I recall correctly) the units need a direct 60-80 amp electrical feed. So they use a ton of electricity - but they use it all at once.
As for flow rates, I think most of the better models can keep up with 2 uses at once but probably not more than that - of course depends on the flow rate of your showerhead etc. They rate the units in temperature raise at a specific flow rate.
My neighbor's was about $500 for the unit and probably about that much for the install (high amp electric plus water lines plus removal of old heater). It hangs on the wall and is about the size of a phone book.
I have a small house in s. florida, so for me it is perfect - my incoming water temp isn't very cold, my water needs are low, and more importantly - I can regain all that space that was previously taken up by the water heater and its plumbing.
They come in gas and electric varieties.
You can get "point of use" tankless water heaters, for instance, would install under your kitchen sink and give you hot water right there, but you can also get whole house ones.
I have done basic research into the whole house electic ones, and a neighbor just had one installed. They work by detecting water flow through the pipes - so when you turn your hot water on, it takes the unit a fraction of a second to notice the water movement, and then it instantly kicks on the heater.
You size the unit (ie how expensive it is) based on your lowest INCOMING water temperature. For instance, here in South Florida, our incoming water temp is probably never lower than say 60 degrees. So you find the unit that can offer you a temperature raise of, say, 50 degrees. That unit will be able to put out 110 degree water NONSTOP ALL DAY LONG. As soon as you stop using it, the heater turns off. As soon as you start again, the heater kicks back in.
If you live in an area where the incoming water temp can get very cold - one of this units is probably impractical. Even in south florida (if I recall correctly) the units need a direct 60-80 amp electrical feed. So they use a ton of electricity - but they use it all at once.
As for flow rates, I think most of the better models can keep up with 2 uses at once but probably not more than that - of course depends on the flow rate of your showerhead etc. They rate the units in temperature raise at a specific flow rate.
My neighbor's was about $500 for the unit and probably about that much for the install (high amp electric plus water lines plus removal of old heater). It hangs on the wall and is about the size of a phone book.
I have a small house in s. florida, so for me it is perfect - my incoming water temp isn't very cold, my water needs are low, and more importantly - I can regain all that space that was previously taken up by the water heater and its plumbing.
sonoma1993
Diamond Member
my grandpa and uncle has the tankless water heaters, they love them, my grandpa has a eletric one and my uncle has a gas one. i've been trying to talk my mon into getting one, cuz we only have one shower in the house.
No way you can run two showers unless you have water saving shower heads. Personally, I like a lot of water pressure. My water is either hard or soft don't know which but it makes getting soap off difficult. I would hate lower water pressure.
For the amount of water the tankless heaters can output per minute, they did not meet my needs. I am sure they meet a lot of people's needs just not mine.
I looked into these for the addition I'm building, but the reccomendation from the shop I'm doing my P&H through (ABC Pumbing in Colorado Springs) didn't reccomend it because the incoming water temperature in our area is to low. He said it's fine for small "point of use" applications like a sink, but that they've had to significantly over-spec them for shower or whole-house use.
Well since I have a one bathroom house, having two showers running at once wasn't a big deal for me. 🙂
One of the electric models I'm looking at claims to be rated for a 75 degree temp rise at 2 gpm. Pretty sure US shower heads are "limited" to 2.5 gpm (kind of like the 1.7 gallon toilets) so depending on your hot/cold mix, I do think you could be right, 2 showers might be pushing it. Then again, they might not. Dunno. Like I said, my neighbor just had his done a week or two ago - I'll ask him the dualing showers question.
Kelemvor
Lifer
There are mainly two ways of using the tankless water heaters.
You can get one large capacity unit to fulflil the entire house's needs for hot water (just like your current HWH does).
or
You can supplement a main unit with smaller units with designated tasks such as the master bathroom and things like that.
Having the supplemental tanks allows you to have mutliple things using the hot water at the same time without affecting each other. Mainly that you could be taking a shower while someone else does the dishes or something like that. Of course this then means you have to buy two units but they might be able to be smaller since you will have more of them. But tankless types are great for large familes and such because it heats that water as you use it so you never run out.
They've been using this type of water heater in Europe and other places for decades but as usual, the US is jsut way behind the times so they are new to us.
You can get one large capacity unit to fulflil the entire house's needs for hot water (just like your current HWH does).
or
You can supplement a main unit with smaller units with designated tasks such as the master bathroom and things like that.
Having the supplemental tanks allows you to have mutliple things using the hot water at the same time without affecting each other. Mainly that you could be taking a shower while someone else does the dishes or something like that. Of course this then means you have to buy two units but they might be able to be smaller since you will have more of them. But tankless types are great for large familes and such because it heats that water as you use it so you never run out.
They've been using this type of water heater in Europe and other places for decades but as usual, the US is jsut way behind the times so they are new to us.
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