Tankless water heaters

[RightIsWrong]

We are looking for ways to cut our energy costs (just switched electric companies to save $.023/kw) and are now considering other things as well.

We live in a new home (just finished being built in Dec.) so the water heater that we have isn't terrible, but we were curious as to whether the claims that these will save $$ on operating cost while still providing enough hot water for the house were true.

 

[Vette73]

It has a chance to save money but cost more and if your house was not set up for it will also cost more to install.


After all that it will take many years to pay off and thats if it does not need any major out of warranty repairs.


I looked into it and just got a very high efficent tank heater and put a tank wrap on it.

 

[Adul]

They work great. My Neighbor has one. He has 3 daughters and never runs out of hot water. In fact they both can take a shower in different bathrooms just fine.
If you do go for you look into a gas powered one instead of a electric one. Gas just has more heating ability and you do not have to upgrade your electrical panel like you do on some models. It does save money to as you are not wasting energy keeping water hot that you are not using. We'll be upgrading to one next year. This year we are doing the yard. I think there is still some tax credits for upgrading to one as well. Might want to look into that.

 

[sao123]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=38&threadid=2183251

 

[alkemyst]

Do you already have gas?

 

[RightIsWrong]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
Do you already have gas?

Yes. The current heater is gas and I would assume that the house was built with the option or capability to upgrade but I'm not certain about that.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: RightIsWrong

Originally posted by: alkemyst
Do you already have gas?

Yes. The current heater is gas and I would assume that the house was built with the option or capability to upgrade but I'm not certain about that.

Don't assume as the gas tankless heater needs bigger piping for the exhust. So if you look into it see what the min. size is for the tankless heater you are looking at and what your house already has.

But gas is the way to go over electric.

 

[RU482]

spending alot of money to save a little.

Just buy a high eff. tank heater (if you even need one) and invest the difference in price, you'll come out way ahead

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: RightIsWrong

Originally posted by: alkemyst
Do you already have gas?

Yes. The current heater is gas and I would assume that the house was built with the option or capability to upgrade but I'm not certain about that.

That's a big part of the cost out of the way.

For my place about $1k will get me the right tankless for my needs (outside mount as well, which I recommend for most people).

However; $2k (after rebates) is to get the gas line ran to my home and about another $2k to plumb the interior for the heater, and future provisions for a gas range, dryer and outdoor grill.

I can upgrade to about the best electric water heater for $500. So for me the tankless option is 10x the price. For you it may be only be 2x.

You should be able to recover the cost in a couple years.

 

[Sphexi]

If you went with a really nice tank (12 year wty, better insulation, all that), put a nice thick jacket on it, then you should be all set. The thing will barely run throughout the day, and the warranty will be far more valuable than the minor savings over the 12 years you'll have it, compared to tankless. There's more that can go wrong with those, and although in some cases they're really nice, overall I doubt you'd save any cash.

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: Adul
They work great. My Neighbor has one. He has 3 daughters and never runs out of hot water. In fact they both can take a shower in different bathrooms just fine.
If you do go for you look into a gas powered one instead of a electric one. Gas just has more heating ability and you do not have to upgrade your electrical panel like you do on some models. It does save money to as you are not wasting energy keeping water hot that you are not using. We'll be upgrading to one next year. This year we are doing the yard. I think there is still some tax credits for upgrading to one as well. Might want to look into that.

That's the main reason why I'd get one: instant hot water that doesn't run out.

 

[RightIsWrong]

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: Adul
They work great. My Neighbor has one. He has 3 daughters and never runs out of hot water. In fact they both can take a shower in different bathrooms just fine.
If you do go for you look into a gas powered one instead of a electric one. Gas just has more heating ability and you do not have to upgrade your electrical panel like you do on some models. It does save money to as you are not wasting energy keeping water hot that you are not using. We'll be upgrading to one next year. This year we are doing the yard. I think there is still some tax credits for upgrading to one as well. Might want to look into that.

That's the main reason why I'd get one: instant hot water that doesn't run out.

This is probably the biggest concern for my wife & kids. The money savings would be really an additional bonus even though to me...it is a primary concern.

We have a larger home (3200+ sq ft) with 2 1/2 baths and 4 females in the house. Needless to say, hot water is a premium commodity.

 

[captains]

i needs one, my heater is electric and upstairs. i'm afraid that it will bust. quoted price for gas one installed $2500

 

[thomsbrain]

On a related note, during my stay in Scotland, many of the hotels and B&Bs (even nice ones) had tankless water heaters directly above or below the shower heads. You had to turn them on with a timer in order to get hot water. A different world.

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
On a related note, during my stay in Scotland, many of the hotels and B&Bs (even nice ones) had tankless water heaters directly above or below the shower heads. You had to turn them on with a timer in order to get hot water. A different world.

We lived for three years in Japan with a kerosene tankless water heater outside on the corner of the house (fairly warm climate in Okinawa). We had a huge water tank on the roof which gave us the water pressure for the house, and it was nice because in the summer, you didn't actually need hot water to take a shower since the tank just soaked up the sun (conversely, you couldn't get very cold water in the summer).

It took awhile for the water to heat up especially in the winter, but it was great when it got going. No one told us about the kerosene tank when we moved in, though, so when we ran out one morning, we had no idea what was going on.

I really liked that feature of the house plus the individual room heater/AC on the walls. Each room had its own remote, and it was easy to balance out room temperatures as opposed to central heat/air. The only problem was that the house was built of reinforced concrete with concrete floors so it was COLD in the winter, even if the temps were only in the 40s. We called it "castle living".

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: RightIsWrong

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: Adul
They work great. My Neighbor has one. He has 3 daughters and never runs out of hot water. In fact they both can take a shower in different bathrooms just fine.
If you do go for you look into a gas powered one instead of a electric one. Gas just has more heating ability and you do not have to upgrade your electrical panel like you do on some models. It does save money to as you are not wasting energy keeping water hot that you are not using. We'll be upgrading to one next year. This year we are doing the yard. I think there is still some tax credits for upgrading to one as well. Might want to look into that.

That's the main reason why I'd get one: instant hot water that doesn't run out.

This is probably the biggest concern for my wife & kids. The money savings would be really an additional bonus even though to me...it is a primary concern.

We have a larger home (3200+ sq ft) with 2 1/2 baths and 4 females in the house. Needless to say, hot water is a premium commodity.

Size of the home is not a factor in a water heater purchase, but the number of bathers/water users is.

 

[videogames101]

I have one, I can only give praise for it.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Shawn
That's the main reason why I'd get one: instant hot water that doesn't run out.

And that's the reason you won't ever save any money with a tankless heater. You'll probably find a tendancy for people to take longer showers. If you search for other tankless water heater threads, I posted actual figures from an independent agency; not from plumbers who drool over the prospect of making 3 times as much money installing a tankless heater. You'll see that the real expected savings for a family of 4 is well under 20% each year. (compared to an average water tank) Figure out the ROI from that and you'll see that it's really not worth it for most people, particularly considering that the higher efficiency tanks are very simple and quick to install (saving you money up front) and really don't cost a noticeable difference more per month to operate.

 

[RGN]

I have one sitting at home waiting for installation. I needed to replace the tank, so I started doing the research on the tankless. I know the numbers are close, but I've always hated the idea of a tank full of water sitting on the cold concrete floor. I know the energy output will be less compared to my 20 year old tank, so for me it works. I will do the install myself, so the additional cost is not a factor for me.

 

[Aquaman]

Anyone think of installing a Solar Water Heating system?

Looks interesting.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Aquaman
Anyone think of installing a Solar Water Heating system?

Looks interesting.

Cheers,
Aquaman

I have 1000 feet of 3/4" PEX just sitting around. I was thinking about screwing around with it and seeing what I could come up with for a solar hot water heater.

 

[bobsmith1492]

I seem to recall they're actually less efficient since they have to dump heat into the water so rapidly that much goes wasted (i.e. not into the water). I wouldn't take my word on that, though, and it would definitely depend on your usage patterns - if it sits around a lot a tank would be less efficient.

 

[Babbles]

My father had one installed when he had his new house built about five years ago. After staying with him here and there over the years, I am totally convinced that tankless heaters are the way to go. Essentially an endless supply of instant hot water - can't go wrong with that.

 

[Baked]

Take shorter showers.

 

[ICRS]

Originally posted by: RightIsWrong
We are looking for ways to cut our energy costs (just switched electric companies to save $.023/kw) and are now considering other things as well.

We live in a new home (just finished being built in Dec.) so the water heater that we have isn't terrible, but we were curious as to whether the claims that these will save $$ on operating cost while still providing enough hot water for the house were true.

Wow you can switch electric providers where you live?

We have only 1 provider here. But then again we have a municipal electric provider.