water heaters

[stormkroe]

Red Squirrel,
If combustion air from outside is your only problem with those water heaters, you should know that Canadian building code requires a certain number of air exchanges per hour for homes. In other words, you have outside air piped into your house anyway (the colder temperature can be offset by the installation of an air exchanger, but most people don't opt for one due to price). Google 'principal fan' if you'd like to read about it. As an electrician, it's my responsibility to install the system even though is a building code, not an electrical one.

Also, as for the electric exhaust fan on a tank style WH; it's all part of meeting the high efficiency requirements. Yes, sadly they don't work in power outages.

 

[Eug]

Tankless is great for the south, but anywhere else where the water is just a few degrees above freezing, tankless just can't heat it hot enough, unless you have two inline.

I live in Toronto in a big house. I have one tankless and it's just fine, even in the dead of winter. You just have to make sure you have a properly sized unit, which to me for a detached home usually means a 180000 to 199900 BTU model. I have a high-efficiency 199900 model and water volume is not an issue even in the dead of winter, although I suppose it would be if I ran two showers and a dishwasher at the same time.

In actual fact, it was much worse in the winter with my 50-gallon tank. The tank would fill my soaker tub faster than the tankless... but only partially. It'd run out of hot water on the coldest winter days about halfway through. (It's a two-person tub.) Tankless would run hot water slower, but it would continue to run until the bathtub was filled, for obvious reasons. That said, for my other regular sized tub, the 50-gallon tank was fine.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I live in Toronto in a big house. I have one tankless and it's just fine, even in the dead of winter. You just have to make sure you have a properly sized unit, which to me for a detached home usually means a 180000 to 199900 BTU model. I have a high-efficiency 199900 model and water volume is not an issue even in the dead of winter, although I suppose it would be if I ran two showers and a dishwasher at the same time.

In actual fact, it was much worse in the winter with my 50-gallon tank. The tank would fill my soaker tub faster than the tankless... but only partially. It'd run out of hot water on the coldest winter days about halfway through. (It's a two-person tub.) Tankless would run hot water slower, but it would continue to run until the bathtub was filled, for obvious reasons. That said, for my other regular sized tub, the 50-gallon tank was fine.

Toronto = the south. You guys barely get any snow. :biggrin: And yeah that's a good point about filling a tub. Even a regular size tub I find I have to run the hot water on MAX if I want to fill it, and the result is that the tub is at a comfortable temp as the last half is mostly cold water anyway. As cold water enters the water tank it cools off the existing hot water too.

Red Squirrel,
If combustion air from outside is your only problem with those water heaters, you should know that Canadian building code requires a certain number of air exchanges per hour for homes. In other words, you have outside air piped into your house anyway (the colder temperature can be offset by the installation of an air exchanger, but most people don't opt for one due to price). Google 'principal fan' if you'd like to read about it. As an electrician, it's my responsibility to install the system even though is a building code, not an electrical one.

Did not know about that code, though I imagine this process is usually done through a HRV? That's not as bad as at least you keep most of the heat. Come to think of it, the clothes dryer, bathroom fan, etc are probably much worse than the water heater as far as sucking air out of the house. so the water heater probably barely makes a dent in the heat loss.

 

[fstime]

OP, the more expensive model is a high efficiency model. The big benefit is you can vent these right off the side of the house using PVC pipe, much like a high efficiency furnace, there is no need for a chimney.

On a side not, both electric and gas water heaters take forever to heat the tank back up after being drained.

I have heard bad things about instant water heaters as well.

The best way to go is a 3 stage indirect water heater off of a boiler. We have had one for years now after replacing a traditional water heater. The thing has never ever ran out of hot water. That is with a full family and three bathrooms and back to back showers, never. The tank is enameled stainless steel so there is no anode rod either.

 

[Meghan54]

Draining your water heater is not part of routine maintenance...

Actually, everywhere I've ever looked and everything I've ever seen/read on water heater maintenance says just the opposite; drain at least every year. This comes from the heater manufacturers, insurance companies, home supply companies, etc.

http://www.allstate.com/tools-and-resources/home-insurance/water-heater-maintenance.aspx

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/cat...PG_PL&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/why-maintain-your-water-heater.html

http://www.anaheim.net/article.asp?id=1032


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