Tankless Water Heaters

we moved in a house that had one already, I believe the wife of the builder designed the house and she wanted this. (BTW) This is new house new construction, anyways it was not very good and could not keep up, we have a small house 2600-ish square feet, and 3 bathrooms but we never got hot water in my sons bathroom and not in the sinks in the master bath so after much trouble they installed the trad. elec. kind in the garage and we are now happy. good luck hope this helps

We have friends that have the tankless systems and they swear by them. They say they are very efficient. I have no way of knowing the brands they have though. Their bills did come down with this system though. hth

Hi there, I would choose a company, who has a long history in manufacturing tankless water heaters. Then I would make sure, that the company installing the system is very familiar with this type of water heating system and supply their own written warranty on their installation. You didn’t mention, whether your home comes already with a gas connection, as a later connection to the house can be costly. Typical information you will want to know, before making a decision on tankless water heaters: does your home has an existing gas connection? number of full and half bath rooms, size of family; do family members prefer showers or bathes? How many showers/bathes simultaneously? Is your washing machine energy efficient (front or top loading); How many electrical water-heating devices in your home have a built-in water heater? Details of the companies warranties on parts and labor, size and design of the water heater.
Here are some websites with lots of good information on everything you need to know about this topic.
Stiebel Eltron & Takagi: http://www.tankless-water-heater.com
Quote: “Tankless Water Heaters by Stiebel Eltron, established in Germany in 1924, and Takagi, established in Japan in 1946, are the most reliable and well engineered electric and gas tankless water heaters made anywhere at any price. Remember that Germany and Japan make the finest automobiles and electronic products in the world and it's no surprise that they lead the world in water heating technology as well.”
Bosch:www.cpotanklesswaterheaters.com They also make beautiful front-loading washing machines and dryers and in comparison offer more for their money than other manufacturers.
Tankless water heaters by Seisco: www.seisco.com I also would consider to install a separate small under-the-sink unit in the kitchen and bathroom sinks. One more thing: Some companies also suggest keeping your existing water heater as a back up. I hope this was helpful. I would appreciate your feed back on your experience.

I have installed several of these and found that the gas models (natural or propane) are very efficient because they only burn when hot water is demanded. They are electronically controlled as to how much to burn related to the demand. The pitfalls come when the wrong size is installed, and this happens alot because they are expensive and people often choose one that is too small. In new construction this is a no-brainer, definately go tankless, however in a remodel application there are many other factors to consider. The primary one being the gas line or electrical service. The standard electrical service to a regular hot water heater is NOT ENOUGH for a "whole house" electric tankless model and to change it can be very expensive and sometimes not feesible. Same goes for the gas lines, because these tankless heaters only "heat as you go" when they do burn - they burn ALOT of gas. Still more efficient than burning when not needed, but the gas line to a standard heater is usually only 1/2". Most larger output tankless models need a 3/4" line. Also this 3/4" line should not be shared with another gas fired appliance (furnace etc..). The flue piping is also different from standard heaters and more expensive. All of that said, tankless is much more efficient but if you have to change all of your existing set ups it may be so expensive to properly install that you will be many years recovering that expense in efficiency alone. I have used Takagi and Noritz brands and like the temperature settings on the Noritz better. The Takagi jumped from 105 deg. (not hot enough) to the next step of 135 deg. (too hot), they do sale a remote thermostat to adjust in 5 deg. incraments but the Noritz comes with the remote.

Hope this helps,

M.'s Husband

Hi M., We have had over 30 years experience with tankless heaters. Our experience was in Japan where tank water heaters are not the norm. I loved them. You never run out of hot water that way. Ours was propane heaters. One drawback is that you would need them placed near your kitchen and if your bathroom was a distance from the kitchen you would need one near your bath room. ( We had two, since our kitchen and bathroom were on the opposite ends of the house). We also found out that two people could not take separate showers at the same time.( That could have been because our heater was not large enough or that the water pressure was not strong enough all the time) Anyway, I really enjoyed them and we always had hot water! Now that we are back here in the states and have a tank heater, when we have a lot of guest showering our hot water runs out! I have found this very frustrating! Our last water heaters there had lasted over 23 years and were still working fine when we left. Hope this helps. R. B.

We have a propane tankless water heater at our cabin in Colorado. Although we are not there all the time to enjoy it we love it. We are up there for around two- three weeks at a time with around 20 people (sometimes more)and we never run out of hot water and people can now take showers back to back without having to wait on the water to warm up.

We were interested in them as well. I had Lewisville Plumbing come out and give us an estimate. Unfortunately, it will not work with our house. We would have to re-route gas lines and other things. They were very honest and helpful. If I were you I would have a company come out and talk to you about it after looking at your house.

I can't recall the details, but tankless water heaters work best depending on which source you are using (gas or electric....sorry I just can't remember which is better and which is a waste of time)--so I would focus on determining that fact first. The only downside I've heard of is not having enough immediate warm water for multiple bathrooms and/or appliances all at once.

We got one last year - Rinnai - and have never looked back! We had only been in our house for a month or two when we had to replace it so I couldn't vouch for the gas bill. All I know is that we can simulatneously run every machine in our house for hours on end and never run out of hot water!!! (OK, we don't actually do this, but the point is that we could if we wanted to!)

We have a Rinnai and I love it. It was already in place when we moved in and only serves the master bath (that part of the house was added on). What I have read online is that gas/propane saves money -- electric isn't that efficient. We have to run the water for a minute or so to get up to temperature, but less than when we had a gas water heater away from the bath.

The one thing I will say is that if your area is subject to frequent electric power interruptions, you definitely don't want the electric kind. Lots of cold showers. :)

A.

I too would like to install tankless water heater.egerly waiting reaponce

Hello
We have an electric tankless water heater and love it. My gas bills went down by 75% when we installed it. I recommed the higher capacity ones that allow you to run 2-3 major appliances at once. Ours has been installed since 2004 with no major problems. It is an aquastar. I ordered it on the internet and had a local plumer install it. It had to be retrofitted, which was a pain and expensive, but I love the energy savings. Good Luck!

I have a tankless hotwater heater & I love it! Yes, my electric bill dropped. Make sure you buy one that is big enough. We have a 2-coil and we are changing to a 3-coil. We have 2 bathrooms, washer, dishwasher and kitchen sink. To have hotwater in more than one place at a time we needed a bigger one. Also when it's real cold (below about 40 degrees) the 2-coil system just doesn't make the water hot enough.

I am a plumber (yes female) with my own business. I do not recommend them for use if you have more than one bathroom. You can not do more than one appliance at a time. Plus the inlet temp needs to be higher for bath water to be warm enough for you and that just is impossible some times. Yes they can save you money but they cost so much in the beginning, it just isn't worth it. I had a customer insist on one and it ended up costing the woman $3000 for it. In this case, it will never pay for it's self. Buck N Loons off of S. Cooper have 5 units in a series to run just their kitchen. Their restrooms are not on the tankless. They have natural gas. The gas units are better than the electric. I just replaced my water heater last year and no I chose not to install the tankless because of the shortfalls they have. But if you are adding a bath to the house then by all means use one. If you would like to talk to me more about the water heaters, call ###-###-#### (New Air Mechanical).

My husband and I used a tankless water heater when we built our home 6 years ago. We love it...never run out of hot water! We have an AquaStar using propane, (our propane tank is 250 gallons and we refill about every 6 months, our cooktop and fireplace are also propane, average monthly cost is about $50)I can't say what your utility bill will be, but if you know how the tankless works you are saving energy/money. The only thing that I have issues with is the lead time to get hot water to the faucet. The water will not come out of the faucet hot as with a traditional hot water heater, it is not instant hot water, but it is never ending hot water. Installation can be done b any licensed pumber.

We have one from Bosch & love it! It was already installed when we bought our house so I don't know about the exact savings. I can tell you that our water heater, heating unit, stove snd oven run off of gas & our bill has not yet been over 75 dollars. Also, like someone else mentioned we can take showers back to back while running the washer & have no problem with the water temperature. It's been great for us.