Tankless Water Heaters...anyone have one?

88ZNX

Let loose the Boost!!
Joined
Nov 4, 2004
Thinking about getting one, because I'm sick of my hot water heater. Do you have one? Like it or hate it?
 
It's on my to do list for this year. They take up 1/4 the space of a standard hot water heater and you have unlimited HOT water. I would be curious to hear from others as well who have switched.
 
I looked at some for awhile but when it came down to replacing my old one when it started leaking I bailed.
You'll pay BIG bucks and burn lots of BTU's for one that can actually heat the water fast enough to save on the standby loss of a tank.
IMHO the best way to go is solar (even better if you have a home in the south) once you have the equipment, the energy is FREE.
 
I don't like the fact that they must heat the water "on demand" with every turn of a faucet, washing machine, dishwasher, shower, etc. and they remain heating until the valve is closed. Unless you have a circulating circuit, it isn't instant unless you put one at each faucet.

Other than the fact they save space, not a big fan.

Other than you don't like the tank, why switch?

Have you looked at the prices of the units you are considering?
 
My father had one put in, it is quite a bit more expensive ~$2000 for his propane powered model.

It seems to work fine but needs to be power vented - (you may not be able to put it in the same place as your old tank heater)

I don't think he would do it again, the price delta between a tank and tankless can buy you a lot of gas/propane - at least at today's prices. If you think prices will go way up over the years, maybe it is worth it - roll the dice:biggrin:
 
Love mine. Bought it off of Ebay about 3 years ago for about $500. Steibel Eltron brand made in Germany. Distributor said they're good with 0 returns, & said stay away from Titan brand due to alot of returns. Make to to size heater appropriately in case you plan on using 2 showers at once. Mine will.
 
Have you looked at the prices of the units you are considering?

They are not worth it!

IMO, tankless water heaters are good if you have a garage, bathroom or room that you do not use all the time for a main water supply. You can buy a SMALL tankless water heater.

Here is a review from consumer reports... I was thinking about a unit 2 years ago till I did some research. Also, the circuit boards can go bad and if the warranty has expired, $$$!!!

Are tankless water heaters a worthwhile investment?
 
I'm reading that alot of companies dont honor the warranties too well. Rinnai Continuum models seem to have great reviews. My Hot water heater is in my attic and I dont want my house flooded when it goes out. Moving the cars out of the garage to get into the attic and light the pilot light 3 times a day gets old. And this is the 2nd time I have replaced the regulator. So I called a guy and he is coming out to see about it and ill get more info from him.
 
First of all why do you want to heat the hot water ?????? :eek: :eek: :eek:

It is a WATER HEATER. :p

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

X2

For those that don't have one, how do you know the tankless isn't good?
Considering one next time I have to replace but when I was in the BigBox looking at them the other day and the tankless were all special order. How does a company expect to sell any if it takes ten days to get one? When one needs a water heater, I need one right then, I'm not going to wait ten days with out hot water. Poor business plan if they lan to sell any.
 
ok...EXCUSE ME..I should have been more clear. I hate having to go up in my attic where the water heater is and re-light the pilot light 2 times a day. So I was just asking if a tankless would be better. But I got a tax bill in the mail today and I have to pay it, so I wont be getting a tankless. But I did find my Hot water heater was bad, and I replaced it today.
 
I am a certified Rinnai tankless heater installer. They are great units. I have installed as many as 3 units in one home and provided about 15 gallons of 120F water per min, also using them to do 1800 sqft of radiant heat. They work great. There are tax credits out there. As far as using big BTU's, the do. Most are around 189,000 input BTU. They are over 90% efficient so keep that in mind. A tank type heater does not even come close to beating them, that is aside from the price.

It's a tough sell, most people just can't see parting with that kind of $$$. They are very complicated systems. Most issues are from installation error. The one thing is the flow control solenoids seem to have had problems in the early units. They took care of me and sent me the parts with no issues. I have to figure in some $$ because there is no in home warranty the first year like tank type heaters offer.

Note: If you do not have your Rinnai installed by a certified installer you have no warranty.

Here is a link to their website.

Tankless Water Heater, Tankless Water Heaters, Energy Star Water Heater - Rinnai
 
I have one that I'm installing soon in our upstairs. It's electric so it's waiting on us to run a second line to the heater
 
Have One

We have a Rinnai. It is a natural gas model I put it in a little over two years ago. I did it when there was a 500.00 tax credit going on. Now the tax credit is 30% of the cost installed up to 1,500.00.
We sell the Rinnai brand where I work and it has proven to be a very reliable brand. Our plumbing department has sold quite a few with pretty much a 0 problem. I have had 0 problems so far. I like the fact that I can turn the faucet on and leave it on as long as I want and have hot water.
It is very important that it be installed properly! Gas line is important on these heaters. It was mentioned about a lot of BTU's...This is true. Top fire rate of the thing is 180,000 BTU's. This is much more than most residential furnaces. It requires a 3/4 inch gas line ran to it where tank water heaters have 1/2 inch. If the gas line is too small, they will cut out when the demand gets high. We have well water. Although the well water is very good, we have a water softner. There is no way that I would have a tankless heater without a softner. The tankless water jacket (heat exchanger) is not very big and they will lime up. This will greatly reduce or disable the heating of the water. You then have to flush them out with vineger. Mine has the service valves that allow me to do that if needed. It cost a little more but it will be well worth it if I have a problem. I have my temperature keypad located on the wall close to the heater. It is digital and I have the exact water temperature set. I currently have it set at 125 degrees. I think it will go to 140 or 145 degrees. The burners is "variable" and so is the draft inducer in the unit. Use a little water and the burner runs very low and increases as the demand for more water increases. I hardly ever demand 180,000 btus out of it! I have tested everything out. I have had the gas firelace on, the furnace in second stage and the water heater going at full capacity. I turned on the kitchen sink, both bathroom faucets, the tub faucet the shower faucet, the washer and the dishwasher. Nothing cut out and my water maintained the 140 degree temp I had for testing. The amount of water flow required to bring on the unit is 1/2 gallon per minute. Our dishwasher has enough flow to bring it on.
I have been to several Rinnai classes and know that they are built very well. Every component in it is built by Rinnai. We had a phillips head screwdriver and needle nose pliers and was able to disassemble the whole thing. I thought that was pretty impressive. Flow rate to bring the heater on is one of the lowest in the industry from what I understand. I was so sick that day of the class, I was lucky to make the drive home! I sure didn't feel like working on a heater!
Do I like it totally??
I did not see a huge savings. This may not be fair because it is only me, my wife and son. The bigger the family the better. I hate the "cold water sandwich" effect you get with a tankless. If you are running the hot water and shut off the faucet, the heater shuts off. If you turn the water on there is a very small delay to get the heater heating again. That small delay allows a small pocket of cold water to flow through the heater before the burner starts to heat again. If you turn the hot water off and then back on. You will get hot water, then a period of cold water before the water gets hot again.
The heater is supposed to last a very long time. With the life of the heater versus a tank heater and with the savings of them being so efficient, they are supposed to pay for themselves over an extended period of time. We will see.
Go to Tankless Water Heater, Water Heater, Tankless Water Heaters Gas - Rinnai
They should have some info for you on savings and actually be able to tell you how much you can save with a Rinnai. I have had the oppourtunity to work on other brands of tankless especially from the box stores. I haven't worked on all of them, but the few that I have there has been a huge quality difference. Rinnai is not cheap. Even for me to buy from our supplier and install myself I was at about 1,400.00. I do know the great history we have with them, and my own personal service from the heater has been good.
Sorry for the long post, but I hope it helps.
 
I am a certified Rinnai tankless heater installer. They are great units. I have installed as many as 3 units in one home and provided about 15 gallons of 120F water per min, also using them to do 1800 sqft of radiant heat. They work great. There are tax credits out there. As far as using big BTU's, the do. Most are around 189,000 input BTU. They are over 90% efficient so keep that in mind. A tank type heater does not even come close to beating them, that is aside from the price.

It's a tough sell, most people just can't see parting with that kind of $$$. They are very complicated systems. Most issues are from installation error. The one thing is the flow control solenoids seem to have had problems in the early units. They took care of me and sent me the parts with no issues. I have to figure in some $$ because there is no in home warranty the first year like tank type heaters offer.

Note: If you do not have your Rinnai installed by a certified installer you have no warranty.

Here is a link to their website.

Tankless Water Heater, Tankless Water Heaters, Energy Star Water Heater - Rinnai

lol
 
I have both a electric tank and a Bosch LP tankless 199k btu. Just finished installing the tankless unit last month, haven't used it that much yet. It's extremely quiet and seems to work well. Had to run a new gas line from my tank to the house in order to keep up with LP demand with my furnace, water heater, and fireplace.

Main reason I bought my tankless unit is to maintain hot water when we have power outages. I can get by for a day with the power off using the electric tank, then its back to cold showers. Yes I have a backup generator, but with 4500W elements it eats all of my 6kw generator, enough where I can't do much more with it. When the electric tank dies, its coming out (its a 20-year old AO Smith).

I'd recommend one personally.
 
One more thing. I always point out that I have had to service some, and the problems I have encountered. I highly doubt they will ever have the reliability of a tank type heater (duration of a typical life). The heat exchangers should be cleaned periodically (Lime scale build up). I know if I install a tank heater I will never come back (Bradford/White). Typically if any problems with controls on the tank types are within the first month, but rare at the least.

I don't want to face a customer if they have problems and they tell me I never warned them.


I am not sure about the Bosch units, or others (I challenge them to exceed the specs of the Rinaii) but the important thing to check is the amount of water it takes to fire the unit(s). 1/2 gal/min is the leading standard, and also if you run them in parallel can the other units maintain the 1/2 gal turn in rate. I am unaware of any units that can aside from the Rinnai. Make sure you compare power vented units, as the Rinaii is a sealed combustion unit that uses it's own combustion air from outside.

The typical inspection always should be to size the gas main, so you must know the flow rates of steel/CSST piping. There is no electric demand heaters that will compare with the flow rates of a gas fired unit either. The residential code also requires sizing of hot water flow per fixture in the home. A 1 bath home is all one tankless can provide without a pressure drop prohibited by the code, so if you get it inspected you might get called out to provide some data if the inspector knows his stuff. There are hybrid systems (tankless and tank type) setups to prevent this pressure drop, but you are storing hot water and what is the point of a tankless then?
 
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