Tankless Water Heaters???

I just found that my gas water heater is leakin internally. It's about six years old. Anyway I went to Home Depot to check out their tankless heaters. Between the federal rebate and local rebate I think tankless is the way to go. Does anyone have a tankless heater??? Or even installed one??? I'm thinking of doing it myself.

 

you can do it yourself if you follow local regulations we got one in the house. needs to be on the exterior wall vented properly and in the correct location* not by any windows or doors. highly recommend saves money in the long run

 

yup, what he said, they will save you cash and its much better for the environment

 

Thanks for the response. I wanted to put it in the same location as my current heater which is in the corner of the garage. There is a vent tube hooked up to my original heater that I was going to use for the tankless system.

 

Tankless Heaters are great- The important thing is to get the right size.

Depends on the size of your family and seasonal variation of the temperature of the supply water. Seeing as you are in Vegas- I bet the water is not much colder in the winter than the summer. Your main concern is if you are going to have 3 people wanting to shower at once or something like that. Make sure to get one that is large enough for your household needs. You may have to pay more for the initial heater, but should realize savings on gas within a year or two.

 

Eef, I'm going to have to disagree. If you're only needing the heater for one sink (like just for a shop sink) or any application that will have little use - then I'd say go for it. Most tankless heaters use a lot more energy to get you that hot water on demand and compared to an efficiently maintained and regulated HWH, it will be a bit MORE expensive every month. A couple options I'd suggest - replace with a regular tank and put a blanket on it (i.e. fiberglass insulation) or replace the tank with a Marathon (do some googling, they're LEGIT... but pricey) and either way you go install a timer on it so the water is only heating when you need it. Most hot water heaters run every hour and you if it's electric - figure there went $.25-50 every time it kicks on and typical insulation is terrible in the tanks so the heater constantly has to turn on to keep the water in the tank hot. The marathon when heated to 120 degrees - only loses 2 degrees over 23 HOURS!

We sell the Marathon heaters at work (no I'm not a salesman LOL) and now are doing a solar hot water heater program - I actually have in mi casa

 

I had a training seminar on these awhile back. From what I remember, here are a couple things to consider.

You need 3/4 inch gas pipe all the way from the meter to the tankless heater. Also, needs to be flushed every year to keep the heat exchanger in good shape. There is also a slight delay in getting hot water when you turn on your tap or shower. You can't use a recirc pump with a tankless either, as that will cause the heat exchanger to age rapidly, and voids your warranty.

 

Anyone have opinions on electric tankless WH's? My subdivision is all electric (DAMN YOU BUILDER, THE NEIGHBORHOOD ACROSS THE STREET HAS GAS!)

I would like to ditch the big tank to save space in my garage. Again, complaint for the builder, he put the water heater in the left corner of the garage so the biggest thing you can park on that side is a mid-sized car.

 

Well it looks my advice might not be as relevant considering I was referring to electric. I can't speak at all on the efficiency of a gas unit.

Macgyver, my previous advice definitely applies to you

 

Ah yes...Thanks


hmmm...decisions....Space or energy efficiency....that is the question! I could care less about the hot water on demand. My tank heater actually heats up pretty quickly. My garage is insulated and I keep it heated during the winter time (haha even in our mild GA winters ) so do you think the blanket would make much of a difference? I may check into one of those timers since the WH doesn't get used during the day. Thats a good idea since I already have my thermostat programmed on my HVAC, why not do the same for the WH.

 

Consider solar water heating!

 

A wrap on your heater would absolutely still help. And the timers are great as well - you can use a pool timer or they have water heater specific kits that range in technology from a rotating dial that you just adjust the "pills" or digital timers like your HVAC control. I've got a buddy with a 3600 sq ft. house with an attached 1100 sq ft garage - when he had the house built he had both a/c and swamp coolers run through the duct work and his garage is very well insulated and has hvac vents... that said - when he installed his blanket and timer his power bill went from $4xx range to $2xx range.

Or for people who are looking to change out their tank and willing to spend a little money now to save a little money every month - check this out.

 

You said it, bub! http://www.vea.coop/renewable/Solar WH.php

Got one in my house

 

Yeah, I would need to get it changed to a direct vent system. And also need to have a 1" line installed off the meter. $2800 install over four days is not worth it for my current living situation.

 

Thank you all for the great responses. This is why TW is so awesome. I'm gonna stick with the tank style because of cost and I need it done today. But mainly COST. LOL.

 

My two cents... had tankless systems when I lived in England and Ireland for over 8 years.... buy one... good stuff!

 

yes, my cousin installed one...it rocks!!! but be carful...they really can burn you!!! they are very, very efficent, so they cheep to run. but usually they are very expensive to buy, but if your getting rebates and tax insentive, that may level the playing field with cost. Personally, I'd say go for it.

 

We have had a tankless water heater since early May.

http://www.rinnai.us/


I would stay away from anything you get at home depot or Lowes. We have a unit that can put out 9.4 GPM of 140 degree water and if you swap out the circuit board, it will do 180 degrees.

Make sure you can get 3/4 " gas to the unit, make sure you can properly vent the unit and make sure you have 110 AC close by the unit as it needs the juice to fire up the ignition for the gas.

I am only paying for has when the hot water tap is open as opposed to keeping a 40 gallon container hot at all times.

Tankless is the way to go.