On Demand Water Heaters?????????

[JimR]

Does anyone have any knowledge of these hot water heaters? Cost to run vs tank type etc.? What brands are the best? TIA, Jim

[mahlers]

I have a couple of the Bosch 250 outdoor models, and so far I like them. While propane is getting expensive, they're a lot more cost effective to run than traditional electric tank heaters (and a little less expensive than traditional gas heaters). I went with outdoor tankless because of space considerations, and when I re-plumbed the house, I wanted the hot water right next to the bathrooms and kitchen. It was nice to only have to run a cold water pipe from one side of the house to the other (through a crawlspace). One thing that I'm going to do is plumb in small 2.5 gallon electric water heaters right after the tankless units. That smooths out the hot/cold/hot issues the tankless units have when you are doing things like washing dishes. The tankless units only turn on when there is enough flow, so you can easily run into issues when you're not running the hot water constantly. The little Ariston 2.5 gal units are only about $125, and they plug into a standard outlet - so I'll be adding those to my setup soon.

[SPYDERLK]

Originally Posted by JimR

Does anyone have any knowledge of these hot water heaters? Cost to run vs tank type etc.? What brands are the best? TIA, Jim

Low flow point of use electric is good and quite manageable. House capable electric units will need at least 100A @ 220V to warm the higher flow used. They work at an escalating electronically controlled duty cycle as flow increases more and more above the amt needed to turn them on. Theyre great if you have the robust electric service where you need it.
larry

[JimR]

Originally Posted by SPYDERLK

Low flow point of use electric is good and quite manageable. House capable electric units will need at least 100A @ 220V to warm the higher flow used. They work at an escalating electronically controlled duty cycle as flow increases more and more above the amt needed to turn them on. Theyre great if you have the robust electric service where you need it.
larry

I do have the power and open breaker spaces to run two 50amps for the heater.

[SPYDERLK]

Originally Posted by JimR

I do have the power and open breaker spaces to run two 50amps for the heater.

That sounds like a 50A 220V circuit. If your feed water is very cold that power would give hot at about 1GPM. OK for a point of use faucet or a cool 2GPM trickle shower.
larry

[JimR]

Originally Posted by SPYDERLK

That sounds like a 50A 220V circuit. If your feed water is very cold that power would give hot at about 1GPM. OK for a point of use faucet or a cool 2GPM trickle shower.
larry

That is actually a 100amp unit using two 50 amp breakers to run it. I believe the water flow is about 2.3 gpm's. I'll have to check it again. I've been looking at a few different brands. My oil based water heater is going bye bye.

[Doc_Bob]

The point of use electric are the norm in Kosovo. Work very well.

I have been told that the natural gas ones require a bigger supply pipe than the one that supplied the original 40 gallon heater.
Bob

[JimR]

Originally Posted by Doc_Bob

The point of use electric are the norm in Kosovo. Work very well.

I have been told that the natural gas ones require a bigger supply pipe than the one that supplied the original 40 gallon heater.
Bob

I can't go with the point of use type heaters due to the hard to reach places that I would have to install them in. I need to go with a larger house type that is electric as we don't have gas.

[browns40]

Hi Jim,

First--I researched, but ended up going with the old tank heater... given the price of propane locally and the size unit I'd need, just would take a long time to get the return on it...

As mentioned earlier, the temperature of your water feed, and how many GPM you need will determine what set-up you need. In Maine our groundwater is so cold, most families need a dual set-up to keep pace with running a shower, doing laundry, dishes, etc. concurrently. A small household or single person would have different needs.

Most distributors will have a chart of groundwater temps for you to refer to.

I loved the idea of it, but just didn't see the payback, as the unit I bought went into a rental property. Good luck!

[JimR]

Originally Posted by browns40

Hi Jim,

First--I researched, but ended up going with the old tank heater... given the price of propane locally and the size unit I'd need, just would take a long time to get the return on it...

As mentioned earlier, the temperature of your water feed, and how many GPM you need will determine what set-up you need. In Maine our groundwater is so cold, most families need a dual set-up to keep pace with running a shower, doing laundry, dishes, etc. concurrently. A small household or single person would have different needs.

Most distributors will have a chart of groundwater temps for you to refer to.

I loved the idea of it, but just didn't see the payback, as the unit I bought went into a rental property. Good luck!

Thanks for the information. My ground water is 60 degrees. I can bump it up easy enough with the right unit. My GPM's is around 2 GPM. So I don't need a really large unit. I'll be doing some research this week hopefully.