Tank vs. Tankless H2O heater

[EddieWalker]

I like them both, but each has it's advantages. Breaking down the initial cost and how long until you break even on it seems to be the deciding factor with my clients. Everyone loves the idea of saving money, but if you don't plan on keeping the house long term, if you need to upgrade your gas supply, if you have hard water or water with a lot minerals in it, and if you have a big family or it's just two of you using it all factor into which is better.

I also tell people that age isn't a deciding factor in how long your existing water heater will last. I've had more issues with new ones then old ones that have been working fine for decades.

While you can get them at the box stores, I've found that talking to the sales guys at the plumbing supply house to be where I get the best information. They will tell you what you need in addition to just the unit, and add up the total. It goes up quite a bit by the time you have everything required. They will tell you how big it needs to be to handle the size of your house and number of people living there, and also how big of a supply line you need. In ten minutes visiting with the sales guy, you will know if it's for you or not. The ones I've talked to have even told me how accurate, or not so accurate the listed savings are for different models.

Most of the time, after going through all the research, and running the numbers, I end up with a tank. I have a tank on my house, and I put a tank on my parents house that I built for them a couple years ago.

Eddie

 

[Redneck in training]

The new heat pump HW heaters will work very well only in warm climate where you use lot of air conditioning. In cold climate where you need to heat your house they just take the heat supplied by the heating system and use it to heat the hot water. If the energy used to heat the house is cheaper than electricity they might save you some money.

 

[ultrarunner]

One thing worth noting is that on 4/16/15 regs change and all tank heaters less than 55 gal. will be a couple of inches larger in diameter (more insulation) and electric heaters larger than that will use heat pump technology. How are you going to get the old tank out? Will it come out if you strip the housing off the tank? Might be easier to just enlarge the door opening. If you go with tankless, get one that has a buffer tank built in and be prepared for more frequent maintenance. No question, tankless is more efficient.

Sure am glad I know longer manage an apartment building with eight 20 gallon gas water heaters... the closet was built with no room to spare for the 20 gallon size... these were all studio apartments and the 20 gallon size worked well.

My go to gas water heater for the last 10 years is Bradford White... they were one of the first that met all the California requirements... sure do miss the days when I could go to Homebase (competitor of Home Depot) and buy 30 gallon heaters for $88.

They were good and lasted 12 to 14 years... also really like the Hoyt with the all copper tanks... never had one go bad and some have been in place since the 1950's...

 

[PILOON]

It seem to me that I read that tankless units are designed for a 40 deg heat rise and otherwise not cost efficient.

In my area most condo bylaws mandate all tanks to be replaced at 10 years and with newer insulation standards many walls have to be demolished in order to effect replacement and naturally said condo assoc only approves certain plumbers to do the job hence that changeover gets very costly.
Like maybe $700. for something That I could usually do myself for under $250. Ouch!

 

[ultrarunner]

The new, as in the last few years California spec, natural gas water heaters will set you back $400 at the wholesale house.

A co worker just paid $1600 to replace one in her garage... about double the going rate... she wanted it done on Sunday and was willing to pay the price.

 

[Gem99ultra]

It seem to me that I read that tankless units are designed for a 40 deg heat rise and otherwise not cost efficient.

In my area most condo bylaws mandate all tanks to be replaced at 10 years and with newer insulation standards many walls have to be demolished in order to effect replacement and naturally said condo assoc only approves certain plumbers to do the job hence that changeover gets very costly.
Like maybe $700. for something That I could usually do myself for under $250. Ouch!

Not to simply disagree with what you've said, but it sounds to me like you're referring to an electric water heater, not a tankless water heater. Yes? No?

 

[Country Geek]

I "heard" a few years ago that tankless hot water heaters are more likely to fail catastrophically and flood your house. Is there any truth to that or is it just an old wive's tale?

 

[ultrarunner]

I would think any water device could do this... have had several water heaters fail in the garage and one tankless... power was off for several days and it got cold enough to freeze the tankless.

Now, I pull the two of them off the wall and take to a neighbors for overwinter... less chance of problems...

All of my tank types have pan to daylight drains.

 

[Gem99ultra]

I "heard" a few years ago that tankless hot water heaters are more likely to fail catastrophically and flood your house. Is there any truth to that or is it just an old wive's tale?

I'm not expert, but I sure don't see how that could happen. My control panel is outside the house mounted on a wall. If the system failed no water still would be coming in other than through faucets. Now, if a pipe outside either before or after the control panel burst, one would have a flooded lawn.

The heating unit, in my case a propane system with an electric igniter, turns on with the flow through the hot water supply line. That is, turn on the hot water at a faucet, the flow sets off a 110 volt igniter, which fires up a propane fire surrounding a metal tubing coil.

We've only had our system 4 years, so my experience is pretty limited. Perhaps others with long term use can add to this, either pro or con.

 

[kenmac]

I'm not expert, but I sure don't see how that could happen. My control panel is outside the house mounted on a wall. If the system failed no water still would be coming in other than through faucets. Now, if a pipe outside either before or after the control panel burst, one would have a flooded lawn.

Yours is mounted outside..It is designed for outside.

others are for inside use.

there are many mounted in various places in the home.

Yes , the coil can & will can rupture and flood your home.

per code...if the W.H. is installed where it can cause damage due to rupture.. The W.H. must be installed in a pan.. this also applies to inside installed tank less.

The code only requires a pan with a 1'' drain..

If I install a W.H where damage can occur ,I'll have a pan & drain made larger..

For instance, For a W.H. in an attic, etc, I install a large pan with a 1 1/4-2'' drain.