High Efficency Water Heater Recomendations

[Scooby074]

Thanks for the opinions guys. I dont think im going to find a marithon locally at least.

I agree that a timer on one of the new super efficient heaters may be overkill. THats probably why you havent seen one yet.


The Giant heaters look pretty nice and the price is Alot less than the GSW $300 for a 40Gal. 2" foam, 72W standby loss. GIANT FACTORIES INC.- Super Cascade 9 electric water heaters.


Im going to try searching halifax for a Marithon, thats available to someone whos not in the trade (at least to get a price)

 

[WayneB]

Thanks for the opinions guys. I dont think im going to find a marithon locally at least.

I agree that a timer on one of the new super efficient heaters may be overkill. THats probably why you havent seen one yet.


The Giant heaters look pretty nice and the price is Alot less than the GSW $300 for a 40Gal. 2" foam, 72W standby loss. GIANT FACTORIES INC.- Super Cascade 9 electric water heaters.


Im going to try searching halifax for a Marithon, thats available to someone whos not in the trade (at least to get a price)

Have you considered On Demand water heaters? I have two of them and I believe they are just great, both units are propane fired and we have continuous hot water when we want it. The reason for going On Demand for us was we have a place in the mountains and then our home.

With the camp I wanted something that was easy to winterize and also that when we were not there I didn't have to worry about heating water or I should say forgetting to turn off the hot water tank and it would maintain hot water for a week or two and we are not even there.

So the benefits at camp were we could winterize without having to drain a large water tank and secondly we could have hot water as soon as we got to camp even at a late hour and wanted to take a shower before bed. This has worked great for us.

The second system I put in at home. We have a hot water boiler and a domestic coil in the boiler for hot water. My problem with this was the furnace ran year around. Really bugged me to hear the furnace kick on and it is July and 85 degrees outside.

I put the system in and started using it last October and up until today we have used less than 200 pounds of propane. Not too sure just how much. We are on our second tank and it is close to the time to have one of them filled.

There is very little to go wrong with the systems and we have had the one at camp installed for nearly five years zero maintenance problems.

 

[Scooby074]

Have you considered On Demand water heaters? I have two of them and I believe they are just great, both units are propane fired and we have continuous hot water when we want it. The reason for going On Demand for us was we have a place in the mountains and then our home.

With the camp I wanted something that was easy to winterize and also that when we were not there I didn't have to worry about heating water or I should say forgetting to turn off the hot water tank and it would maintain hot water for a week or two and we are not even there.

So the benefits at camp were we could winterize without having to drain a large water tank and secondly we could have hot water as soon as we got to camp even at a late hour and wanted to take a shower before bed. This has worked great for us.

The second system I put in at home. We have a hot water boiler and a domestic coil in the boiler for hot water. My problem with this was the furnace ran year around. Really bugged me to hear the furnace kick on and it is July and 85 degrees outside.

I put the system in and started using it last October and up until today we have used less than 200 pounds of propane. Not too sure just how much. We are on our second tank and it is close to the time to have one of them filled.

There is very little to go wrong with the systems and we have had the one at camp installed for nearly five years zero maintenance problems.

Are you referring to Tankless propane when you say on demand? It was definately a consideration, however it would likely require a rework of the hot water system (tank is located in a bedroom, behind a fake wall) as well as the installation of propane lines and tanks. So i dont think it would be cost effective in my situation. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[WayneB]

Are you referring to Tankless propane when you say on demand? It was definately a consideration, however it would likely require a rework of the hot water system (tank is located in a bedroom, behind a fake wall) as well as the installation of propane lines and tanks. So i dont think it would be cost effective in my situation. Thanks for the suggestion though.

That is what I was suggesting! I can see reworking the system being a major undertaking. On Demand only means there is no stored hot water and it is generated as you require hotwater. cold water is directed through a coil and heated instantly (well almost instantly) and then delivered to the requesting source.

Wayne

 

[heehaw]

ok, those of you that have an on demand gas water heater: how well does it work if you just slightly turn on a hot water faucet: i was told by a plumber, they would not respond unless the faucet was turned on pretty much all the way. like when your shaving an you just want a trickle of hot water to rinse your razor, will the heater work then?
heehaw

 

[nickel plate]

Id like to get a High efficency model if possible. Due to cost and lack of gas, an upgrade to tankless likely wont work.

Scooby, When you say due to cost and lack of gas, are you referring to street piped natural or on site LPG (propane) tank?
Four years ago I swapped out our electric water heater AKA "the soup kettle" due to constant annual element failures at the tune of $125.00 a pop. True, we already had propane in place so I bought a Rinnai tankless on demand propane water heater and have never looked back. Our electric bill dropped $40.00-$45.00 a month due to the constant heating of the standard water heater tank.Now when you turn the hot water on, the Rinnai LPG gas jets kick on. Turn the hot water off, the gas jets turn off-not even as much as a pilot light stays ignited, all electronicly controlled. The unit needs a hot water tap to be turned on to a flow of .5 GPM or greater to fire up and supply hot water.

 

[Scooby074]

NP: we have no gas at all. Were in the country and while the pipeline for Natural Gas passes straight thru our county, they havent seen fit to hook any of us up. Its a long story, but when our province sold (some say gave) away our gas, part of the deal was that Nova Scotia households would be hooked up. So far, the company has pretty much forgot about us (besides those in the city). Our government pretty much screwed us over on that one.

Propane would be an option, but we have no tanks for that. And like i said in my other post the hot water is fed from a tank which is in a bedroom behind a false wall. THere is no basement (yet). I dont imagine id be allowed to install a gas fired heater, inside a wall, and in a bedroom. That cant be up to code .

I received a email from Rheem/Marithon heaters today. Like i suspected the Marithon is sold by the "contractor only " store both here and their branch in Halifax,so its looking like ill have to go with another brand. Oh well.

 

[BobRip]

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I received a email from Rheem/Marithon heaters today. Like i suspected the Marithon is sold by the "contractor only " store both here and their branch in Halifax,so its looking like ill have to go with another brand. Oh well.

I got my Marathon through Granger, if that helps. I like it. It has a rounded bottom inside so the dirt is easier to get out when you flush it.

 

[Scooby074]

Thanks Bob, Up here we only have ACKLANDS Granger. Same company but different selection. I checked their website and its a no go. On top of that, theyre contractor only too

 

[Alan L.]

Our Rennai whole house heater doesn't really save any energy using propane vs electronic. At least not much if any. With natural gas there might be a savings.

You can get hot water with maybe a half-gallon per minute trickle, you don't have to turn it on all the way. But there is a little delay and I'm not 100% happy I went with it, but no overly disappointed either. Just thought it would use less propane than it does. For two of us, I buy about $320 every 7 months or so - about $45 a month or so. I was hoping for half that.