NG on demand water heater

[heehaw]

does anyone have a natural gas on demand water heater? i am trying to find out how loud they are? i noticed they sell models for outside installation, which might be an option if they are too loud.
heehaw

 

[studor]

About the same as a natural gas tank water heater. It is in the basement so I really don't pay much attention. My friend has a propane one right in the washroom at his cottage -- cannot really say I have noticed it with the tap running

 

[jwstewar]

I have a propane one in the basement. I wouldn't say it is loud. I've been down there working on finishing the basement, and most of the time you don't even know it is working. I actually hear the water running down through the PVC drain pipe more than I hear the water heater. Then I can listen and hear that the heater is on.

 

[chh]

Our is propane and in the laundry room. It ia not any louder than a standard hot water heater.

 

[jdbower]

I've heard that if not properly sized they sound like a woman screaming when you use the hot water while you're wife's taking a shower...

 

[The Dougster]

tell me.. how do fellows like the on demand heaters? I've been looking into them and have heard complaints... One fellow said he had to remove the water restrictor shower heads, etc so that enough water flows thru to kick on the burner? True? Untrue?

 

[studor]

The only problem with an natural gas or propane on demand is that unlike a "loop" tank system, if the heater is located far away from the point of use, it takes a long time to get hot water -- course a tank can be the same if not plumbed in a loop
I cannot see why flow restrictors would be a problem- have not experienced that one. Overall they are good and excellent in places where the hot water is not used every few hours (cottages, seasonal use dwellings, shops etc). I have no experience with the electric ones but last time I looked at the specs you need to be beside Niagara Falls to get enough amps to power them
JMHO
regards

 

[The Dougster]

The complaints I have heard was that they require X-number of gallons (5-7 gpm?) before the heaters kick on... Many flow restrictors, i.e. shower heads, produce less than that... I honestly don't know... am only repeating what I have been told.

 

[LBrown59]

Our is propane and in the laundry room. It ia not any louder than a standard hot water heater.

Why would it be loud?

 

[jwstewar]

We put a Pex system in with all home runs and the LP on demand. Only mistake we made was we put the heater and the PEX manifold system on the wrong side of the basement wall so it can take awhile to get Hot Water. Wish we would have done that different and have thought about changing, but now that I'm working on finishing the basement, I probably won't.

As far as liking the heater itself, I love it. We can be using all 3 showers at the same time and have had 9 people all taking baths/showers all right after the other and no problems with hot water. We couldn't do that in our old. 2 (sometimes 3) was about the max you could do right in a row.

As far as low flow not turning them on, I haven't seen that. We have all low flow shower heads (new house) and haven't had that issue. I will also turn the water on in our utility sink in our utility room on a slow flow, it might take it awhile, but it will get hot water there at even such a low flow. Maybe they have improved that in the last few years.

Ours is a Noritz brand. The thing we have to remember with these, they aren't new items. They've been using them in Europe for 20+ years.

Why would it be loud?

Because it has a bigger flame to heat the water quicker. Sometimes when you have a flame burning from a pressureized gas line, it can make noise.