Propane tankless water heater

[WinterDeere]

I live in a big house and already wait for hot water. So waiting for a tankless heater won't bug me. I already looked into a recirc. system and nixed the idea. Too much energy wasted.
Eric

I think the idea behind the recirc is to schedule it to have things pre-heated prior to your windows of highest usage. So, energy loss may not be as high as you expect.

Besides... you bought the big house! You can afford the fuel.

When we bought the current place, I asked the prior owner what he spent on heating oil, as it's a big and very old house. He looks at the floor, rubs his chin a moment, then looks up at me and says, "to be honest with you, I have no idea." He owned an oil company, so despite signing the delivery receipts, he never actually looked at the cost.

 

[zzvyb6]

I have a Rheem on natural gas. Mounted 4 feet directly under the shower head. Water temp limited to 120 degrees by law (scalded baby syndrome). Takes about 4 seconds to go from cold to really hot.

Easily flushed periodically using bypass valves to connect a small sump pump pulling vinegar out of a bucket, flowing it into the tank, and exiting it back into the bucket. Run for 10 minutes and reset the bypass valves.

 

[ponytug]

Did a bit of hunting on these pumps. Lots of no-name crap out there, but the major brands all seem to include a timer I wouldn’t want or need. Any recommendations for a pump with thermostat only, and no timer? I’d rather manage timing by my home automation system, than have another independent timer to keep on schedule though every power outage.

FWIW: Mine have also had a timer, but I have mine set up on a separate programmable 24hr week long lamp timer for awake/sleep (on/off), and I use the built in timer to run it on a 50% duty cycle.

All the best,

Peter

 

[HawkinsHollow]

@WinterDeere

AquaMotion AMH3K-7N On-Demand Under Sink Hot Water Recirculation Pump Kit

HotOne under sink circulator designed to deliver hot water instantly

www.totalhomesupply.com

 

[mikester]

A hot water tap about 15 feet from the hot water heater takes 40 seconds to get hot water, that is unacceptable in my opinion.

LOL

I'm on well and septic meaning that during a power failure I don't have potable water - or flush toilets unless I get buckets of water from my creek half a mile out in the back 40. Uphill both ways.

My neighbor's 40 year old septic bed failed and started backing up into the house. He had to wait 3 weeks to get it replaced meaning no showers, no dishwasher, no laundry and he had to spend $300 to get his tank pumped out every time it got full during his wait.

When your sanitary water system doesn't work 40 seconds waiting on hot water will seem trivial.

 

[Sigarms]

I put in a tankless 2 years ago that replaced my standing LP power vented water heater. No regrets and added some extra breathing space in my mechanical room that shares a freezer, 2 HVAC systems with a dehumidifier.

Some thoughts (which may have already been addressed as I haven't read the entire thread)...

1 - if you have harder than normal water, ensure you clean the heat exchanger annually with vinegar. That will go along way over time.

2 - If you want quicker than normal hot water at longer lengths per a water source, install a mini circulator pump at the furthest point. This will reduce wait times for hot water.

3 - Although technically a tankless should save you money, the reality is it may not. Because you won't run out of hot water, you may end up using the tankless more than a standard standing water heater where you will stop using it when you run out of hot water from the older tank.

4 - MOST IMPORTANT - ensure you know what kind of flow rate you are going to need with the family in the home. If you only run one shower or run a dishwasher or anything else by itself, chances are you should be OK. The issue is depending on how many water sources are used at the same time, you may not get the hot water you're expecting.

A quick search online and I found this on the topic. Don't know the source, but seems to hit on the basic points on flow rate

Determining GPM for Your Tankless Water Heater

When considering the purchase of a tankless water heater, one of the most crucial specifications to understand is the gallons per minute (GPM) rating. This figure represents the amount of hot water the unit can deliver in a minute and is essential for ensuring that your household's hot water...

camplux.com

 

[HawkinsHollow]

LOL

I'm on well and septic meaning that during a power failure I don't have potable water - or flush toilets unless I get buckets of water from my creek half a mile out in the back 40. Uphill both ways.

My neighbor's 40 year old septic bed failed and started backing up into the house. He had to wait 3 weeks to get it replaced meaning no showers, no dishwasher, no laundry and he had to spend $300 to get his tank pumped out every time it got full during his wait.

When your sanitary water system doesn't work 40 seconds waiting on hot water will seem trivial.

We all make our beds and we have to lay in them. No one forced you to live like that. Is there a better solution than driving 1/2 mile to get buckets of water? It's called a generator.

I don't want to lay in a bed where I have to wait 60 seconds to wash my hands in warm water.
First world problems? 100%. Do I have the tools to fix this trivial issue? I think I do.

 

[pmsmechanic]

My neighbor's 40 year old septic bed failed and started backing up into the house. He had to wait 3 weeks to get it replaced meaning no showers, no dishwasher, no laundry and he had to spend $300 to get his tank pumped out every time it got full during his wait.

Before I would pay to have my tank pumped I would set up a temporary sump pump and just pump the black water into the trees somewhere.

 

[Sigarms]

We all make our beds and we have to lay in them. No one forced you to live like that. Is there a better solution than driving 1/2 mile to get buckets of water? It's called a generator.

Golly, I looked at generators when I took a training class on them. For myself, it's not worth the investment if I only want to run a partial load because if I ran it at close to full load, I wouldn't have any propane left in my tank after a week (if power was out that long).

Instead of walking down to our creek, we generally keep a sufficient amount of water in house

Been here 20 years, seemed to get by without a generator, but that's just us.

Out of curiosity, at the master bath, on the second floor, furthest away from the mechanical room in the basement, turned on the hot water and water was warm after 2 seconds, so I can at least live with that LOL

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Out of curiosity, at the master bath, on the second floor, furthest away from the mechanical room in the basement, turned on the hot water and water was warm after 2 seconds, so I can at least live with that LOL

And that is with a tankless WITH or WITHOUT a recirc pump?