New hot water heater options, Tankless vs Tank... Electric vs Propane.

[Clint S]

I don't know the exact # but my estimates are I use less than 100 gallons a year on my cold start boiler indirect heater. There are just 2 of us

 

[buickanddeere]

This tankless heater uses a separate loop to be legal as a boiler for domestic heating. Iirc it also has a small storage / blending tank to eliminated the hot and cold water slugs.

Dual Purpose Tankless Water Heater

 

[Oldpath05]

I just have one question, is this thread to old to get any up-to-date opinions on the Rheem tank-less water heater....................................................
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rheem-P...Tankless-Water-Heater-ECOH200DVLP-2/304820627

I suppose sooner or later I'll have to replace my low maintenance dependable 30 year old 20/gal electric hot water heater with another water heater. I hear some like the new propane tankless water heater, but I dont want a high maintenance, finicky eggshell water heater, I want set it and forget it, you know like electric water heater is.

The Rheem and most likely all have this monthly water filter schedule that sounds like a pain to me. I have hard water hooked into a water softener but still wonder if filter maintenance is going to be a unwanted hassle.....

 

[sodamo]

Can’t talk to Rheem, but I have been using Takagi tankless since 2006. Filter maintenance is simply cleaning out a small cylindrical screen about once a year - far easier than flushing out a tank. Try to get local opinion on model that interest you. Also a swap out involve.

 

[mikester]

You should take a look at the GE Geospring hot water heater. It combines a traditional heater with a heat pump for efficiency.
I would have gotten one when we built our house in 2010, but had already committed to using our geothermal system for part of our hot water.
My MIL is having one installed next month. She has propane on demand, but doesn't like the system because of the monthly cost of propane ($90)
Her projected cost for the Geospring is $20/month.

I had one and it failed after 13 months in use. Then I discovered that the 10 year warranty was only a 1 year warranty in Canada. After some research I found there is a class action lawsuit because something like 90% of them fail due to a design flaw...the guts of these é„*merican Made units are made in China and GE used sub par materials resulting in a failure in the evap coils. The repair costs were the same price as a new water heater. So heres a big FU to GE I will never buy a GE product again.

Fortunately our local utility offered a retrofit rebate on new HPWH and I replaced the GE with an AO Smith model which has operated trouble free for 2 years now. Knock on wood.

FYI the HPWH cut my water heating costs by almost 50%.

 

[fruitcakesa]

I had one and it failed after 13 months in use. Then I discovered that the 10 year warranty was only a 1 year warranty in Canada. After some research I found there is a class action lawsuit because something like 90% of them fail due to a design flaw...the guts of these é„*merican Made units are made in China and GE used sub par materials resulting in a failure in the evap coils. The repair costs were the same price as a new water heater. So heres a big FU to GE I will never buy a GE product again.

Fortunately our local utility offered a retrofit rebate on new HPWH and I replaced the GE with an AO Smith model which has operated trouble free for 2 years now. Knock on wood.

FYI the HPWH cut my water heating costs by almost 50%.

I have been running a Geospring for the past 2 years with no issues but will be closely monitoring it now that I now there are potential problems ahead.
Needless to say, it has been less costly to operate than our old propane fired tankless and far more convenient than our wood boiler DHW loop with no need to run the boiler in the warm months.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Needless to say, it has been less costly to operate than our old propane fired tankless

How so, what comps are you using price per Kwh vs price per gallon? How many Kwh’s used in one month vs. gallons? How much propane do you otherwise use in a month/year? Nosy people want to know I’ve been running a tankless (Rheem) for over 4 years and still happy with it.

 

[duanew1]

Contains adult language

Want to buy a Tankless Water Heater? - YouTube

 

[fruitcakesa]

How so, what comps are you using price per Kwh vs price per gallon? How many Kwh’s used in one month vs. gallons? How much propane do you otherwise use in a month/year? Nosy people want to know I’ve been running a tankless (Rheem) for over 4 years and still happy with it.

While I don't have hard data [which will annoy all the data nerd out there], I do know that when I was on propane burned roughly 20 lbs of gas every 6-8 weeks.
That added up to between $150-$200 per yr. This was a smaller heater that could supply 2 taps at once but no more.
The HPWH when run in HP mode uses a 500 watt element to augment the heat pump compared to 5kw when in regular mode. While my electric bill has gone up some the actual cost of running the heater is in the $10/mth average.
We have a 2 person energy conserving household with the occasional long term stay by our daughter so our water use is conservative

 

[chim]

I love the idea of HPWH's. We have a Geospring that I don't love. Fortunately I have been able to fix a few things on it myself. It does a nice job of dehumidifying the basement in the bargain. We don't meter our heated water, electricity or gas usage separately so I can't give any accurate figures on savings. The Geospring has been in use for about 6 years and I set it to run on HP only. It does keep working when there's a problem with the HP, but in electric-only mode. I expect it will crap out in a few years. When it does, I'll be looking for another HPWH from another manufacturer.

Previously we had two high efficiency LP gas heaters that each lasted around 10 years. The Geospring was running in electric-only mode for a few months last Fall and Wifey said the electric bills were around $30 per month above normal. Now we only use LP gas for heating the house and we put about 600 gallons in the 1,000 gallon buried tank once a year when we think the prices are best.