Does anyone have experience using a small electric tankless water heater for a shop or cabin? We are getting ready to build a shop that will have an insulated finished room with a single bath. I've reviewed the previous threads on tankless heaters but most of them discuss whole house options. I'd like to put in an inexpensive 40 or 50 amp tankless heater to run a the shower and utility sink (using only one fixture at a time). The utility sink shouldn't be a problem and the shower will be used infrequently- anybody running a shower on one of these? Reccomendations on the flow rate for a shower? Thanks for any help.
Small Tankless Water Heater for Shop
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SPYDERLK
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I think you will need more than 10KW. We have an 8KW and it wont boost regular cold water to comfortable shower temp at a reasonable flow rate. 12Kw would be ok unless your water is below about 55F.
larry
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I have one at the cabin... installed the first one in 1983 and replaced it in 1997 due to a ruptured coil from a very cold winter. Now, when I winterize the place, the electric tankless comes out and so far, no more problems. Both units were made by Siemens.
Works OK for shower and doing the dishes at the same time. Takes a long time to fill the tub if you want to take a bath. The water gets hot enough, but only at a low flow rate. I went tankless because you only heat the water when you are using it and I did not really have room for a full size water heater.
Works OK for shower and doing the dishes at the same time. Takes a long time to fill the tub if you want to take a bath. The water gets hot enough, but only at a low flow rate. I went tankless because you only heat the water when you are using it and I did not really have room for a full size water heater.
thatguy
Elite Member
When i was researching tankless options for building a house, I also read up on the smaller units.. They should work just fine for what you want.. The output was in the 1 to 3 gallon per minute range, which would work for one or two items usage at a time. I believe the average is 3.5 gal per minute total usage for a shower, so if you are blending hot and cold these units would get you there..
As Spyderlk mentioned a lot depends on how cold your water is to start.. So if you are heating ice cold water, you may need a bigger unit..
Here is a website that has some good general information
Tankless Water Heater Buying Guide
good luck.. let us know how it works out
Brian
As Spyderlk mentioned a lot depends on how cold your water is to start.. So if you are heating ice cold water, you may need a bigger unit..
Here is a website that has some good general information
Tankless Water Heater Buying Guide
good luck.. let us know how it works out
Brian
I can get a 12KW unit that runs on a 240V/50A circuit, it sounds like it would work for my purposes but probably wouldn't give me a real hot shower. They do make RV type tanks but, as in an RV, only hold about 6 gallons- which would make for a short shower especially if using any other hot water recently. The real advantage of the tankless is that I'm not heating a volume of water year round in a little used bathroom. I appreciate the feedback.
WayneB
Elite Member
anojones said:
I guess your are thinking only of electric tankless, but if possible you should also look at propane / gas heaters. I installed a Bosch tankless heater at our cabin in the mountains and it has done a great job for all. It can provide as much hot water as you would ever want for a shower. The model I got is the Aquastar 125FX
AquaStar 125B, 125HX, 125FX, 125BS Tankless Water Heater Models by Bosch
I went with tankless due to the ease of winterizing the water system. Before we had a 60 gallon hot water tank and draining it was always a pain in plus I was never sure I got all of the water out of the tank. With the tankless it takes me about 15 minutes to blow out all of the lines and winterize the water system. I am sure it saves us a bunch of money also as we are only heating water when we use it. It is nice to get into camp late at night and if one wants to they can just jump into the shower. In the past it was wait for the hot waer tank to heat up and that meant taking the shower in the morning.
Wayne
rox
Veteran Member
For the first 15 years of going to stay with my mother in law in France the only hot water was a tankless system but powered by propane. Get all the hot water you need, plenty fast, can adjsut how hot you want it, just don't run out of propane in the middle of a shower. keep an extra tank of propane and you are al set. Worked great.
The gas units do seem to work better, with higher flows and higher temps. However, we have inexpensive electricity and no gas, it would seem like too much to install a propane tank for one fixture. Again, thanks to all for the feedback- by the way I'm looking at this one:
PowerStar Electric Tankless Point-Of-Use Models
PowerStar Electric Tankless Point-Of-Use Models
rox
Veteran Member
I don't beleive you "install" a propane tank. You jsut get propane in the protable tanks like for grills, campers and RV's. One tank of propane lasts a really long time. best is to have 2 tanks, one in use and the other on stand by. High flow is important. Especially fi you are cold, you want to take a nice warm shower with plenty fo water. Suggest you take a garden hose, take a one gallon bottle and fill the gallon bottle at the rate shown with the specs shown in the different models. I dont' always even now shower with thw water opened up full blast but i relaly dont' like a shwoer that barely drips. You feel cold during the shower.