Tankless Water Heater Advice and or Experience

[the old grind]

The 20-year water heater of any type may no longer exist for < $1k. Calcium carbonate that is prevalent in shallow wells may not affect ph as much as it causes fixture-spotting and CACO3 sediment in a water heater's tank.

WIMI, 'minerality' of source water is another factor to be considered for o'all practicality. (My shallow well by a 4 ac pond sets a bar on that. :laughing

 

[Gem99ultra]

We've had tankless water heater (propane) for 20 some years, I'll never go back to a tank. Family of 6 never ran out of water. Our old heater had a standing pilot light and was either off or on. Last summer I installed a Rinnia heater that is variable output based on demand and has an igniter....it is much more efficient but is also more complex / expensive. Our propane usage dropped by 50%.

My experience exactly. Our Rinnia has been problem free for 10 years. Running out of hot water is a distant bad memory - ain't gonna happen with the propane heated Rinnia. Ours has a 110v electric igniter and uses zero power during stand-by.

In fact, when we moved into this house we had a brand new electric water heater jerked out and replaced with the tankless water heater. My experience with both gas and electric tank type water heaters has been nothing but disappointments.

 

[Deere Dude]

Our tank type propane water heater is 14 years old and needing to be replaced.

We are on a water well with not the best quality water.

I can stay with Propane or run #6 wire and a 60 amp breaker for electric.

Need help deciding which type to get.

Thanks in advance.

I went through the same concern about 4 years ago when I wanted to get get of my 50 gallon gas tank. I decided against the tankless because I never ran out of water even with the previous 40 gallon I had. So why get an expensive tankless with much higher installation costs and higher potential maintenance costs when a $500 tank works fine? Stick with the easy and sure thing unless you want unlimited hot water according to your personal history. I don't regret the 40 gallon gas tank I got..

 

[Xfaxman]

Thanks for your responses, keep them coming.

Should have mentioned it is for two old people in a small house.

Sounds like we would also have to get a water softener.

These are available and under consideration:

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[RalphVa]

Unless all your hot water use is close by, especially sinks, doubt it will save any money. What we use for frequently used sinks and even our outside shower are Tiny Titans underneath the sinks. Provide hot water fast. Will likely pay for themselves in hot water waste in letting it run so long to get hot water.

Ralph

 

[the old grind]

What Ralph says about wait time. My Brother's 12+ gal/min unit still had to flush and warm > 40 ft of 3/4" copper pipe to his shower.

My shower-head can't get ahead of my puny shallow well pump OR my 40 gal nat gas WH. Wait time still there, but once going I could stay there for hours.

14kw (see tankless above) is all of 60 Amps if your 240v is 230v at the appliance. Either way, power draw is similar to many dual element tanked electrics and 'juice' is pricey compared to gas if you have both.

 

[caver]

We had a small one on our asbestos shower at work. We had asbestos on old pipe lagging so we had a small shipping container converted into a shower/decon room. I had to fix it once and found mineral buildup/pipe scale causing problems with the flow switch.

 

[EddieWalker]

For larger families, with good water and a gas supply line large enough to handle the right sized heater that will remain in the house for a couple more decades, then the numbers indicate that it's probably a good way to go. For just a couple, there is no advantage in spending so much more money for a tank less water heater. If your water has a lot of minerals in it, then you will also have to clean out the water heater fairly often. Look up scaling and read what people have had to deal with.

 

[grsthegreat]

My house has a hot water recirculation Gronfos pump. These pumps wont work on tankless systems. A plumber i know said theres a way to add a small elect water heater inline with a gas wholehouse system, but way too complicated for me. My system is about 10 years old now, absolutely no issues. I drain both water heaters 2 times a year to get rid of any possible buildup. I have a system to use tank water to clean the electronic air filter system, thus cleaning both systems at same time. The water coming from heaters is usually very clean, so i dont think im getting any buildup. I hope to get at least another 10 years on this without any issues....hopefully more. Since its a direct vent system, its very efficient. My master bath is 40 feet from water heater. Without the circ system i would have to waste lots of water to get hot water. With the circ pumpi get near instantaneous hot water.

 

[DrRod]

I looked into this a few years ago and was surprised to find that the tank-less set-up had a very restrictive flow rate. You could get all the water you wanted but just not a thick flow. This might have improved since then so please correct me if so.