Tankless water heater

[bmac]

I, too, am in the process of building a new home (well, we've not actually begun construction yet. But hopefully soon.) Interestingly, I spoke with the folks at Rinnai just this morning about their tankless water heaters. The engineer I spoke to said, based upon the information I gave him regarding the number of bathrooms, that I would need 3 of their units to supply our home. Now, I don't know how the Suggested Retail Price compares with the actual sales price, but he quoted me a price of about $1300 per unit. OUCH!!!!

Now, I'd bet that we could get by with 2 units, but still the price would be much higher than with tanks.

Good luck with your decision. I still have some time before I have to commit.

 

[_RaT_]

Why so many, I thought the unit could do as many as 8.5 gallons/minute? How many bathrooms will you have or perhaps a better question, how many folks live at home? 3 units running at one time, I wonder if my propane tank could handle it? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[willywildes]

Noritz has a unit that does 13.5 GPM 300,000 BTU. they might be recommending three units for a large home, for quicker hot water. it's more energy efficient than the re circulating pump running the unit to keep the whole house hot. If you have body jets,a rain shower head and a regular shower head you can burn up 13.5 gpm pretty quick. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[_RaT_]

A regular shower head is all I need provided he water is warm.

 

[willywildes]

Some people have pools some have spas some have ultimate showers its all in what floats your Bar of soap.

 

[_RaT_]

<font color="blue"> they might be recommending three units for a large home, for quicker hot water. it's more energy efficient than the re circulating pump running the unit to keep the whole house hot. </font>

Actually, I have installed several of these, the remote contolled wireless models. Metlund Systems.

 

[Dargo]

I have found that each Rinnai commercial unit (tan, not beige) more than replaces a 50 gallon water heater. One of the residential beige units seems to equal a 50 gallon tank water heater. And, yes, I can see where you would need 3 or more of the Rinnai units for homes that are around 10,000 sq. ft. and larger.
On price, after the current rebate, the residential units can be had for the mid $500 price range. You do need a Rinnai certified installer to install them properly. If your contractor or plummer is not Rinnai certified, it only takes a few hours one afternoon to get their certification. My contractor got certified, and had 3 of his people also get certified.

 

[_RaT_]

So if I buy a Rinnai, I need to be certified in order to buy it? Or is it the warranty that is the issue? I have the need to install two at different locations in the near future if I find them suitable. Thanks.

 

[Dargo]

Rat, I'll have to check to see. I bought mine through my contractor mainly to get a better price than I was quoted. I think the installer has to sign off on the warranty forms to validate the warranty. Again, I'll have to check. I now recall my contractor telling me to not talk too much about him installing a commercial unit in my house. Oops! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Apparently Rinnai doesn't like that due to the possible risk of scalding. I'm told that in a restaurant, for example, the dishes need to be washed at 180 degrees per the health department. Trust me, you don't want 180 degree water coming out of your shower! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif But, hey, it's great for making instant coffee! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif