Tankless water heater

[KsRancher]

Just got started on a remodel and after working around the hot water heater I decided I would like the extra space. Anyone use one for a whole house application? And if so, how does it compare to a conventional one. I currently have a 40gal. If I don't get good feedback on the tankless. I will replace with a 50gal conventional. Thanks

 

[Tahoe1305]

I have one. Gas. Rinnai 94.

My old one (Rinnai 85) lasted 15 years (for reference I live 100 yds from salt water). New one was $1050 out the door and I wish I would have installed it myself (less than an hour of work…only cost $250 though).

We have a 3000sf two story. Takes maybe 90 sec (worst case) to get going but have never ran out once it starts. A few spots in house heat almost instantly.

If nothing else the lifespan and simplicity is worth it.

 

[Broomd]

Our electric Steibel Eltron "Tempra" is fantastic.
One of the huge perks of our last build.

Will never go back to a tanked heater that cycles on and off forever, waste of our money.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Replaced my tank heater with a 11.3/gpm outdoor tankless no issues. It has the programmable recirculation pump which is nice.

 

[Dos Perros]

I think they make sense if you don't change your behavior from present. What I mean by that is, if your teenage kids learn that hot water is endless, they'll take 45 minute showers and you'll find out when the gas bill hits.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

I think they make sense if you don't change your behavior from present. What I mean by that is, if your teenage kids learn that hot water is endless, they'll take 45 minute showers and you'll find out when the gas bill hits.

Mine has an app..In the case above I just turn it off from my phone...I can see it running when I am not home as well.

 

[StuckoYota99]

Conventional units have better parts availability and have less parts to fail.
They are reasonably cheaper to replace the unit too.
Tankless are more efficient to operate but require more maintenance. Installation is more expensive and requires venting and piping modification depending on the efficiency of the unit.
Propane is more expensive than natural gas therefore it will pay itself off over time.
I put in a tankless in my house so that I could fill a soaker tub and not drain my entire hot water tank of hot water.

 

[CorbLand]

I don't know much about these but I was talking to my brother who use to build custom homes and he said one thing to check before installing one is the temperature of the ground water in your area. They installed one for a customer and later found out that the ground water was too cold for the heater to heat efficiently.

Probably something super rare but might be worth asking about before installing one. It was also 10 plus years ago, so the new ones may have gotten better too.

 

[hunting1]

Love mine, just make sure to have it serviced yearly. Gas bill will go down and do not have to let the water run wasting water to get hot.

 

[WRM]

It has been a while since I looked at them but biggest issue I heard from a plumber friend was that the internals tended to corrode out. He pretty much no longer fooled with them. Now, that may be a peculiarity to the local water source. I'd try to get feedback from a trusted source in your area too.

 

[c670809]

They are great but for long life should be flushed every year. Flush kits are available on Amazon and it is a pretty easy process.

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

Do all the calculations to make sure you have enough BTUs for the delta T° x GPM.

Look up how to flush the scale and do maintenance. Set it on reoccurring on your calender. Once a year minimum, more often with hard water.

A manifold system with narrower individual lines will deliver hot water quicker than trunk and branch plumbing due to less volume between the heater and outlet.

 

[fishslap]

In addition to what everyone else said, make sure it mounted solidly. The one that came with our house was not. Our newer one is. Way quieter.

 

[ben h]

I have a tankless at my primary residence and one at my cabin. I would not recomend going this route unless your hobby is saving on gas bills, while spending a bunch more on repairs and servicing efforts. There's about 100 more things to break on them. If you're not totally limited on space, I'd just get a standard 50 gal or something like that. If you are completely space constrained, they are pretty small and crappy. I have in floor radiant heat, so I have a boiler system anyway and am going to replace with an indirect water heater. Not a good way to go if you don't already have a boiler syestem though.

 

[KsRancher]

Thanks everyone. I don't have to use the tankless. I can get by without the space a conventional one takes up. Just trying to maximize what space I have. I am on a water well with water so hard you have to cut it with a knife. So not sure I wa t to mess with constant issues with that. But man, I would like the extra space. I have probably a month till I am ready for it. So I will roll it around

 

[Crowmangler]

I installed a Navien when I built my house 12 years ago & it's been great. No issues at all (knock on wood). I love this thing & it's way more than paid for itself in propane savings. I had a 50 gal in my previous home & that damn thing burned enough propane to heat the Superdome.
Get one that's programmable & if you want to reduce lag time for the hot water to reach fixtures, have your plumber run a hot water loop to the furthest one. Then you can program it to circulate for a couple minutes periodically.
I actually turned the programmable timer on the keypad off so that it only burns when someone actually needs hot water.

 

[jdinville3]

Switched to one in 2017, will never go back to a tank one. Mine is all electric and will keep up with anything we throw at it. My suggestion would be to figure out the size you need (i.e. number of bathrooms, people, square footage) and go one size bigger. Below is the link to what

Tankless water heater

 

[doc holiday13]

Unless this a single bathroom house, stay away from electric.

Outdoor models are the easiest installation but winter climate can cause freeze up in the lines

 

[jdinville3]

Switched to one in 2017, will never go back to a tank one. Mine is all electric and will keep up with anything we throw at it. My suggestion would be to figure out the size you need (i.e. number of bathrooms, people, square footage) and go one size bigger. Below is the link to what

Tankless water heater

I might add, 2,400 square footage house, 3 bathrooms and 5 people. Again handles anything we throw at it with no issues on having multiple showers going or dishwasher and showers going. Whether you go electric or gas I doubt you will regret going tankless.

 

[Haggin]

Wee bought a home in 2013 that had one. Liked it at first, until it went out and parts are a little harder to get. We went a couple weeks of showering at the gym before we could get parts for ours. Granted it wasn't a Rinnai - which should be more available, buts it still a computer that happens to heat water. We switched to a 50 gal power vent unit and really, it doesn't take much more space as our unit was on the wall in the corner and needed space in front of it to open the door and work on it.

We have hard water too (like rust stains on everything if water sits hard) and the unit was fine. After it finally crapped out (processor unit/mother board went out) i took it apart and it was fine inside. We do have a softener for the other minerals

ETA - be sure you spec the gas line to it properly (part of our initial problem with ours). They're large burners that take a lot of BTUs, so likely a larger line than a typical water heater is needed.