Tankless water heaters

[Jstumbaugh]

Navien has a negative pressure gas valve and doesn’t require a gas line upsizing for most applications depending on piping length. If you can tie in a recirc line I highly recommend it and a unit designed for that. That eliminated the “cold sandwich” and any lag time at the faucet. Definitely use the valving kit to make descaling easy. This should also be done with tank heaters but no one tells you that. White vinegar is a good cleaning agent. Most house natural gas meters and regulators can handle 400k btu. Most lp regulator systems are above that. $.12kwh electric is not normal around her. I’m in upstate ny and we run about $.19kwh

 

[HaydenB]

Idk if you’re getting your water from a municipality or domestic well water but down here in Texas water wells will eat them up. If somebody is dead set on having one we recommend sand filters and water softeners.

 

[jorswift]

I had a 40 gallon electric tank. I got tired of cold shower from teenagers. So I installed an electric on demand. Best money I've spent! No more cold showers! LOL

I bought the largest unit Rheem had. Only hooked up 3 legs. Have 2 showers, 2 bath/sinks, kitchen sink, dishwasher and washer. No issues. Water comes from well, so need to clean the unit every so often.

 

[doc holiday13]

I would recommend against electric tankless. you'll likely need 3-Double Pole 40a breakers. I had one but it didn't put out enough water to keep up with 2 showers.

I would recommend a tankless gas/propane heater.. Those will get it done if you really really want to go tankless

 

[Splatter]

Again thanks very much for all the help. I really appreciate everyone taking time out of their day to help so much. I guess my next question is; is it worth switching to tankless?

I had heard from a couple people that they were nice, so I assumed that they meant “better”

 

[Jstumbaugh]

Its endless hot water and can save energy when not in use. It costs more upfront and can have more potential problems down the road. A basic electric water heater is a tank, two elements and two thermostats. A tankless is a little more complicated for parts. Is it nice? Yes, but there are trade offs.

 

[haeffnkr]

I have a Bosch natural gas and love it... This is my 3 tankless in 20 years. Everyone should use them.

 

[SWOHTR]

Anyone have any issues with power outages and not having hot running water…?

 

[ladogg411]

If you have NG to your place, that might be the way to go. Either tank or tankless. If you have an easy vent job through an exterior wall.

Electric tankless requires extra capacity in your panel. And likely more wire runs to the unit.

So much goes in to this analysis and we just don’t have near enough information to analyze this fully.

Simply Replacing your current electric tank might be the best bet.

 

[Go West Old Man]

NOPE.
Love our electric Stiebel Tempra on-demand heater!
3 x 30 amp breakers, but the damn thing is barely ever on.

We've done the math, cost is a joke over the last 15 years of using it.
We recommend to everyone we can, and if you live remotely like we do, no natty gas is needed.
The last thing we want is to need that or any other gas or oil delivery

@Broomd , not picking an argument here & can believe that your overall water heating cost monthly or annually is favorable for you, but since you’ve “done the math” is your residential total delivered kWh conversion to 1 Mmbtu (million BTU) cheaper than an equivalent delivered 1Mmbtu of propane or natural gas? Don’t forget to include the monthly service charges in the math too. If it is then you got one heck of a cheap electric utility provider. I’ll also recognize that natural gas may not be available to your residential area & residential propane distributors serving your area could be overly expensive.

 

[Seeknelk]

Highly recommend the Navien units, simple 2" PVC vents. Make sure to get the valve kit also. And this is big make sure your water is treated! Sediment filter and softener for sure. Most MT water is rough.

 

[jewbacca]

Most all tankless manufacturers have sizing tables or recommendations regardless of gas or electric. Most are broken down by region as well. You won’t be running a whole house electric on 110 even if it’s a small home. Most electric will require two or more double pole breakers to operate so you need to make sure there is room in your panel.

This. I was researching this recently. The whole house electrics I looked at wanted 440V. I would prefer gas, but you typically have to have a 3/4" line minimum. 1" preferred. That's a lotta upfront costs to replace a $600 tank heater.

 

[Splatter]

Thanks for all of the help and insight to this. I am going with a new tank and I’m going to relocate it at the same time. I think that route checks a lot of boxes for me.

Thanks again.

 

[Petwa]

I put one in my new house that I built in 2006. It was a commercial unit made by Takagi in Japan. It was propane, not electric. It supplied my domestic hot water and was the primary heat source for the radiant heat in my floor. These units are NOT maintenance free. Mine needed to be disassembled and cleaned every six months to keep it operating efficiently. It was a great unit and very reliable if the PM schedule was adhered to.
I have since sold the house (after 15yrs) and although I miss the endless supply of hot water, I do not miss the having to maintain the unit.

 

[Ishisube]

My longest term experience was having an apartment in Japan for two and a half years and the hot water was always quick, endless and reliable. I believe the people needing a great deal of maintenance have lots of minerals in their water, which is not experienced by others.