Tankless water heaters, do they work?

[4dsc]

I would everyone who has a tankless water heater to chime in.. Should I install one for my home?? I'm a truck driver and I have the thought of using NG to heat a water heater when I'm not at home..

[Richardo]

1. I'd like to know the answer to this as well.

We have to run the hot water tap in the kitchen for almost 3 minutes to get water hot enough to do the dishes. An in-line right under the sink would save us a lot of water.

[TZ]

2. I have a friend that has one...

He loves it. Works really really well he says. Saves him money as well because it is very efficient....

[China_cat]

3. They work great.

That's our next purchase but we know how they work because that's all my husband's family ever had. I experienced it when visiting them. Their's was the old fashioned type that had to be lit before use (gas) but less than 5 minutes after lighting you'd have water almost hot enough to make tea with in the bathroom. (The unit was in the kitchen over the sink)

[conscious evolution]

4. They work very well

The only drawback to them is that quite often you will need some electrical upgrades to handle the power requirments.This can add up to some big bucks.

If you are never home an Instahot would save a lot of money over time.

If you are tired of waiting for the hot water to get to sinks I would recommend either a small recirculater pump on the hot water pipe or installing a small booster heater under the sink.

[BrotherBuzz]

9. The electricity is only 110v and is easy compared to....

upgrading the gas line. The tankless heaters require a larger flow of gas on demand, and accordingly, long runs from the gas meter needs to up-sized from, say, 3/4" to a 1" line to run efficiently.

I think I may install one if my wallet is fat when my old water heater dies.

[conscious evolution]

18. True,However keep this in mind.

Most 110v WH I have installed do not have the capacity for supplying a whole house.They are better at supplying a single bathroom or just the kitchen sinks and dishwasher only.The bigger whole house units have much higher power requirments.You will also still have the issue of wasting water waiting for the hot water to reach distant faucets with a central water heater.
I still recommend them though.While the initial costs may be higher over time they will save money and power.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Get it-- it might fall down a bit when filling a tub, but...

other than that it's the best thing around.

[Wcross]

6. Gas/propane work great. I wouldn't bother buying an electric model.

Make sure you get one that DOES NOT have a pilot light burning all the time.

[NMDemDist2]

7. we had one in Phoenix. there's a couple things to consider

a timer for your current set up might be cheaper eh?

here's a thread we did in the Frugal Living forum that has more info

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=353&topic_id=84

and here's a whole thread on water heaters in the Environment forum

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=107294

[billyskank]

8. Yes, they work.

I would say they are most suitable for homes where there is no room for a tank, such as a small apartment.

It takes about 30 seconds after turning on the hot faucet for the water flow to turn hot, that is the main downside. On the upside, they are fantastic for showers - the hot water never runs out.

[4dsc]

10. That's what I'm looking for

I take plenty of showers when I'm home and don't fill the tub much.. I hope to get one with my tax return and then look into a batteryless solr system..

[Mojorabbit]

11. I love ours

It is propane fueled. The only problem is you have to run the water a bit for it to warm up on the opposite side of the house where it is installed. I love long hot showers and it is heaven for that.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

12. it worked fine as long as there was no battle for the water

If only one thing was using hot water at once there was no problem, but trying to use the shower and an appliance at the same time was a no-go.

[jmowreader]

13. The gas ones work.

The electric ones? An electrically-fired tankless has three circuits in it. Each one is fed by a 50-amp breaker.

My standard advice, which works VERY well for everyone who's tried it, is to rely on thermal mass: get an 80-gallon 12-year-warranty water heater and bury it in insulation.

[hunter]

14. Yes, they work.

Ours easily handles two showers, and the hot water never stops. It's absolutely perfect for times when our house is full of guests, and also the times nobody is in our house.

Unfortunately it did not reduce our gas bill. Some people in my family (not me!) like to take very, very long showers. Now they can.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. I had one in Japan located over my kitchen sink

It was gas-operated and had a pilot light. When I turned on the hot water tap, the gas flame whooshed up and heated the water as it was flowing. (I didn'thave a bathtub or shower and went to the public bath.)

[1]

16. I can tell you of my experience.

And i can only speak to the electrics, I have no idea of how the "gas" versions run.

I moved into a cabin in the Ozarks on my new little farm in 2003. Southwest Missouri, it can get very cold in the winter, not like the North where I grew up. But it can get wicked cold upon occasion.

When I remodeled here in 2004 I went tankless, just because my bathroom is a tiny 6'x 7' and the 30 gallon water heater in the bathroom took up an enormous footprint of that little space. I mounted a SEISCO RA-14 on the wall of that bathroom. That is a very small tankless, but I am only one person, so it accomplished the task. I only run one hot water source at a time. I don't run the washing machine while taking a shower while running the dishwasher (dishwasher? I am the dishwasher! By hand, in the kitchen sink!)



*** This is just my experience. I'm not associated with any companies, or if I mention products or models it don't mean shit. Hell, the reason I don't post here is everybody wants to kill anybody that states an opinion about anything. y'all scare me. ***



The SEISCO RA-14 is an electric tankless. A "point-of use" that some others here have described. I had to install two 240 circuits just give it it's juice (being farm types, we do our own work.) A normal family type electric tankless needs at least 4 220 circuits to power it. But I only have 100 amp service, I had no other choice.

The hot water is great and the hot water is never ending. There is still the delay of pushing all of that cold water through the pipes before the hot water appears, but I am on my own well and septic, so it's just an annoyance not a money thing to me.

If I had the cash and the electrical service, I would install these "point-of-use" units under every sink/shower/bathtub in my cabin because it would shorten that delivery time. Only the hot water when I need it and fast.

No other complaints...

[gmoney]

17. It's a tankless job, but somebody has to do it...

:hide:

[knitter4democracy]

19. We had one in our old house. I didn't like it.

True, we never ran out of hot water, but our electric bill was high, and doing the laundry meant switching water temp back and forth. The cold came out stronger than the hot, so if I needed a fairly warm wash (for diaper covers), I had to personally monitor the temperature and mix it as needed. Pain in the rear, given how much laundry I had to do. Same with the shower--it was finicky, given that the hot water came out at a much lower pressure and messed up the shower head pressure thingy.