Looking at replacing our electric water heater and one option is a Tankless Water heater. Does anyone have thoughts on these, are they worth it or are the old tried and true water heaters just as good?

 

A couple of questions

-Do they last longer than regular water heaters?

-Do they require special wiring to install them?

-How quick does the hot water heater and get to the faucet?

IMO the larger scale ones do ok, if you have multiple people wanting a hot shower it can sometimes not get as hot as desired. However for most house use they do a pretty decent job.

Looking at replacing our electric water heater and one option is a Tankless Water heater. Does anyone have thoughts on these, are they worth it or are the old tried and true water heaters just as good?

 

A couple of questions

-Do they last longer than regular water heaters?

-Do they require special wiring to install them?

-How quick does the hot water heater and get to the faucet?

 

1. Yes they do last longer...expect up to 20 years of service.

2. I'm not sure about special wiring, but they do need to be wired, they do require special venting. Installation is not an easy DIY project for most people.

3. Yes there is a wait short wait for hot water to start flowing. Since they heat on demand, there's only cold water sitting ready to go when you turn on the tap.

 

Some other things to keep in mind---

1. Make sure you get a unit that's big enough to handle your demand. If you want to do dishes, laundry and take a shower at the same time, you'll need a unit that can handle that. And a bigger unit means more expensive.

2. Hard water destroys tankless heaters pretty quickly.

3. Repairs are expensive and mostly not able to be done by the homeowner.

 

My in-laws have one, and haven't noticed a huge savings in their energy bills. They don't need huge capacity since they don't use tons of hot water, so they were able to get away with a smaller, less expensive unit. But overall, after a few years, they don't really think the benefits justify the higher initial costs.

1. Yes they do last longer...expect up to 20 years of service.

2. I'm not sure about special wiring, but they do need to be wired, they do require special venting. Installation is not an easy DIY project for most people.

3. Yes there is a wait short wait for hot water to start flowing. Since they heat on demand, there's only cold water sitting ready to go when you turn on the tap.

 

Some other things to keep in mind---

1. Make sure you get a unit that's big enough to handle your demand. If you want to do dishes, laundry and take a shower at the same time, you'll need a unit that can handle that. And a bigger unit means more expensive.

2. Hard water destroys tankless heaters pretty quickly.

3. Repairs are expensive and mostly not able to be done by the homeowner.

 

My in-laws have one, and haven't noticed a huge savings in their energy bills. They don't need huge capacity since they don't use tons of hot water, so they were able to get away with a smaller, less expensive unit. But overall, after a few years, they don't really think the benefits justify the higher initial costs.

 

Good point about the hard water. Definitely need a water softener if your going to have one where you live.

We put 3 in our Florida house. Since we were starting from scratch our plumber recommended putting in three apartment size ones as opposed to a bigger whole house one.

 

The cost of the equipment was cheaper and you don't use as much copper because the hot water runs are a lot shorter. I have hot water at the shower in less than 10 seconds. Three people can shower at the same time and not affect the other.

 

I don't know how many amps a whole house one uses. We have two that are rated for a two BR apartment and one that is rated for a one BR apartment.

 

They pull a lot of amps. Two 50 amp breakers and one 30 amp breaker.

An issue I ran into when I looked into it years ago was the location of my existing water heater. The vent piping uses a triple lined wall that is very expensive. My run would have been 10 feet plus to vent it. Not sure if they have solved that part of the equation at this time.

Good point about the hard water. Definitely need a water softener if your going to have one where you live.

 

We seem to have soft water here. In other places I've lived water softening salt is sold by the pallet, around here you never see it. Our city water is soft.

An issue I ran into when I looked into it years ago was the location of my existing water heater. The vent piping uses a triple lined wall that is very expensive. My run would have been 10 feet plus to vent it. Not sure if they have solved that part of the equation at this time.

 

Was the exhaust needed for an electric or gas heater.

Electric doesn't need venting.

 

I would recommend some sort of water filter.

 

Doesn't to be reverse osmosis or anything. Just needs to remove metals and heavy minerals.

Electric doesn't need venting.

 

I didn't think it would, just making sure...I know nothing about these though.

Was the exhaust needed for an electric or gas heater.

 

Gas. Guess that answers that.

Electric doesn't need venting.

 

I didn't think it would, just making sure...I know nothing about these though.

I have a electric 'dual fire' 80 gallon Bradford White right now. Both elements can heat in recovery mode.

 

But instead of replacing with a gas inline I am thinking to ADD the gas inline and keep the electric tank. The gas inline would be used to raise the incoming water that around 40 deg in winter and not much more than that in summer to 120 deg. Keeping water warm does not take much power with how well the tanks are insulated now. Its the energy to raise the temperature 80 degrees that sucks up the juice. During the ice storm a few years ago my neighbor and his wife lasted for 3 days with hot water from a tank and no power.

 

This would avoid any concern over number of simultaneous outputs, etc. And it provides for a reserve of hot water - in case.

I'm interested in hearing what people have to say as I need to start looking into the same as my water heater will most likely need replaced soon. I've heard with larger houses/households, the gas ones are the only way to go. My house is all electric, and I don't plan on running a gas line into the house.

We seem to have soft water here. In other places I've lived water softening salt is sold by the pallet, around here you never see it. Our city water is soft.

 

Really, I would not have thought that at all considering where you live.