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Tankless water heater? Any experience?
- Thread starter rookie7
- Start date
Went to estimate a pool in Ellis county about 13 years ago. The couple, two guys, if you know what I mean and I think you do, wanted to be "green" and get away from that nasty ole propane. So, they wanted an electric heater for the pool/spa combo. Like this one, it would need a 150 amps just for the heater. The house was kind of in the county area. 200 amp service with a 200 amp panel that was just about full, including the use of some 15/15 tandem and 20/20 tandem breakers. To get that would require essentially a second service the house. The transformer for that area did not have enough juice for an upgrade. They would have to get it from a pole up the line, which was about a mile as the road flies because they would not be able to cross property rights.
Oddly enough, that job went away.
Then the builder didn't pay us and owed us about 15k.
This would be a nice business if it wasn't for homeowners and builders.
Got our Rinnai something like 15 years ago. Cheap, endless hot water. Had a propane tank installed when we upgraded to it and added a gas stove at the same time. Side benefit, our electric bill went down by at least fifty percent. Had a plumber check it several times since then and he just shakes his head and says it’s fine. One of the best upgrades we’ve done to our house.
We have owned two houses with Rinnai tankless propane fired water heaters.
Will never own another house without one. They have been flawless, and never rinsed once. First one never gave a problem, ran it for almost 10 years before we moved. Second is the current, 5 years in, zero issues. Bought the current one off Amazon for less than $700. Same model is a couple hundred more now.
Would not want one in electric. Had a friend with one, and it was really expensive to operate. Natural or propane only.
Will never own another house without one. They have been flawless, and never rinsed once. First one never gave a problem, ran it for almost 10 years before we moved. Second is the current, 5 years in, zero issues. Bought the current one off Amazon for less than $700. Same model is a couple hundred more now.
Would not want one in electric. Had a friend with one, and it was really expensive to operate. Natural or propane only.
Every time I have a customer that inquiries about an electric tankless that can produce enough GPM of hot water to be able to have two showers at the same time and maybe another faucet running as soon as I tell them the electricidal requirements the conversation is usually over.
I should add some of the performance from these heaters benefit greatly from water restrictors in newer houses .
I've built a few new homes with tankless systems in them for customers. I'd have a couple recomendations...
Don't do electric. It's just not worth it.
Not a big fan of the recirculation system. Seems to create more problems than it's worth. Also, you are paying to constantly keep hot water circulating around the house. Even with insulated lines, the heat loss will be significant, especially if you have one heater running a long loop around the house.
Do multiple small units instead of one big one. This may be hard to do unless it's a new build, but we now run two or more heaters on bigger homes. We locate the heaters closer to the water sources so they don't take long to get the hot water where it needs to go. The cost of the extra heater will pay for itself over time by not using gas to continuously heat the recirculation line.
Filter systems before the heaters will extend the life dramatically, especially area with hard water.
Always slightly oversize the unit, as calculations are usually based on restricted shower heads and faucets. Most people remove those and will increase flow rate demand.
Don't buy cheap garbage, you will end up spending more in the long term.
Don't do electric. It's just not worth it.
Not a big fan of the recirculation system. Seems to create more problems than it's worth. Also, you are paying to constantly keep hot water circulating around the house. Even with insulated lines, the heat loss will be significant, especially if you have one heater running a long loop around the house.
Do multiple small units instead of one big one. This may be hard to do unless it's a new build, but we now run two or more heaters on bigger homes. We locate the heaters closer to the water sources so they don't take long to get the hot water where it needs to go. The cost of the extra heater will pay for itself over time by not using gas to continuously heat the recirculation line.
Filter systems before the heaters will extend the life dramatically, especially area with hard water.
Always slightly oversize the unit, as calculations are usually based on restricted shower heads and faucets. Most people remove those and will increase flow rate demand.
Don't buy cheap garbage, you will end up spending more in the long term.
Then you install a switch to turn it off so they don't rub all the skin off it.
I love ours with one exception: the mixing valve has failed 3 times, so much so that I keep a spare now. Don't buy a Rheem. Get another brand.
Other than that, it makes tons of hot water and has a built in recirculation pump that has hot water at the faucet in 4 seconds. It also has a "smart" mode that learns our schedules and only runs the recirculator during those peak times; if you choose to take a shower in the middle of the day you're waiting 30+ seconds (demonstrating how well the recirculation pump works).
I can't imagine not having it.
My dad and I tore up the whole wall to install it though. The outlets and inlets are in totally different places than where tank water heaters put them for 100 years before that. Must be a European thing or something.
Other than that, it makes tons of hot water and has a built in recirculation pump that has hot water at the faucet in 4 seconds. It also has a "smart" mode that learns our schedules and only runs the recirculator during those peak times; if you choose to take a shower in the middle of the day you're waiting 30+ seconds (demonstrating how well the recirculation pump works).
I can't imagine not having it.
My dad and I tore up the whole wall to install it though. The outlets and inlets are in totally different places than where tank water heaters put them for 100 years before that. Must be a European thing or something.
TLDR all of the replies. From what I've seen in ENC, they're GTG until a real cold snap hits. Some folks were retrofitting heat lamps after not having the benefit of hot water for the duration of the cold snap. I've personally heard of no other complaints. My info/experience is dated by about 4yrs, if that helps.
Keith
This. I bought a home when I lived in Colorado that had one. We were in the mountains and had a well. Ground water was cold as f'ck, and it took that thing forever and a day to heat a shower. Then it shit the bed and leaked all over the basement. Was an expensive fix. Gas Rennai. Never again. YMMV.
I have electric on demand at 50 amps. It works great!!! However, I am also not using grid power so there is that. I am planning to get a Sunbank brand solar water heater. I would have already but they were not available and a real long lead time. I haven't checked in several months now but I still plan to go that route, keep this on demand in line. It should be just a pass through but could serve as a back up.
After experience with multiple brands of tankless and standard water heaters, I recommend tankless only if it will sit idle for long periods, then have large demands from crowded houses. It's good for vacation homes.
If it's just a couple or small family with daily, intermittent usage, I'd stay with the standard tanked heater.
The tankless is a different animal that requires descaling and relies on sensors to recognize water flow. You'll have to learn a new set of maintenance skills and wait longer for hot water.
Again, thanks to everyone for the input and experiences. Staying with a tank.
Here is a pic of the top of mine where it’s leaking. Wondering if it is worth repairing? It still produces very hot water and this is the only problem area I am aware of.
Here is a pic of the top of mine where it’s leaking. Wondering if it is worth repairing? It still produces very hot water and this is the only problem area I am aware of.
I had my old water heater crap the bad. It was installed in 2000 just before I bought the house. The house was built in 1969. Anyway, the plumbers in 2000 did the cheap thing and did the same thing as the original plumbers, which was to install the water (30 gal NG) with no water shut-off on the cold water.
So, my regular plumber did things right, including changing the exhaust stack to a code-worthy 2 ply. To the tune of about 2500 dollars. Merry Christmas to plumbers.
The original plumbers of the house never put in a clean-out and so it would take forever to snake the line from the kitchen vent stack. So, about 10 years ago, I had plumbers install one between the house (all drains connect to just between the back to back bathrooms) and the back fence, where is where the city sewer line is.
Anyway, my new water heater (new the day after Christmas 2023) is a 40 gal, NG, and it has a piezoelectric ignitor.
So, my regular plumber did things right, including changing the exhaust stack to a code-worthy 2 ply. To the tune of about 2500 dollars. Merry Christmas to plumbers.
The original plumbers of the house never put in a clean-out and so it would take forever to snake the line from the kitchen vent stack. So, about 10 years ago, I had plumbers install one between the house (all drains connect to just between the back to back bathrooms) and the back fence, where is where the city sewer line is.
Anyway, my new water heater (new the day after Christmas 2023) is a 40 gal, NG, and it has a piezoelectric ignitor.
Depends on a few things, dip tube being one of them.
IF you can find a reliable and honest plumber or a friend who has plumbing skills one of them might be able to tell you.
If the dip tube has never been replaced it might break on inspection depending on construction even though you're still getting plenty of hot water.
If it's generally in good shape a decent, honest plumber might repair it for <$1000 ... warranty on the repair would be much shorter than warranty on replacement.
