I was watching Michael Holligan's "Your new House" Sunday, when they discussed tank less hot water heaters.

Apparently, these things heat water so fast that you don't need a tank, you have hot water instantly rather than waiting for 30-45 seconds for it to heat up (Depending on house size, and distance to the tank), and- you never ever run out. And, it's energy efficient.

Does anyone have one of these, do you like how it works, and more importantly, can someone explain how that little box on your wall, 50 feet away from your master bath, can get you hot waer, instantly- down stream...

 

if your shower is 50 ft from the heater, regardless of the type of heater you have, the water coming out of the tap will be cold til the water between the tap and the heater has been expelled.

The big saving with a tankless water heater comes from not having to keep 40 gallons of water hot 24/7, saving you up to 30% on your gas/electric used to heat water. Never running out of hot water is really nice too.

My next heater will be tankless.

regards

 

I don't have one. Yet. However, there are smaller units that can be mounted right next to the faucet. I can't really say that turning your faucet on, 50ft from the unit is gonna give you hot water right away, it's still gotta get the cooled down water thru first I'd assume.

 

The price is the key.

Dem sum-bishes are expensive.

 

It's called a quooker and I will definately have one in my new house.
Instant hot water for coffee or tea.

http://www.quooker.com/

 

www.foreverhotwater.com

By rinnai....paul harvey has it drilled in my head.

 

I'll be getting one next as well. Just waiting for my tank to blow... the water quality here is good, a little on the hard side, hopefully all should be well.

 

I want one, will get one soon, like D I'm just waiting for the tank to tear up. Exceot it dosent even have to blow, I dont care if it's just an element or a thermostat. It's only 5-6 years old. I needed one and the cheapest tankless at the time was $1000 bill.

A friend bought a new double wide about 3 years ago and it had one.
There is a delay from the time that you turn the faucet on just like a tank. but you never run out. Ohh but it was nice, they could fill thier 5 person jacuzzi up and never have to stop to wait on the water to heat up!

How it works

If you have hard water you will want to filter/soften it before the heater. Because the lime scale, or iron "which ever the case maybe" will build up inside the copper lines as the water is being heated, and it dosent take long to clog it up becasue the lines are small and it is hotter elemenst/flame than a tank unit.

As stated the energy savings is from that the unit only comes on when you turn on the faucet. My brothers father in law installed a timer on his tanked hot water heater. It would shut it off during the day when no one was there then turn it back on 1 hour before anyone got home. By simply not running in it for 8 hours of the day. That alone saved him $20 per month on his electric bill.

 

Down here in Florida, I'm only set up for electric. Never had gas piped into any house in which I've ever lived. Not sure if I'd be willing to have a gas appliance even if it were available. Looks like I'm off to Home Depot to get another electric water can. Mine wasn't in the greatest shape when I bought this place 8 years ago, and now it's limping along on one burner half the time (I think). And with my hard water I'm sure it's fairly well corroded on the inside.

 

They have 110 or 220 electric models too. The 110 are for a single faucet like a sublimental for a shower so you never run out during a shower. But a whole house 220 will run everything!

I dont/won't have gas either!

 

When i was in Chile, that is pretty much all they use for their hot water.

Except these are propane run with out heaters in the house. Think Oregon Coast for the climate, Any how by the time the cold water in the pipe is displaced and the pipe is warmed up not to bad, this was a small unit and would get warm but not hot enough to add cold water.

I think a larger unit in a heated house would be great. It is on my list also.

Russell

 

I would like to upgrade to one of those but, my wife is against it.
All she remembers is after hurricane Isabel we were without power for two weeks and she could still take a hot shower (gas).

 

When you get this tankless thing intalled tell me what you think. Then after a year. Then five years. Then ten.

I know that these things are used in many areas of the world. I also know that it's not a product commonly used in my area. If they were all that, I would be installing them.

The thing to look at with these thing is the BTU output. A BTU it the amount of heat required to raise the temp. of one pound of water one degree. One pound of water is just over an eigth of a gallon. If your incomming water temp is like that of say Florida, about 70' then this thing should work great. But as silversvt04 mentioned, many of us don't live in Florida (yet) and have much lower incoming water temps. More BTU's to heat colder water. More BTU's cost more. It might work fine but having worked on many "great inventions" I tend to be a little skepticle.

Another factor to consider is repairability. If the pilot goes out on your gas water heater you go down to the Home Depot and get a replacement thermocouple and you back in buisness. You have no hot water from the electric water heater? Most likely an element. Could be a thermostat. Both easy to fix with parts readily availible. How about this new fangled tankless? Can you get parts at Home Depot? Can you even get them in a timely manor at the plumbing supply?

If you have a hot water tank that heats the water several times a day then there is something wrong. You might have the thermostat set too high. You might have bought a cheap a$$ tank from the Home Depot. Yes the price is low for a reason. Based on what I've seen a newer tank is usually not going to run several times a day, but only when water is drawn from the tank, and maybe once or twice otherwise depending on other factors. Newer hot water tanks are insulated with the dense foam insulation. I think they do a fine job of keeping the heat in. I think one of the reasons Home depot sells these tanks for less than a plumbing supply is because things like the density of the insulation are cut to effect price.

I'm not out and out bashing this type of product. I'm just not all that familliar with it. Things like this have been in the trade mags for a few years now. I understand what they are offering, I just find it hard to believe that it's something that will work for everyone. There are just too many varieables. I hope you folks get these things and they work great for many years. That way I can reccomend them as an alternative to our customers.

Good luck!

 

I have a tankless propane water heater and it works well. It mounts to the wall where i was going to put a tanked heater. I believe it was right around 500 bucks. I have never had a problem getting hot water ever. get one why heat water over and over???.

 

Buckdropper;
I'm glad yours works well for you. I had one 15 years ago in Nevada and it had its problems. I guess they have improved since then. Mine was natural gas.