Is anyone using a tankless hot water heater in their home right now?
I’m thinking of buying a tank-less hot water heater for my whole house but i’ve read that the natural gas heaters don’t put out the flow that they advertise and it is best to go with an electric.I have a 40 gallon electric now that i bought 2 years ago.It is turned up all the way.I have never been able to take a 15 minute shower without using up all the hot water.I never had that problem with my old 40 gallon gas heater.Also my shower head plugs up with lime deposits so often that many times i cannot finish 1 shower without taking it apart and rinsing it out.The gas heater did that only 3 or 4 times a year.That makes me very reluctant to use another electric heater even a tank-less.I don’t want a water softener.I am willing to put up with cleaning the shower head 3 or 4 times a year.If anyone is using a tank-less now i would like to know what brand it is,how strong it is and how happy they are with it.Thanks!
The first 4 answers seem very knowledgable but it does not sound like you are using one in your home.I need an answer from someone who is actually using one.Do you like it? What size and brand is yours? Can you take a long,hot shower? Gas or electric? What about lime deposits? Thanks!
Tagged with: electric heater • gallon gas • hot water heater • lime deposits • natural gas heaters • tank • water softener
Filed under: Tankless Gas Water Heater
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Here’s the scoop on gas vs. electric. According to This Old House plumbing and heating contractor Richard Trethewey, gas is the way to go at this point. I just had a bid on a whole house gas unit from a contractor and he confirmed. Also said the gas line from the meter might have to be upped in size to handle the extra requirements of the gas heater, so check with your contractors on that.
Tankless Hot Water Heaters
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/asktoh/question/0,,213064,00.html?xid=yahoo-answers&partner=yes
This topic came up at dinner last night with my brother. As an electrician and home improvement guy, I was asked what I thought of the electric On-Demand water heaters because my brother is having the same issues with deposits in his water heater. These type of water heaters won’t resolve this issue, as you probably know, only a water softener will. His response was pretty much the same as yours about not being willing to install a softener. After some research, we found that most electric on-demand systems do not have the capabilities, yet, to produce the same amount of hot water as their gas counterparts, about half as much. With a little research and a good installer/contractor I think you can make sound decision based on your specific hot water needs and usage.
PS. Turning your water heater to its highest setting is very dangerous, most manufacturers of water heaters suggest not setting them higher than 125* for fear of scalds.
If you are having that much trouble with deposits clogging the shower head, do not use a tankless heater. They have small tubing in them and you will not be happy with the bills for maintaining it. Rinnai makes the best tankless heaters but even they will tell you about needed water conditions for good performance.
a 40 gallon water heater should supply about 30 gallons of hot water before a noticable drop in hot water temperature…you can test it by seeing how many 3 gallon buckets you can fill and dump in the tub before temp drops..if temp drops well before you have filled 3 gallon bucket 10 times,you probably have a bad dip tube..the dip btube is a plastic tube that carries the cold water to the bottom of the tank.if it detieriorates or if a careless installer damaged it then you get cold water mixing at the top of tank and coming right out,therefore less than 1 showers vworth before temp drops..those "lime" deposits that are clogging your shower head might be pieces of deteriorated dip tube. dip tube can be replaced but old one cant be removed from tank if it has fallen out of position and into tank,,in that case,best just to replace tank,although thats unusual in a newer water heater…….also,gas tankless heaters are expensive and complex,also usually require a much larger gas line ran from meter to heater,they dont always tell you that..typical electric water heater tank is 50 gal,,40 or less is apatment size………..dan
My father was a ‘Popular Mechanics’ freak from the time my brother and I were very little. He had a tankless (gas) water heater installed in our home in Michigan over 35 years ago, when they were not even popular yet.
I apologize, but I cannot tell you the size or the brand name, since I no longer live at that home, but I can tell you this: In the 35 years that we’ve had it, we’ve had to spend very little on maintenance, and if you wanted to take a hot shower for a week, you were NOT going to run out of hot water.
Nowadays, as compared to back then, they have to be vented separately (cannot run through the chimney), and this will add to the cost. I looked into purchasing one for my home when my water heater croaked, and the cost would have been over $2000.00.
The gas company was not happy with us. Back then, we also heated with a wood stove, so our gas consumption was extremely low, and they sent investigators to see why our bills were so low. I don’t see natural gas getting a lot cheaper, so if I had the money, I’d definitely go tankless again, and will when I can afford a major remodel of this house.
Please do research, and don’t go with the local heating and cooling company because it’s cheap.
As for the scale buildup on the shower head, just dip it in some CLR once a month or so.
Good Luck!