I recently installed a tankless water heater to get rid of a tank heater that was near its end of life and had issues with placement. The tankless water heater hangs on a wall and is easily accessible. I had some unique requirements. I wanted to be able to run as many things at one time as possible. I live in a ranch style home and with the tank heater, I never had hot water in my master bathroom sink. I did not expect a tankless water heater to change that. I had tried a recirculation system and it did not work because of the layout of my pipes. About 3yrs ago, I purchased point of use heaters for the bathroom sinks so I could have hot water. I had concerns about the tankless but really did not have anywhere to put a tanked system in my home. I bought a Rinnai RUR98i. It is rated at over 9gpm and has a built in recirculation unit. I have never thought I would love a water heater. I set the timer for the recirculation and always have hot water in my master bathroom sink. It takes about 5secs for the shower to get hot. I have been using the tankless water heater for about 1month now. I have not received my gas bill yet so don't really know how much I am saving. My home has three bathrooms and we have run two showers simultaneously with the dishwasher and washer running at the same time. I have not experienced a cold water sandwich as often referred to. I live in cold weather so I will have to see how the unit behaves once the incoming water temperature drops. I already have water saving appliances. My grohe and hangrohe shower heads are 2.5gpm max. My washer heats its own water as needed. I plan to replace my dishwasher soon and will connect the new one to cold water only. My current dishwasher is connected to hot water and does not really need it. The post is long winded but I wanted to let you know that Tankless heaters have come a long way since I started researching them five years ago. Noritz makes some units that go above 10gpm. Good luck with your search.

Is this an electrician you have used before? If not, how did you find him? Does he come with the "package" - as far as your GC is concerned? We are lucky in that we have a great relationship with our electrician. He will be doing about double what you described (installing 1 new outlet for warming drawer, moving four outlets, removing a track light, adding 3 recessed lights, removing island chandelier, re-centering new one over an enlarged island) He will charge me roughly $1500. But as I said, we've worked with him for years. We are 30 minutes outside Chicago, so I think we are apples to apples, as far as regional comparison. Get two more estimates. Don't tell them what the first guy is charging you. Ask them up front what their hourly rate is. Get estimates in writing. Then go back to the first guy and ask him to match it. For that first part of your plan -- assuming his hourly is $100 -- that job doesn't take 8 hours. Even with a trip charge of $150 -- that's perposterous. Since your using existing lights - there's nothing to purchase. This just doesn't make sense to me.

I have an older model for my outdoor shower. for the money it is fine. I have incredible water pressure at my house and even with only half inch pipes leading to it it is a nice massage but if you do not have great water pressure it is not impressive. My parents' well water and 1/2 inch pipes make it's jets and multiple heads used simultaneously useless. Mine is atleast four years old and we did need to replace the rain head last year for the orginal rusted out but to be fair it is keep in the sun and rain for five months out of the year. here is my older model after more than 4years of use It was for a while my favorite shower but last year we added a master shower with hard plumbed jets, hand held and rain head with 3/4 pipes for even better pressure, a thermostatic valve to maintain temp and pressure control and three separate water control handles so we can use one, two or three water sources at a time. We have an instantaneous water heater so we never run out of hot water and try to remember to not use it for to long or too often as to not waste to much water and energy. This shower is my oasis! Water pressure I think is a woman's best friend and the jets are haven to me but this set up was substantially more expensive and not a retro fit like a tower is. I much prefer my hard plumbed set up to my shower tower but honestly it is like comparing a Kia to an Audi in cost and not an apples to apples comparison. the set up I prefer. for better therapeutic results if your budget supports this upgrade I recommend this.

I read this whole thread before taking a risk on Yardzen. I have a pretty small project, where it's not cost effective to work through the entire design process with an expensive landscape architect. I thought the risks were minimal ... but my experience with Yardzen was terrible! So I wanted to circle back to this thread, even though it's pretty old and add my voice to the chorus above warning you to avoid Yardzen. It's not worth it. I spent quite a bit of time on the questionnaire, but got a first iteration back from Yardzen that was SUPER far from what I was looking for. The house was a color I specifically said I didn't want. The aesthetic was super contemporary, even though my house is craftsman style. It felt like the info I entered wasn't even considered. I added a bunch of feedback (more time wasted). I even met with a designer they offered to put me in touch with. After that virtual meeting, I felt better. But when my final design came back, I had so many weird design details in my drawings ...for example, counter seating facing a fence. You can always pay for them to do further iterations, but at this point, it felt like a bottomless pit. You can keep giving feedback, but there's a real disconnect between the client and the design team. The risks here are more than just your money; it's your time and energy as well.