I purchased a Rheem (same as Ruud and Paloma-- made by Paloma)and have been happy with it. I have a one-bath house and the 5.3 was a perfect fit. It allows me to run the shower and one other faucet at the same time in the worst of the winter (cold water temp =37F) It will do more than that in the summer when the inlet temp is not as cold.

Got the heater, vent kit and valves through PlumberSurplus.com and got a great deal.

Lots of good info on the Rheem website.

I'm for "Rinnai" myself

Paloma leads the tankless industry in innovation and safety. There are Palomas in restaurants near me that have been running for several decades without any problems. Paloma has units that do not require electricity and will vent in economical B-venting. If you want digital control, top notch safety features, and horizontal venting, go with the Paloma PH-20, or PH-28 depending on your ground water temperatures and desired temp and volume at the tap. If you want more specific information please post more specific criteria you're looking to fulfill.

Uh, Danvamme, aren't you a rep for Paloma? Your post is not impartial, as you earn your living from Paloma. You really should disclose that.

To the OP, Rennai is a top manufacturer of tankless. And their reps do not come on this forum. This forum is not the place to be a shill for a product. Of course, Rinnai doesn't need to--their quality products speak for themselves. But they are expensive.

It should be noted that I am not a fan of tankless water heaters at all. The upfront costs are just too high for me to justify them. I also have an issue in my climate with incoming cold water temps in winter, and the gas line size needed to heat water that could be incoming 35 degrees in winter. BUT, if I lived in a warmer climate, AND the upfront costs of tankless were to be a bit lower, I'd go for a Rinnai, to have the luxury of endless hot water.

Danvamme and Shannon.....I posted the specifics in an earlier post as well, but this hot water heater will only service the washer (A Bosch Nexxt 700), dishwasher, and 2 sinks, so a small tankless is a much more preferable choice than a large tank, especially given our space limitations in the laundry area (where the hot water heater for these units is located). The Tankless, we'll actually have mounted on the outside wall to ease the venting, and the incoming gas line is right where the heater is/will be located. We live in Florida, btw...

I've narrowed it to Paloma or Takagi. The Home Warranty is covering $750 of the cost and I'd like to keep the total installation to $950 or under including the unit. Rennai is out, simply due to price. A luxury, Lamborghini model would be appropriate if this were our whole house heater, but not for these few applications. I want a solid, but budget conscious model that can be mounted outdoors. Does that change either of your suggestions? Thank you for the tips!

al the lp gas tankless waterheaters ive found say not to install then into a manufactered home but not why.
why dont they want them in a manufactered.
my heater is outside in a closet
any help would be greatly appreciated
thank you
jerry

Update on paloma water heaters:

We had 3 installed in our new house, in 2006. One of them failed to work on install, and had to be repaired/replaced before we even moved in. Then that one and 1 more quit working within a month. Rep came back and replaced the board, and installed a "high elevation" chip (we're at 4500 feet elevation). Then, in November of 2008 (less than 2 years later), one of them flat quit working completely. I dont know about Rheem, which they say has something like a 25 year warranty, but the Palomas we bought have not been reliable at all.

I read that the pay back on a tankless is about 15 years. The tankless require more service, They should be supplied with softened water, lime build up is a problem. Kind of like a tea pot. Just for your information.

Jerry,

The reason for statements about tankless and manufactured homes/mobile homes and it's restrictions is because of several codes require sealed and special venting for such applications. If you are in a warmer climate, many are installed outdoors, or in outside utility closets as you speak, as long as proper venting, combustion air and clearances are followed.

The big three water heaters today and in sales order is:
Rinnai, Noritz, Takagi. They are there and on top for a reason-quality

After that the Paloma's, under many names, Bosch, and a few others are fighting over the bottom.

One to watch though is the Navien which is gaining ground fast with the highest efficiency out (98%), PVC venting and stainless steel heat exchangers versus all others have copper (susceptible to liming, calcification and erosion).

bstarz,
Many studies place tankless payback above a tank replacement at about 7 years. Of course if you pulled a new tank that had a 7-12 year life expectancy, then your ROI could be close to 15 years.

Dan
"Palomas in restaurants near me that have been running for several decades without any problems" Really 30 years or more? Life expectancy of a copper tankless heat exchanger is 10 years, commercial application used 3 hours a day. Use it for 6 hours and it is 5 years. With Paloma only starting distribution in the US since '88, I doubt they have been in a restaurant for several decades (30 years).

To all, if your considering a tankless, don't go cheap, if payback is a consideration, don't have one installed till you need a heater, if energy savings is desired, unless you control the never-ending hot water supply (teenagers in showers), you wont have any, and last if you can afford, want endless hot water because you run out, go for it!

I believe my statement is correct of the pay back being a least 15 years. This information was supplied by consumer reports not a water mfg.

US Department of Energy:

Based on: $50.00/month DHW gas bill, average 30% savings, you would save $15.00 month or $180.00 per year. If tankless costs $1500.00 installed, alternative tank type water heater costs $600.00 installed, the differential of tankless is $900.00. Payback is 5 years. Return On Investment 20%.

But what do they know, right?

Tankless is closer to $1900 installed and gas tanks are still 6-700 so maybe 7 years?
Again factor in the removal of a good tank with useful life and the payback is well over 10 years.

About five years ago our tank gas water heater blew up - well, it didn't quite explode, but it did rust itself out and whoosh, dumped out all its water into the crawl space dirt.

We replaced it with a Takagi TK-2, but mounted it outside next to the gas meter, as it would have been costly to run a 1" gas pipe all the way to the crawl space where the old water heater was. We were still out $3000 as we had to run 10' of copper pipe, and the emergency didn't give us time for a competitive bid. (We did get $500 back from the used-home warranty shoved onto us through in the midst of all those overpriced closing costs - rare time that gouging actually paid back...)

Fast-forward three years later and we did a whole-house remodel. The contractor wanted to hide the tankless water heater back into the crawl space, but the Takagi also has more complicated venting requirements. So we ended up donating the Takagi and getting a similar-sized Noritz that was less complex to mount in the crawlspace. Cost us another $1000 for the Noritz, but I think it will hold up a lot longer in the dry crawl space than the Takagi would have exposed on the side of the house.

So you also might see if installation considerations to retrofit to your existing water heater location might favor one of the top brands over another. Just comparing the two units, the Noritz is a lot more compact and more refined-looking - the Takagi was more industrial looking, although I know both are good brands in Japan.