suburbanmd: while i've had my Electrolux units just installed a week ago, i have not yet used them. they merely turned them on briefly to indicate that they are "turning" and "working", so to speak. i could get my washer to go through the set up cycle and complete it, so i felt good about it. for some reason, i could not get the dryer to display "set up cycle" despite following all the directions. i called their support number, of course, but received totally incompetent help from difficult, poorly trained staff. they were difficult to talk to, poorly informed, and merely reading off some script with practically zero knowledge of the issues, unwilling to go to the next step to ask a more senior "engineering type", or a more senior "tech" person. they just wanted to tell me that if it's turning, then ignore the fact that the set up cycle did not appear and just feel ok about it. plus, they were downright rude in the manner of talking to me as well. all that said, i was impressed in how the Electrolux machines look and feel - of course, this is based on purely superficial criteria and i have yet to make a judgment based on usage experience. i have also just received my Persil delivery so i'm ready to go. my new apartment is 2 months away from being ready to move in so i'm thinking of doing a wash this weekend at the apartment which is currently a construction site. at least if there are issues, i can get them resolved prior to my move in date. i'm not as sure as you are, "suburbanmd", that 78F is THE temperature that "warm wash" is at. i think it's more along the lines of: should the water temperature falls below 78F, then the water heater kicks in. this does NOT discuss what happens if the water temperature is above 78F to begin with! right?

The disadvantage of tankless is that you may not have enough hot water to supply multiple simultaneous uses (running 3 showers at a time, for example). So what I'm thinking is a tankless and a tank heater feeding into a mixing valve such as a Watts LFMMV. Set the tankless to deliver 110F and the tank to deliver 120F and set the mixing valve to supply 110F. Then under normal conditions the the mixing valve calls for "cold water" of 110F from the tankless but if the tankless can't keep up and falls below 110F then the mixing valve mixes in hot water from the tank to maintain the 110F. Would this work?

There is a LOT of disinformation on these forums about on-demand tankless units, ESPECIALLY the electric units. First, energy cost savings is NOT a reason in itself to make the switch. No reason alone is sufficient. It is the total package, in light of your particular lifestyle, that will dictate the pro-con outcome of the decision making process. First, tankless units save space -- a lot of it, especially electric units that do not need to be vented. In Texas we have no basements, so that can be an important issue. Second, an electric unit is unlikely to blow up, unlike anything using natural gas. Third, there is an endless supply of hot water, which in a successive-morning-shower household like mine, is a really important issue. And finally, yes there is some documented comp fuel savings (electric tankless over electric tanks, or gas over gas), that is really offset by the added initial cost of the unit plus upgraded electrical service or gas supply line sizing. Moreover, there ARE full-house electric units out there that provide plenty of water, unless you plan on taking two showers simultaneously while also doing your laundry and running the dishwasher! And if that's your bag, you can run 2 or more electicals together. Or get a really big gas unit. Bottom line, nearly every nay-sayer of tankless units ignore the pros and focus on a single con - cost, cost, cost. Well, we all don't drive a Ford Focus for a reason. Some of us enjoy our Buicks, Porsches or Camrys even though another car would get us from point A to point B cheaper while using less fuel etc etc etc. Full disclosure: I have a Steibel Eltron Tempra 36 whole-house electric unit. Love it. My electric bill went up nary at all.

Did you use the rubber gasket included and required for this connection? If so it is possible it wasn't tightened enough and many times shoddy ground threads of the heater nipple were not straight and perhaps the heat has loosened the connection.