Tankless hot water heater - pros and cons?

2 years ago

I'll be replacing my hot water heater soon and am considering a tankless. Know nothing about them. What are the pros vs cons?

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Comments (3)

dadoes
2 years ago
Presumably your current water heater is gas?

Tankless provides unlimited hot water ... which can lead to an increase in usage when family members discover a shower can run for hours without turning cold.

They require a large gas supply (heating capacity upwards to 199,000 BTU/hr ... which probably entails an upgrade on the connection line to the heater, and possibly the line from the meter to the house or even from the street to the meter.

Periodic maintenance (descaling) is required to help avoid repairs and extend longevity. A proper installation includes bypass valves to facilitate the procedure.

They do not magically fix long-distance plumbing runs that cause a wait for hot water to arrive at particular usage points ... that is a function of the household plumbing layout regards to the water heater location and physical distance to those usage points.
mxk3 z5b_MI thanked dadoes
Elmer J Fudd
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
dadoes covered most of the major points very well.

Except for houses that are regularly unoccupied for good streches of time (and where tank heaters are NOT turned down for the absences), you shouldn't expect much in the way of savings on gas utility costs.

I've had two plumbers (in two different locations) tell me that tankless is simply a different way to do the same thing as a tank heater and that the added cost for acquisition. periodic maintenance and the first time installation changes would not likely be recovered by gas savings.
mxk3 z5b_MI thanked Elmer J Fudd
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This topic has been covered A LOT on the Plumbing Forum. Do a search on that Forum for "gas tankless heater" and you will be reading threads for hours. But in the meanwhile, I'll give you a little summary: the top manufacturer is Rinnai, with pricing to match. There are other good tankless manufacturers also, you'll see them discussed on the Plumbing Forum. Here are pros and cons of tankless: Cons: - you will need to install a larger gas line - you will need to install special venting specific to a tankless - you will need to make sure that whoever installs it, REALLY knows what they are doing. A lot of people are saying they can install them, but don't really have the expertise. Rinnai requires its installers to go through a training program. - upfront costs to purchase and install a tankless are significantly higher than traditional tank. - it is important to know what climate you live in for this decision. If a cold climate, your incoming water temperature in winter (about 40 degrees for me) will require a significant amount of gas to heat the water "instantly". If you live in a mild climate, this is not an issue. Some argue that a tank heater, meanwhile, is heating the water 24/7 which is a waste. However, today the tanks are so well-insulated and efficient, this is not as much of an issue. Pros: - very small footprint. - Endless hot water. You will not run out of hot water the way you might with a tank heater. For many people, this pro outweighs ALL the above-listed cons. Here is a link that might be useful: Gardenweb's Plumbing Forum
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That's exactly what I wanted done (install a small, no more than 5 gallon, hot water heater but for some reason due to space and other plumbing & wiring issues that seemed not to be such a great idea. Although at that price, I can't imagine why not. I did find information about something called a Hot Water Heater Scale Inhibitor System (sold at www.plumbingsupply.com along with the Chronomite Instant-Temp Tankless Electric Water Heaters, which is what we have). Anybody have any experience with that unit?
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We have a Noritz feeding 2 bathrooms only. Kept the tank heater for the kitchen and laundry, but it was too far away for regular bathroom use. We've been using it for a little over a year now without problems. It's mounted outside, which eliminated some of the cost associated with vent piping. But not the cost of increasing the gas line. I looked at Noritz and Takagi mainly. Think I chose Noritz due to slightly bigger burner or flowrate- it's been a while so the memory is a touch fuzzy. I've debated w/ one of the pro plumbers here about this. I can't run everything that's hooked up to the tankles w/o noticing reduced flow at the outlets (that's 3 lavs, two tub fillers, and 2 showerheads). The pro thought the heater was actually limiting water flow to try to meet its setpoint. I thought maybe my incoming cold water line is too small or that their isn't a direct enough path in terms of pressure drop to the heater inlet to get the flow at the fixtures with everything turned on. And there's a valve in the crawlspace that I can open and run hot water from the non-electrified tank heater during a power outage. Rinnais appear to only be available via certified dealers. In our case that would've meant paying someone separate from the plumbing sub who was working on the project anyway. I could buy the Noritz and get it installed by our plumber, which I think saved money over the Rinnai route (even with the $500 incentives the gas co was offering on Rinnai only at the time).
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Does this addition cause your current WH to be undersized? If it doesn't, then maybe a recirculating system would be better. If it does, then you could choose either, but consider the weight requirements of the tank model you may need to strengthen the floor on the second floor. The biggest risk with tank models is the eventual corrosion and a leak/flood. A leak pan should be put underneath that leads to a drain. There are pros and cons to tankless water heaters. If your buying a tankless to save money on bills, considering the initial cost of the tankless, it taks a lot longer to break even. There are plenty more pros and cons I suggest you research. And there are more sites than I listed too. http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/pages/WHRpages/English/Longevity/tankless-water-heaters.html http://home.howstuffworks.com/tankless-water-heater3.htm
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Jeffrey Blank
2 years ago
When we moved I found our Tank hot water heater was not hot enough unless I cranked it way up. I had a home warranty and called them. They said it had to be replaced but due to new requirements it would cost me a few hundred dollars for the upgrades. When I asked them about tankless, they would not cover that. I contacted the warranty company and they let me "buy out" that part of the warranty and offered $795. I upgraded to Tankless with a deal that the Gas company offered. The $795 covered the extras I needed over the deal they offered due to 3 bathrooms not 2 and a few other items. My family loves it. We never run out of hot water. We once had company arrive after an over night flight. 10 showers in a row in groups of 3 and never ran out. Also saved a large amount of space in the garage which was a nice benefit. I call in plumber every other year for preventive maintenance on it.

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Tankless hot water heater - pros and cons?

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dadoes

Elmer J Fudd

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