Tankless water heaters (tank, installing, gas, cost)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Our gas company, North Alabama Gas District, sells Rinnai tankless water heaters. Does anyone has experience with these as far as reliability, performance, cost to operate, etc.? I know some tankless water heaters in the area are starting to have scaling issues (which degrade performance or shuts them down) due to water hardness in the area, but I haven't heard if this is for electric, gas, or both types, or if there are particular brands that are prone.
Absolutely. We have put them in several of our Habitat Homes. Rennai is one of the best tankless waterheaters made. You do need to flush the all tankless waterheaters with a mixture of vinegar & water once a year to prevent scale build up, especially if you have hard water. However, tanked water heaters will also have problems. They have a sacraficial strip of metal in them to attract corrosion. When this is gone, your water heater will fail. Do NOT NOT NOT NOT get an electric tankless waterheater. They are inefficient!!!!!! Are you building new or retrofitting? If retro, check out what you have to do to install it. The ducting on an Rennai is fairly expensive. If you go up, count on about as much $ to duct as the unit. (double-walled duct is pricey). You can also go OUT, which usually is cheaper (shorter run). They can also be louder than you would expect.
The nature of producing hot water will create scale or corrosion regardless of make or model, btw.
Thanks for the info, milledj, I, too have been interested in a tankless system. Do you recommend Rennai or are there other, hopefully cheaper brands you'd recommend?
I recently researched tankless water heaters. They're great for warm weather areas. Cold weather areas require a more expensive model.
Tankless gas is the cheapest out of tanked AND tankless. A tankless electric water heater costs more to operate than even a tanked gas water heater.
There's a tax rebate for installing a tankless water heater.
What if you live in the south (very warm weather), but your whole house is electric? Is it better to have a tanked electric or tankless electric water heater?
What if you live in the south (very warm weather), but your whole house is electric? Is it better to have a tanked electric or tankless electric water heater?
Tankless electric is cheaper than tank electric. Tankless models only use energy at the time of use.
Tank models constantly use energy to keep the stored water hot.
Warm weather is good for tankless.
The water temperature coming into the house needs less heating than water entering a house in freezing winter climates.
Tankless electric is cheaper than tank electric. Tankless models only use energy at the time of use.
Tank models constantly use energy to keep the stored water hot.
Warm weather is good for tankless.
The water temperature coming into the house needs less heating than water entering a house in freezing winter climates.
Good to know, thanks! This was an upgrade I was considering for our house, but everywhere I looked, people seem to really discourage tankless electric water heaters! Hopefully there isn't anything else wrong with them aside from being more expensive than gas!
Tankless water technology has been around for eternity. Japan has been heating water that way since the early 1900s.
It's very common throughout Europe. There's nothing wrong with it. It's just something that never really caught on here.
That's changing because tankless water heaters provide constant hot water and uses less energy.
There is a pause before you get hot water, but you get than anyway with a tank water heater if the water needs to travel to an upper floor.
You can get around the 'pause' by installing an additional point of use water heater wherever you don't want to wait a few extra seconds for hot water.
Thanks for the info, milledj, I, too have been interested in a tankless system. Do you recommend Rennai or are there other, hopefully cheaper brands you'd recommend?
Takagi - find one on E-bay. It is a risk, but a lot cheaper.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Curious?
