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Tankless water heater

SCP

By SCP,
in Huddle Lounge

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Hotsauce Explorer

Hotsauce

Posted
Posted

I sold them for years...Tankless is the better option and it ain't even close.

You will pay a lot more up front for one, but will more than make up for it over the years. I would only recommend gas models however, they make electric tankless units but they can be tricky for heating an entire house.

As far as brands, Rinnai is really the industry leader. There are other brands out there, some are good, some are not, but I would only ever put Rinnai in my own house.

Only buy one if:

You have gas in your house (natural or propane is fine).

You plan to live in your house longer than 8 years (so you get your money back from it)

You have more than two people living in your house, using showers, etc

Also, there may be rebates with your gas/water company. So be sure to check.

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SCP Enthusiast

SCP

Posted
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Posted

I sold them for years...Tankless is the better option and it ain't even close.

You will pay a lot more up front for one, but will more than make up for it over the years. I would only recommend gas models however, they make electric tankless units but they can be tricky for heating an entire house.

As far as brands, Rinnai is really the industry leader. There are other brands out there, some are good, some are not, but I would only ever put Rinnai in my own house.

Only buy one if:

You have gas in your house (natural or propane is fine).

You plan to live in your house longer than 8 years (so you get your money back from it)

You have more than two people living in your house, using showers, etc

Also, there may be rebates with your gas/water company. So be sure to check.

Awesome, just what I was looking for.

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thefuzz Mentor

thefuzz

Posted
Posted

I sold them for years...Tankless is the better option and it ain't even close.

You will pay a lot more up front for one, but will more than make up for it over the years. I would only recommend gas models however, they make electric tankless units but they can be tricky for heating an entire house.

As far as brands, Rinnai is really the industry leader. There are other brands out there, some are good, some are not, but I would only ever put Rinnai in my own house.

Only buy one if:

You have gas in your house (natural or propane is fine).

You plan to live in your house longer than 8 years (so you get your money back from it)

You have more than two people living in your house, using showers, etc

Also, there may be rebates with your gas/water company. So be sure to check.

 

What he said.  Personally I looked into one about a month ago, but I don't have gas, only electric.  After paying the upfront cost for the tank, plus having gas put in and run through the walls, it would have never paid for itself.

 

 

Even if you have gas, but it's not run to where the tankless will go....it's probably more expensive than it's worth to run the lines.

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Anybodyhome Grand Master

Anybodyhome

Posted
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Tankless water heaters have in line filters which you need to add to your monthly home maintenance. Not keeping those filters clean will result in scaling and reduce the amount of water flow through the system, which means it'll take longer to heat water. 

 

On older models, these uncleaned filters were also responsible for leaving enough water inside the system that freezing could occur. I understand newer models have a fix for this. 

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Datawire Enthusiast

Datawire

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We have a two year Rinnai tankless on gas and it's done well for us, the only issue is that it's an on demand system and it does take awhile to heat the water...

 

Some of the newer Rinnai tankless water heaters now come with a recirculating pump built into the unit. Cool stuff. That would cure your issue.

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LiQuiD Explorer

LiQuiD

Posted
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Plumbing supplier here. Wife and I had an extensive remodel/addition done to our home last year and a tankless was a no-brainer. Especially after renting a condo during the construction that had a single 40-gallon electric water heater and we have a three-year old. Plenty of cold showers during that 10-month period. Fug that poo.

 

What HotSauce and Anybodyhome said above is good advice for sure. I'm fortunate to have LP gas already available in the mechanical room where the tankless is installed. I had a Rinnai RU98i installed, which is their ultra-efficient model that requires a condensate drain, which I also already had in the mechanical room.

 

Make absolute sure you have enough gas flow available where you install, it could require a new larger line be installed or be as simple and painless as a new regulator.

 

Hardness of your water is a real concern, and if you have hard water you must be sure to frequently do the vinegar flush to remove calcium deposits. A flush kit will run you around $150. I've got very soft water at home, so a yearly flush should do me well.

 

I would recommend a hot water circulation system if quick hot water is important to you. It takes mine about 30 seconds to get hot water in my master shower about 20' away from the unit.

 

 

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Hotsauce Explorer

Hotsauce

Posted
Posted

(Also a plumbing supply guy)

Meh; the recirc pumps that go in the outflow of a water heater do give you instant hot water, however it does come at a cost however.

Without getting too technical, the way they make a hot water "loop" is by installing a valve on the furthest sink from he heater. You basically connect your hot water line to your cold water line. The results are instant hot water, and your cold water won't be cold, it will be warm or hot.

Your best bet is to skip the recirc pump all together...wait an extra :20 secs for hot water. That is the most efficent way to get hot water and you don't compromise your cold water.

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