Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Fine Living, Home, Design & Auto › Tankless Water Heaters
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Tankless Water Heaters

post #1 of 12
12/7/09 at 2:30am
Thread Starter 
Has anyone here used a tankless water heater? Was it installed when your home was built or did you have it installed as an upgrade later on? Any major benefits of this over at traditional tank? I keep seeing these on different shows (Holmes on Homes, etc) and thought that I'd get a little more info.
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 12
12/7/09 at 2:39am
are you talking about the heaters installed in the shower, like this:
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 12
12/7/09 at 9:19am
Small electric tankless water heaters are quite common around Asia (Thailand, Malaysia etc) and work reasonably well. Tankless heaters are supposed to be more efficient... and the electric one's here are not expensive. You do have the occasional quick run of cool water (not a big deal in Asia, maybe less exciting in colder regions) but I hardly notice that anymore. Gas fired tankless heaters in the US are more expensive than a traditional unit, so I am not sure how long it would take you to recoup the cost in energy savings vs. the increased price.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 12
12/7/09 at 11:35am
My family recently had a gas tankless water heater installed. Although you do save money because it only heats water when someone turns the faucet or shower, it uses a lot of gas to start up so if you use hot water frequently for short periods of time it might not be a good idea. A plus is that it heats the water up in a manner of seconds depending how far you are from it.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 12
12/7/09 at 11:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dganderson View Post
Has anyone here used a tankless water heater? Was it installed when your home was built or did you have it installed as an upgrade later on? Any major benefits of this over at traditional tank? I keep seeing these on different shows (Holmes on Homes, etc) and thought that I'd get a little more info.

We have a gas Bosch tankless--it was in the house when we bought it. A big plus for us is space saving, as our furnace and water heater are both in a small room off the kitchen. Not sure about energy savings as we don't have much to compare it to, although I'm relatively sure it's an upgrade over whatever was there before.

It works for us as we have a small, one-level home (<1000 sq ft) and rarely have a lot of hot water applications going at once. Friends and family with more people in the house who may have multiple showers going at once, for instance, have decided against them.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 12
12/7/09 at 12:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dganderson View Post
Has anyone here used a tankless water heater? Was it installed when your home was built or did you have it installed as an upgrade later on? Any major benefits of this over at traditional tank? I keep seeing these on different shows (Holmes on Homes, etc) and thought that I'd get a little more info.

There's this thread on tankless water heaters too http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=117406

If I remember correctly there were a few complaints about them but I have no first hand experience. It is noteworthy that natural gas is actually much more efficient at heat transfer than electric.

That's cool how you get Holmes on Homes in Georgia. I watch it and most of their filming is done in the Greater Toronto Area. Since building codes, climate, geography, etc differs do you nonetheless find that much of what he shows is applicable to your house?

Have you seen his new show Holmes Inspection yet?
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 12
12/7/09 at 12:54pm
as a replacement item it's VERY expensive, but if you intend to stay in your home for a long time (10+ years would be good) it would be worth it in the long haul.

we have a home warranty and my dad is a contractor, but when we considered replacing our units with tankless even paying the premium alone over the home warranty company's replacement costs was prohibitive.

that said, we intend to move in the next year or 2 and the tankless heaters don't carry a premium with them in home sales around our neighborhood. in the neighborhood we're looking to move into though, the homes were all built in the 20s-30s so they're smaller and require a bit more up front maintenance, tankless heaters are definite sales features and every decent renovation you see has one.

all said and done, my next home will have a tankless system.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 12
12/7/09 at 6:41pm
Dont forget the tax credits.

We have one. Can't complain. Don't know how long it will take to recoup the cost.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 12
12/7/09 at 11:29pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Albern View Post
There's this thread on tankless water heaters too http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=117406

If I remember correctly there were a few complaints about them but I have no first hand experience. It is noteworthy that natural gas is actually much more efficient at heat transfer than electric.

That's cool how you get Holmes on Homes in Georgia. I watch it and most of their filming is done in the Greater Toronto Area. Since building codes, climate, geography, etc differs do you nonetheless find that much of what he shows is applicable to your house?

Have you seen his new show Holmes Inspection yet?

Actually I'm originally from Canada and got hooked on the show earlier in the year while visiting relatives in London. It's a great show. I haven't seen his new one yet. This is for a 3000 sq ft 2 story home. It's not something that I'm planning on running out and buying immediately, just something that I thought I'd do a little looking in to.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 12
12/8/09 at 3:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dganderson View Post
Actually I'm originally from Canada and got hooked on the show earlier in the year while visiting relatives in London. It's a great show. I haven't seen his new one yet. This is for a 3000 sq ft 2 story home. It's not something that I'm planning on running out and buying immediately, just something that I thought I'd do a little looking in to.

In tankless applications, the amount of hot water you expect on demand is the main issue. How many people/appliances would conceivably want to use hot water at the same time? Do you wash clothes and dishes at the same time? Do multiple people bathe at the same time of day? Is someone going to want to bathe while the dishwasher is on?

These are things to consider. For some people this is not an issue. Other people may have to think about getting more than one unit, or staying with a more traditional hot water tank.

Tank = high volume, if you have ten faucets running, hot water will come out of all the faucets until there is no more hot water left in the tank, but you are limited to the hot water in the tank, relatively long recharge time. Very inefficient. Constantly heats water, whether you use it or not.

Tankless = low to moderate volume, If you turn on ten faucets, you will get lukewarm water out of all ten. But if you turn on one faucet, your water will stay hot until you forget to pay your gas or electric bill. You have unlimited hot water as long as you stay within a certain gallons per minute flow. More efficient, heats water on demand. Units are much more expensive than traditional tank heaters.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 12
12/8/09 at 12:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim View Post
Units are much more expensive than traditional tank heaters.

I am not sure that its MUCH more expensive.

I have seen prices in the states at home improvement stores of anywhere from 500-1500 depending on the size vs. a tank heater 250-500 depending on sizes (dont quote me on the price). I suppose that if I was doing this from scratch, I might get two, and dedicate one to bathrooms and another to laundry/kitchen. Its a relatively small investment at the onset, and I imagine over the 10-15 year life span (I wonder why it wouldnt last forever - unlike a normal hot water heater where the tank breaks down) you wouldnt recoup all your costs. Heck even if it lasts 2x longer than a tank heater, its worth it, even if the enegery savings are negligable.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 12
12/8/09 at 12:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jgold47 View Post
I am not sure that its MUCH more expensive.

I have seen prices in the states at home improvement stores of anywhere from 500-1500 depending on the size vs. a tank heater 250-500 depending on sizes (dont quote me on the price).

That is about right, though I haven't seen a decent tankless water heater around here for $500 in a long time. YMMV.

The median price of a tankless water heater is $1k, the median price of a 50 gallon tank is $400. That's a $600 difference for one unit. take into account that oftentimes you will need two tankless units to provide the same hot water access that one tank provides... and you see my point.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Fine Living, Home, Design & Auto › Tankless Water Heaters