Great info Woodbridge. Prospective customers that don't know me look at me like I grew a third eye when I tell them 75% of the time when we have to move a water heater in a remodel project, that particular water heater will fail or leak after we install it again; obviously based on age/quality, etc... It is kind of like the paint job on cars many years ago. If you didn't keep up with fighting the rust, don't mess with it at all or you'll find the rust was keeping the thing together...:)
To answer Woodbridge's question, My tankless is gas. Usually, if a customer is all electric I recommend a Marathon Electric Tanked water heater for the greatest efficiency. It's pricey but very cost-effective over time especially when you factor in any rebates. However, we just installed an electric tankless for a customer, at her request. I'd never heard of her brand (Hubbell) so I sent my Ops Manager with my plumber. They actually thought it was pretty well made and well designed for
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easy installation. We are still evaluating whether we would recommend it to any of our customers if they didn't specifically want it already.
I got a tankless gas water heater - never runs out of hot water, but the wait for hot water wastes water - I liked my solar hot water tank better. I would think that in CA you would also have tons of sunshine and not have to deal with too many hard freezes.
I recommend solar - the cost is in the same realm as going with tankless - and if you are all electric, keep in mind you need one free 80 amp circuit for it - not many have that available.
All good points....I've yet to meet anyone who has been pleased with an electric tankless water heater...aside from the extra power requirements. If you want one...go gas...if you're going electric....find a high-end contractor/remodeler in your market and see what they are using. Awesome comments....I love learning something new everyday...and Hometalk always delivers.
No lee Anne, its not. Unless you use electrical power for your hot water heating source then the jury is out on that. Some areas of the country electrical is all that is available and in some cases is cheaper then propane and natural gas or oil.
A gas powered tankless heater can provide endless hot water even with the largest of demands and as soon as you turn off the faucet, so does the hot water heater turn off as well.
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The other consideration on going with a tankless is the payback costs. If your planning to sell your home in a short while, you will never see the savings if you go that route. While its a bonus on a selling point, you know that its just that a bonus, your not going to recoup the cost on the sale of the home. But you may sell sooner with this type of modern appliance installed. Otherwise going with a tank type system would be the better choice if cash is tight. As these units are going to cost you in the neighborhood of @ $1,500 to purchase and install.
LeeAnne: If you can use gas instead of electric and you intend to stay in your home for any length of time go with the tankless. It will save you money in the long run and give you comfort and convenience; and, since it doesn't hold a 40 - 50 gallons of water there is no chance of it eventually leaking and doing water damage to your home. Call me if you want to discuss your particular home and the pros and cons of installing one there. Every home is different and your water heating solution has to work for you.
We plan to die on our mountain in Rome! LOL But, as we know..man plans his way but God orders our steps! I only have propane gas as rural as we are, does that work? I'll bet not.
Propane is fine to use. Cost just a bit more then natural gas, and you need to have it delivered as you already know. It would be a good future investment not only for savings but as Atlanta said, less likelihood of leaks.
We installed a propane tankless water heater in our home in August. The first month, the electric bill decreased by $20, every month thereafter it decreased $60. That's a big savings for our family of eight. We converted our heating to propane two years ago and had a 500 tank buried in our side yard. We plan to convert everything we can to propane to save money.
You should consider a ground source heat pump both for heating, cooling and making hot water. Then have solar panels installed on roof to offset the cost of the power used. Propane although a great option for those who want gas when its not available, The cost of operation is quite expensive as compared to a heat pump system that provides you with hot water as well as heat. Many of the newer heat pumps can be productive down to as low as 4 degrees now. When only a few years ago you
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needed extra heating when the outside temps when down to 35 degrees.
Currently in many states there are great rebates and government incentives to put in energy saving equipment. Contact a BPI professional home energy audit contractor for more information on this and other programs within your state.
I have Gas Tankless and it is great. I put in an Electric Tankless for a friend who didn't have access to gas. He investigated to get the best possible unit, and it still had many problems. I would advise for gas tankless and against electric tankless. The gas tankless will save to pay for itself.
In the long run you'll save because you don't have to heat the water and some insurance companies will give me a rebate if you install one because your saving energy.
I felt I should replace my 15 year old waterheater (because it was old). I researched everything I could & decided to buy tankless. The day the old tank was removed it fell apart when placed outside meaning it would have been a real problem if not replaced.
I didn't know about electric requirements for tankless and found it cost more than the tankless system. I love tankless - instant hot water and consistent hot water when I use my jacuzzi
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bathtub. The old tank ran out of hot water and the tankless never has done that.
There are pros and cons to a tankless water heater. If your pressure in your pipes are good then it works but if it's poor it doesn't work as well. We have an old house but decided to get one because we liked the idea of not heating a whole tank of water, It's been a nightmare ever since. The cold water comes out good but most time you want hot and there must be a clog somewhere in the pipes because it takes us a half an hour to run a bath and only the hot is on. Or if your taking a
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shower and you want a little cold just a slight touch of the cold and it's freezing there's no more hot. So if you have good water pressure on the hot and cold it's wonderful. So do your homework first it's not just about saving.
Pam, I would be interested in knowing more about your issue. Are you using a all electrical heater? Gas? How old is your home? What kind of pipes do you have? copper, steel, plastic? Changing from how the water is heated should make no difference on the delivery of it to the fixture. If the flow has slowed down as a result then something was not properly installed with the heater. If its all electrical type then I would look at the power source. If one of the heating elements are not
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working correctly that can be an issue. Also the amount of flow through the on demand heaters determines how many heating elements or how high the flame is when it comes on. So if your piping is undersized, or steel with corrosion on the inside the flow issue is the result why your not getting any hot water delivered out of the tap. Running a new 3/4" PEX tube supply to the tub should not be that difficult. You may want to look into that.
I would also go back to the people who sold you this unit and ask them why did they not tell you that your pressure and pipe condition would be a factor in the operation of this unit.
Pam, all of my pressure comes from the city so if the water in my house runs properly then the tankless should also run properly. If you are bathing, dish washing and doing clothes at the same time there might be a problem getting really hot water. I never tried that but that would surely be a problem even with a tank.
Hi Sherrie, it's not the issue of water it's the issue of sediment in my pipes which caused the hot to trickle out. The house is over 100 years old and we've never done the plumbing. The hot were told is hidden so over the years in order to find it we would have to remove some of the walls. If they were blown out this could cause more problems then it's worth. So we suffer hopefully one day we can rip out walls and replace the pipes.
Pam, you should look into the PEX tubing systems. These plastic pipes can pretty much be threaded through walls much like wires so opening large holes may not be required. In our service area there are many really old homes that have this very same issue. And we do this quite a lot with great success.
Pam - more than likely you have galvanized pipes and plaster walls. If that's the case, your pipes are clogged just like a person's arteries. You should be able to get someone to take a look at it for you....who installed the instant water heater? Did they inspect the plumbing prior?
The old fashioned, tried & true.
There are some very good gas hot water heaters made these days. Most of them are pretty much the same design and contain the same parts.
Lee Ann, nothing wrong with big fat and ugly as they have proven themselves for many years and will continue to do so for many years to come.
I recommend solar - the cost is in the same realm as going with tankless - and if you are all electric, keep in mind you need one free 80 amp circuit for it - not many have that available.
A gas powered tankless heater can provide endless hot water even with the largest of demands and as soon as you turn off the faucet, so does the hot water heater turn off as well. ...»
The other consideration on going with a tankless is the payback costs. If your planning to sell your home in a short while, you will never see the savings if you go that route. While its a bonus on a selling point, you know that its just that a bonus, your not going to recoup the cost on the sale of the home. But you may sell sooner with this type of modern appliance installed. Otherwise going with a tank type system would be the better choice if cash is tight. As these units are going to cost you in the neighborhood of @ $1,500 to purchase and install.
Currently in many states there are great rebates and government incentives to put in energy saving equipment. Contact a BPI professional home energy audit contractor for more information on this and other programs within your state.
I didn't know about electric requirements for tankless and found it cost more than the tankless system. I love tankless - instant hot water and consistent hot water when I use my jacuzzi ...»
I would also go back to the people who sold you this unit and ask them why did they not tell you that your pressure and pipe condition would be a factor in the operation of this unit.