ThelmaLou Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Do you like it? What brand do you own? What are the biggest benefits and drawbacks? One of our hot water heaters just died, and we're trying to decide whether to replace with a tank or tankless. Any input would be helpful! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujsky Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I don't know what brand it is, but we had one installed about a year ago and it's the most awesome thing ever! We've had zero problems with it. I had heard that it initially takes longer for the water to heat up, but we have not found that to be the case with ours. The only downside is when the power goes out, we're totally without hot water instead of having a tankful to last us a little while. There is so much more room in our utility closet in the basement now. Before we could barely move in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbelinchen Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 We have Stiebel Eltron heaters in our second home which we use for a total of 4-5 months per year. When we built the house, we had the plumbing laid out so that we would have several smaller heaters serving different locations - smaller ones for vanities, a bigger one for bathtubs and showers. One of the heaters gave out rather quickly, but since then they have all been working perfectly. With our particular "on location" heater system, we have basically instant hot water, and that endlessly. No more "the tank is smaller than the tub" or "don't shower for too long, others need warm water,too" issues anymore. True, in case of a power outage you have no hot water, but then again, you're no longer heating and reheating and reheating water all day long just in case somebody might need a bit by chance. Water tanks are wasting a lot of energy and thus money. We love our heaters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missouri Okie Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 We have a Rinnai. I think it does take longer for the water to heat up. Also, if I turn the water off and then on again (such as when washing dishes by hand), I have to wait for the water to heat up EVERY TIME I turn the water back on!!!! This really drives me crazy. Other than that, no problems. It gives me peace of mind that we're saving on energy bill. Plus our water heater is upstairs. Now, we don't have to worry about a big leak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 We install Noritz Hot water heaters. Our customers love them. Therm, Bosch...not good. The Noritz is built to last and heats up very fast. Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThelmaLou Posted June 28, 2011 Author Share Posted June 28, 2011 We install Noritz Hot water heaters. Our customers love them. Therm, Bosch...not good. The Noritz is built to last and heats up very fast.Faithe Do you know anything about Navien? Our plumber wants to do this one, but I read terrible reviews on Amazon. Also, I think he said it's supposed to be capable of 12 gallons/minute. We have a 4200 sf house with 9 people living here. Is one unit enough? Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in STL Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 We have a Navien condensing hot water heater. We don't have a problem with waiting for the water to heat because we have the recirculating option. That might cut down a bit on the efficiency, but we still find it to be very good. No problems with the unit. We love the endless hot water when guests are here. I didn't think about the power outage aspect because we have a generator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 We have a Takagi. Love it! The only downsides to tankless is one can not do a re-circulating set up or you lose some of the energy efficiency bonus, so no instant hot at distant (from the heater) loctions. This is no different than standard hot water heaters w/o a circulating pump. Some people put small electric tankless units on kitchen and/or bath-room sinks if the distance is great. I may do this in the future in our kitchen. Some large houses need more than one tankless if they have a lot of "draws" on the tank. So you need to calculate flow requirements. Some homes need new gas pipes from meter depending how far they are from the heater (not a big deal). Use wise we do not even think about it. The tankless will never run out of hot water (not that we want to put that to the test). It definitely uses less gas (or electricity). I would do it again, for sure. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Do you know anything about Navien? Our plumber wants to do this one, but I read terrible reviews on Amazon. Also, I think he said it's supposed to be capable of 12 gallons/minute. We have a 4200 sf house with 9 people living here. Is one unit enough? Lisa We have installed Navien....when the customer wanted a cheaper oNe for a rental. The heat exchanger is aluminum and it will most likely not hold up over time. Noritz has a copper heat exchanger...and a larger one will make enough water...and hold up longer. Hth, Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 It definitely uses less gas (or electricity). When I've talked with people at our power company (and I think electricians but can't be sure), I was told that the electricity for a tankless heater would be a huge draw if you're electric only and that it's really only efficient if you use gas. Kind of like how the heat pump when it's in emergency heat draws a ton of kWh. Does anyone use electric rather than gas on a tankless heater? (We talked about running gas line to get one, but going solar would probably make more sense...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 When I've talked with people at our power company (and I think electricians but can't be sure), I was told that the electricity for a tankless heater would be a huge draw if you're electric only and that it's really only efficient if you use gas. Kind of like how the heat pump when it's in emergency heat draws a ton of kWh. Does anyone use electric rather than gas on a tankless heater? (We talked about running gas line to get one, but going solar would probably make more sense...) We have gas, which I know is a huge savings. Are you comparing a standard gas tank to electric tankless, or electric water heater to electric tankless? Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 We have gas, which I know is a huge savings. Are you comparing a standard gas tank to electric tankless, or electric water heater to electric tankless? Bill Electric water heater to electric tankless. We don't have gas in the neighborhood - everything is electric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyg Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 The down side to ours: You can't take a cool shower. You can take a hot shower, you can take a warm shower, and you can take a cold shower. But if you want something between lukewarm and cool, it just can't do it. It switches to cold. Don't know why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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