Ann Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 I want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly about them. Our gas water heater is on its last legs and needs to be replaced. My DH is interested in a tankless water heater. I have some questions though. Do you find it saves you money? Does it take long for the water to heat? What about maintenance? is there a lot of maintenance? Are you glad you purchased one? Thanks for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frugalmama Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KS_ Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 We don't have one in our house, but my parents installed one when they rennovated their house. They've had a lot of issues with it not working and shutting off (sounded like it would shut off when it overheated itself? I'm not sure, but they went w/o it working right for a number of months). The manufacturer sent them a new one or new parts, but said that the problems they were having were due to hard water, so they then had to install a water softener. I don't think they've had issues since the water softener went in, but I think they would have liked to know about that issue to begin with. Dh keeps saying we should install one when our water heater dies, but we have hard water and I'm not keen on getting a water softener, and don't know if that's a standard issue with tankless heaters or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenaj Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 We've had one for two years now with no problems. I'm not sure how much it is saving but I'm pretty sure it is significant. I've just noticed that our gas bills have become suddenly extremely small this winter - but we've also had an unusually mild winter so I'm not sure which is which. The only downside is that our house is pretty spread out (one floor with three bathrooms and kitchen all in different corners) so there are certain areas that it takes a long time for the hot water to arrive. That has probably been the biggest adjustment but it just requires a little extra time for dishwashing or showering. The one thing that we weren't told is that there is a screen that filters the water when it comes into the heater and that it needs to be cleaned every so often or the heater just turns off. It's not a big deal once you know what to do, but it took us a day to figure that part out. It would have been nice if the installer had just mentioned it. I don't know about the hard water issue - we've always had a softener. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 We have had one for about a year. Here are our pros and cons: Pros: 1. Our gas bill did go down by about $30-40 a month. 2. We do not run out of hot water, though we still can't really have two showers going at a time. 3. It is supposed to have a longer life than a tank hot water heater. 4. It can't leak into my basement. Cons: 1. It is on the outside of our house, in a conspicuous spot. Our installer did not volunteer, and we did not find out until later, that there is a model that could have been installed in our basement, right where the tank had been. 2. The highest temp on which it originally could be set is not hot enough. This annoys me to no end. We eventually reprogrammed it with some kind of secret technique we found on the internet, and the new maximum is 20 degrees higher and is mostly hot enough. The maximum temp varies from one model to another, as we found out later, so check it out first. 3. When the power goes out, you immediately have no hot water. With a tank, on the other hand, you still have a tank full of hot water. If I had it to do over again, I would get another tank hot water heater. The temperature control drives me batty--the whole "nanny" thing is offensive. If I want to crank it up to 200, by golly, I should be able to! Terri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datgh Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 We have been considering getting one when our hot water heater goes. We have a friend who has one. Her gas use has gone way down; however, around here the more propane you buy the better the deal on gas. Because her gas consumption dropped she now has to pay more per gallon. While she is saving the earth from greenhouse gases she hasn't seen much savings on her gas bill.:glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missouri Okie Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 We have a Rinai (not sure about that spelling). Pros: 1. Our water heater is upstairs (a bad place to have a tank full of water). It helps my peace of mind knowing that I don't have to worry about a flood. 2. Our unit is 4 years old and we have not had to do any maintenance. 3. We don't run out of hot water. 4. The water gets very hot. Cons: 1. It takes a while for the water to heat up. 2. You have to let the water heat up EVERY TIME YOU TURN ON THE FAUCET, which is extremely frustrating when you're washing dishes. I tend to let the water run rather than turn it off on on, which wastes a lot of water. Ours was installed in a newly-constructed home, so I don't know what the savings are, but I'm convinced it's cheaper in the long run (although the unit itself is more expensive than a traditional heater). I would recommend looking into installing individual units in the kitchen and bathrooms, which would eliminate the 'cons' listed above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 Thanks for the info. I found a Consumer Reports article that said the same things as you. We are leaning towards a high efficiency water tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 we were considering a tankless - but if you lose power, you have no hot water. we have a gas water heater, and we still have hot water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delaney Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 If you have a large family and you have the tendency to run out of hot water then I would say get one. We have had one for about 8 years and although it does take awhile for the hot water to come through, it has been a blessing. I find that when I have some hand washing to do with the dishes I let it trickle hot so that the flow is not interrupted. Other than that we have had to have the ignition unit cleaned once. Really great money saver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBear Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 We installed an Eternal GU195. We have a fairly large home - the previous owners had five kids and two adults, so four bathrooms....while we rarely have all the bathrooms in use, if we ever sell the house, the potential new owner might, so we went with a water heater than can handle up to four showers at once. It replaced two 100-gallon hot water heaters.....and we have saved money, I saw the savings almost immediately on our LP bills. Its interior is stainless steel, so there is no maintenance. We never run out of hot water. A couple of weeks ago we had the rare occasion where we had a full house (six guests staying) and had multiple showers going at once with all the hot water anyone wanted. The only "con" I can think of is waiting for hot water - since there is only a small reserve tank within the unit (I think it's 2 gallons), we usually have a wait time of 10-30 seconds for hot water to arrive at the tap. But once it's there, it doesn't end! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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