hot water heater - tank vs tankless

[phpanda.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the updates on pricing and recommendations a new hot water heater.  Does anyone have advice about considering a tankless system compared to traditional.  The plunber said there wasn't a big price difference which surprised me.  

Comments

[cutieperson]

I'm told tankless helps with the electric bill, but it's driving me up a wall in terms of how much water and time I'm wasting waiting for water to get hot.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

My understanding is that they're best when located near where the water's going to be used - I've seen them in condos in a utility closet located between the laundry room and the bathroom, for example, rather than in a basement.

(And I've seen more old-fashioned ones that are located right in the bathroom and require you to light them with a match before taking a shower...)

[cutieperson]

Yeah, I'm in a small, less than 5 year old condo and it's between the bathroom and kitchen sink, which are maybe 20ft apart. Still takes forever to heat up!

[awkwardduckling.livejournal.com]

(at my mom's) it can take nearly 2 minutes to get hot water upstairs, but then once it is hot, it will stay hot FOREVER
(also, if you get one and aren't satisfied with how hot it is, call your plumber back - ours changed a setting from the default and then it made way hotter water)

[vonelftinhaus.livejournal.com]

Yes the "default" or code is 120 Fahrenheit, so 5 or 10 degrees more than that can make a difference. Also keep in mind some showers valves have anti-scald setting's so that the water does not get to hot and as some get older they can get clogged and either need to be cleaned or replaced.

When it comes to the tankless they are better but usually cost more but involve a rebate that you have to send in which eventually helps with the cost

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

We had this problem and it was due to the insulation of our piping, or rather lack thereof. Of course there is not much to do about that if you're not willing to gut down and re-insulate. So we had the temp adjusted.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Are you sure he didn't mean there isn't a big price difference in the installation? Tankless ones are 2-3k for just the heater, which was why I didn't go with one--they only save about $100/year, so it's really about whether you're worried about running out of hot water or need the space savings. I believe they also tend to last longer and are easier to repair, which ain't nothing.

(this was for models that would serve my not-small house and were on the MassSave list--I'm sure other options exist)

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

(I also was referring to gas hot water heaters)

[dphilli1.livejournal.com]

we have a navien tankless and are very happy with it. One thing to consider - a tanked heater will give you 1-2 quick showers if the power goes out, but a tankless won't.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

A gas tanked heater doesn't use electricity, so it's unaffected by power outages.

[dphilli1.livejournal.com]

Actually, it might -- the super-efficient sealed burners extract so much heat from the exhaust that it won't move out the flue on its own, so they often have powered intake/exhaust vents

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

We got a tankless system installed by Pena and JV Plumbing earlier this year. After an initial rocky start, it's been really nice. The rocky start was due to the base setting available in the units and our water heater being in the basement while our main shower and laundry is on 3rd floor, so we had to increase the base temperature of the water to 140F to ensure it was still hot by the time it reached us, and this required a special part to be installed.

As far as being cheap, it wasn't. We will never save enough money off of it to pay ourselves back on the savings. Gas is just too cheap for that.

I don't have the receipts on me but I recall spending about $4000, including install, electrician, removal of the old equipment, and redoing the piping in our basement so it could exhaust correctly to code.

hot water returns

[phpanda.livejournal.com]

Thank you for all the tips and advice. We went with a regular tank hot water heater again. it is a 6 year with power vent and it was $1975. They took the old unit and it is eligible for a $100 Mass Save rebate . Our tankless system quote was $6000.