Or "on-demand" water heaters - are they any good? I didn't hear good things about them years ago, but I just left the plumbing supply house and he said that they are finally "there". He showed me a Japaneese brand that was rated for 20 years. Depending on the size, it would cost between a 1000-1400 when all is said and done (I would install it).

Right now I have a gas summer/winter hook-up thats costing me $45.00 a month to have hot water in the summer, so I need to either get one of these or a stand alone water heater.

Vince

Or "on-demand" water heaters - are they any good? I didn't hear good things about them years ago, but I just left the plumbing supply house and he said that they are finally "there". He showed me a Japaneese brand that was rated for 20 years. Depending on the size, it would cost between a 1000-1400 when all is said and done (I would install it).

Right now I have a gas summer/winter hook-up thats costing me $45.00 a month to have hot water in the summer, so I need to either get one of these or a stand alone water heater.

Vince

When my water heater finally sh**s the bed, I'm going to put in one of those. A little more expensive initially, but you don't have to pay to keep 20 gallons of water at 150 degrees or whatever. And depending on how close to the shower or faucet you put it there could be no waiting for hot water.

I put a new water heater in a back in December. It's a 45 gal CNG. I keep it at 120 degrees

It costs $20/month to run it, but it's just me int he house so I don't go thru a lot of water.

I've heard lots of good things about instand hot water systems, but I think you need to sit down and do some good number crunching to see if it's worth while.

As a side note, check your temp setting. Most people have it much hotter than they need. If you can hurt yourself with the hot water in the shower, it's too hot and you're wasting money

I checked on these awhile ago.
You can't run hot water TO them, I wanted to boost my existing 40 gal heater.
The will not flow enough for some tubs so figure up your flow rates before
buying one.

If you can hurt yourself with the hot water in the shower, it's too hot...
Then how do you get the stuck-on grease off??? ;)

I know the plumbing engineers here don't use them, unless the fixture is a long distance from the water heater, and it is more cost effective to only run cold water to the fixture and include an "on demand" heater than it is to run HW and HW return piping to the fixture.

I think it's more of a cost issue than anything though...

We don't do any residential work, so obviously our loads are different, as well as the type and # of fixtures, so I really can't help you with whether they are a good option in a residential application.

When my water heater finally sh**s the bed, I'm going to put in one of those. A little more expensive initially, but you don't have to pay to keep 20 gallons of water at 150 degrees or whatever. And depending on how close to the shower or faucet you put it there could be no waiting for hot water.
Gas is usually, depends on where you live, a lot cheaper source of heat than electric. If you have a well insulated tank it really doesn't cost anything additional to keep the water hot.

We keep are water real hot but we don't have any little kids around to worry about and we have well water which is very cold. So you either keep the hot water real hot or you use more and maybe run out. No chance of 2 people taking a shower if the temp is turned down. Anyway once it's heated up the pilot light is enough to maintain the temp, burner never goes on unless water is being used. Same was true at the cottage, turned the tank to pilot only when we left. A month later the water in the tank was hot enough to peel your skin off.

Bob Villa always gives them a :thumbsup: !!!

I checked on these awhile ago.
You can't run hot water TO them, I wanted to boost my existing 40 gal heater.
The will not flow enough for some tubs so figure up your flow rates before
buying one.

I'm not sure about the ones you looked at, but I can tell you we use one at work. The unit is heated by steam from the boiler. The hot water runs through a continues loop through the building and returns to the inlet side of the water heater and is blended with cold water. It works great.

I just saw something on the news this morning about solar water heaters. $1500-3000 installation cost and FREE to heat the water. Of course, it only works if you have sunlight, but those of us in the hotter areas of the country might benefit. Supposed to pay for itself in 7-8 years. It would work around here. If I leave the garden hose out in the sun as I'm using it, the cold water gets hot enough to burn inside of an hour in the middle of the summer. Something to think about.

A friend who lives in Hawaii (The Big Island) has an "on demand" water heater system. I think his was powered by propane. If two people are taking a shower at one time, it wouldn't keep up with supplying hot water. Maybe his heat setting was low. I would think if you didn't have a large family or a huge need for hot water, "on demand" systems would work nicely.
At my uncle's house (where I live) here in Fresno, CA, there is a solar-powered hot water system. I don't much about it, other than the solar unit is on the roof, and it's been in use since 1981 (when the house was built). There must be a holding tank somewhere as we never run out of hot water. Even in winter, when there can be a lot of fog blocking the sun. My uncle is about to redo the roof and is going away from the solar-powered water system to the traditional water heater system. I guess the solar system is in need of overall. He looked into the "on demand" system but with the house being as big as it is, two would be required. As it is, he'll need two large traditional hot water heaters installed.

Maybe there is something useful in that info :)

A couple of down sides that I've seen with tankless water heaters when used as whole house water heaters;

Flow - gallons per minute only good enough for drawing hot water from one point at a time, making for a pretty drastic change in life styles. No showers while dishwasher or laundry machine are running or anyone else is using hot water.

Gas heaters require a larger flue pipe through the roof than normaly exists making installation a little expensive.

Electric heaters require a very large electric supply making installation very expensive.

Tankless water heaters are great for point of use such as one for each lavatory <--- bathroom sink for non plumbers :)

Having said that, we did install one for use as a whole house WH on one job and the homeowner is happy with it BUT only two older people live there.

Us country folk are used to not taking a shower at the same time as the laundry, etc.


Course us country-folk don't usually have gas, either, so the tankless water heater is less practical.

I'd buy one, I think, if I had gas. I don't want to deal with a big above ground propane tank.

hell, every house i've ever lived in has been setup so that while someone is in the shower, no one else could turn on a faucet without causing some havoc. and i came from a family with Mom, Dad, me, and 3 little brothers.
it's how poor people save water- we have no choice. no real "lifestyle" change there.
i've been thinking of the "on demand" setup- looks like just the ticket for saving some energy, and takes up less space than that 30 gallon thing in the corner of the basement.

Course us country-folk don't usually have gas, either, so the tankless water heater is less practical.

I'd buy one, I think, if I had gas. I don't want to deal with a big above ground propane tank.
How do you heat your home? Electric? Geothermal?

How do you heat your home? Electric? Geothermal?
Wood.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Derek69SS
How do you heat your home? Electric? Geothermal?
My house is electric baseboard. My parents use a heat-pump.

I talk about geothermal alot. Apparantly it's not pie-in-the-sky at all, it's very practical. If I was building our home from scratch I would definately look into it more closely.

Bob V is big on geothermal also! One of his episodes showed a townhouse complex, where a cost study was done and geothermal was the most practical (by far).

Plus it has a "coolness factor" baseboard electric just doesn't :)

That Was What They All Use In Hk Apartments, Hotels, You Name It...
And It Works Very Well

I had switched to an on demand system several years back but just last year went back to a 50 gallon gas heater.

Pros of tankless heaters:
-They are small.
-They can provide endless hot water (no recovery time)
-Higher energy efficiency.

Cons of tankless heaters:
-Can only use one hot water source at a time.
-Not enough flow for a tub.
-They work on a temperature differential, mine had a 90 degree rise, on cold winter days the water was not as hot as summer days so you could end up with a scalding risk if the temperature control was not constantly adjusted.
-Not ideal for large families with hectic hot water usage.

I need a water cooler!:p;)

The house was replumbed with copper pipes in the attic. The water comes out hot enough to do the dishes most of the year, sometimes too hot. 80*-100*F days will get me 100*-120*F+ water for a short period of time.