quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
For those with tankless water heaters, what happens when two people opt to take showers at the same time, or someone opts to take a shower when the clothes washer is running? Do these units have enough capacity to meet the demand?

Yes, if they're sized correctly no issues at all. Doesn't matter how many people are using water at the same time, the water pipe flows whatever volume it will flow.

I put in a Rinnai almost three years ago and have been nothing but happy with it. Our gas bill actually went down a few bucks a month, we never run out of hot water, and having it hanging on the wall just looks a ton better than a standard water heater.

I installed my tankless about 8 years ago. We love it, would never go back to a tank unit. At 199,000 btus we have taken 2 showers at once it no drop in temp. We set it at 120 degrees.

Wow, I'm surprised at the negative comments!! We have had one for about 3 months and we love it!! Yes they are expensive but they will save us money overall. I like long hot showers, so much so I have mine set at 125, 5 degrees above the factory 120.

They do have have things to get accustomed to, it takes longer for hot water to arrive but it's worth it.

We have used tankless water heaters in Germany where they are/were pretty common. The house we bought in Poughkeepsie had one that used the house furnace to heat the water. We loved it.

The furnace used oil for house heat as well as the water heater.

We have one in a cabin that gets occasional use. The water is very hard and in addition the well had to have a filter installed to reduce the amount of particulate matter in the water. The propane fired tankless heater has been a maintenance headache and if we had any good place to put a standard electric tank type water heater, I’d replace the tankless with one in a heartbeat.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
The propane fired tankless heater has been a maintenance headache and if we had any good place to put a standard electric tank type water heater, I’d replace the tankless with one in a heartbeat.

Can you detail the issues you had with maintenance? Is it caused by the "occasional use" or are other factors causing the maintenance issues?

james

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:
well.. I dont have one but every person i have talked to that has them regret it. ...

Nope. I have had one for probably 15 years now and I'll never go back to a tank. Even with two step-daughters and one of their boyfriends taking 2 hour showers the gas bill was still less than with a tank. About $26/month in the non-heating months.

The only reason I can see regretting getting one is if you get a cheapie. Get a Rinnai and you'll be into it, too.

Yup. Have the Rinnai and love it at the house. Especially with two teenagers. Wish we had known and gone tankless when we replaced the water heater in the hangar (apartment upstairs) that we stay in when we visit family. We’d have saved a bundle not keeping a tank of water warm when we’re not around. Oh well, 20-20 hindsight...

Thanks, all.

Outstanding information, much appreciated.

We've had our Rinnai for 11 years and it has been fantastic. The ONLY downside is a bit of a wait (a minute maybe) for the hot water to get to the faucets/shower head. Once the hot water makes its way through the house it is great. Not a problem in the 11 years we've had ours.

John Steed,
Consumers just did some great research on tankless
water heaters. It should really help you on your decision.
Stay safe
Poli Viejo

We installed a Navien in 2013 and have been very happy with it. I hadn't yet finished off the basement so I installed a return line from the longest pipe run. The Navien has a built in recirculating pump and you can program it to keep the water in that loop a certain temp at certain times of the day or all the time if you choose.

The studies done by Consumer Reports indicate the downsides of tankless are the substantially larger initial cost, the cost of maintenance, and the expected longevity. There can also be demand challenges, as noted by other posters. The benefits are lower monthly costs and reduced footprint. In the end, the projected breakeven given the costs iin their tests was beyond the life expectancy of the unit. Substantially less expensive, they say, to install a high efficiency tank model. Of course, your actual installation and maintenance costs will determine where the actual breakeven falls. I believe the tankless units are improving with lower maintenance and better reliability long term, Truth is, until we reach a point where the tankless units start failing, 12, 15 or 20 years from now, the jury is still out because few of us have owned one long enough to see it fail and really experience the true economics of tankless.

The whole house has to have a balanced flow. If the heater becomes starved for flow the water can get too hot. If the heater has too much flow the water can be cooler than wanted.

quote:

Can you detail the issues you had with maintenance? Is it caused by the "occasional use" or are other factors causing the maintenance issues?

I believe it’s a combination of the hard water and particulate matter from the well, combined with intermittent use, that’s caused it to get plugged up. Treating it once a year with vinegar hasn’t been adequate.

Check with your gas company for rebates. When I installed mine, the tankless unit had a $350 rebate, $50 for tank units.

Over at www.karmanator.com, using the Sig Search utility at the bottom of the page, you can find about 10 pages of water heater opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Over at www.karmanator.com using the Sig Search utility at the bottom of the page, you can find about 10 pages of water heater opinion.

Removed the comma after .com try this edited link or go directly to the Karmanator Search Page.

Replaced the second tank that failed with an external mounted Renai unit 199,000 rating, plenty of hot water for multiple user situations. We have LP, and we have seen a 30% reduction in cost even with increased rates

The delay in delivering hot water is not a big issue, even with avtank you have a slight delay, unlimited hot water is nice

You can put in a circulation tank, setup pre heat controls to improve response time but it’s not necessary

Natural gas nits are even less expensive to run, electric units are not as good

Navien for baseboard heat and hot water. I’d get another if we changed houses or this one dies.