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quarter MOA visionary |
Water heater is out and considering going tankless. Looks like I will need to upgrade the electrical. I have a 150A service now and and one 2x30 220 breaker on the {dead} water heater. Not a long run to from the panel to the location. Is this something that is going to be super expensive to upgrade (electric)? I have an electrician coming by Monday to quote. Edging this way as the standard 50 gal unit that fits, I am having a hard time finding. Currently yanking the old one out, I put it in circa 1997. It is a PIA but other than running the extra and connecting the electrical (not real comfortable doing myself) ~ it seems a tankless is fairly easy. No gas so only electric is what I have. Anyone with electric tankless insight? | ||
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| Cruising the Highway to Hell  |
I looked at doing an electric tankless system when we built our house a few years ago. For a unit big enough to handle the whole house required about 100 amps and the recommendation was to run it on 3 40 amp 220 volt breakers. We went with a tank heater. “Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.” ― Ronald Reagan Retired old fart | |||
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| Get my pies outta the oven!  |
All I’ve read about them is that they are relatively expensive to run compared to the regular type electric. | |||
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Void Where Prohibited |
My plumber of thirty years told me all the electric tankless are junk and didn't recommend them. "If Gun Control worked, Chicago would look like Mayberry, not Thunderdome" - Cam Edwards | |||
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| Ignored facts still exist |
What is your reason for wanting to do this? Seems like the cost model just doesn't add up, given the needed rework. I'd rather just buy a timer to stop your tank from heating at night and turn it off when you are on vacation. . | |||
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Not really from Vienna |
I have a good friend who’s a mechanical contractor who said this same thing to me. | |||
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| quarter MOA visionary |
No disrespect to your 30 year plumbing veteran but that information is insufficient,IMO.  | |||
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| Member |
If you have hard water, they will block up quickly. So said our plumbing supply store. Two things bring me to tears. The unconditional Love of God,the service of the United States Military,past,present,and future. I would rather meet a slick-sleeve private, than a hollywood star! | |||
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Member |
My relative put one in, and a few months later then ripped it out. My understanding is that electric tankless just cannot heat the water like gas tankless. Everything I have heard says either go gas tankless, or if using electric, stay with a tank. | |||
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| Thank you Very little  |
Electrics work fine, they just don't typically yield the same cost savings as NG or LP units. When we were in Ireland our rental flat had an electric tankless, biggest problem was finding the switch to turn the thing on, once one plenty of hot water. If you want to eliminate the bulky 50 gallon water heater, nothing wrong with Tankless. Some that go e-tankless use several smaller units in different areas of the home, generally larger homes with lots of family members where the load is higher for hot water, teens in showers, washing clothes, etc. The key is getting your local cold water inlet temp and calculating the rise to make sure you have a sufficient sized unit for demand and time to heat up the water. I have LP Tankless, several years, it's been more than sufficient to handle our needs. | |||
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| Void Where Prohibited |
He said they weren't very efficient and that none of them lasted long. I trust his judgement. "If Gun Control worked, Chicago would look like Mayberry, not Thunderdome" - Cam Edwards | |||
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| Raised Hands Surround Us Three Nails To Protect Us  |
I have 3 in my cabin but they are point of use. I have 2 small ones on the sinks and a medium that is shared between the shower and washing machine. I had a small 25 gallon water heater prior too but since I am not always at the cabin it was a pain to constantly drain and winterize. I like this setup very much. For my uses. However I looked into a single unit for the residence and the cost to run them for any real use especially if someone likes long hot showers is not worth it. Being in Texas helps as you don’t have to heat the water as much but still not ideal. I don’t know the location of your unit but if it is on/near an outside wall you could get a propane tank and possibly more easily switch to a gas unit. ———————————————— The world's not perfect, but it's not that bad. If we got each other, and that's all we have. I will be your brother, and I'll hold your hand. You should know I'll be there for you! | |||
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| Member |
I've had a Steibel- Eltronl tankless heater for ~ 12 years now. It's only running the kitchen as the run from the gas fired tankless water heater was too long. Eltron seems to be the brand of choice. We get away with two 30 amp 220 lines to it as it only has two "kettles" - Eltron uses a modular design and bigger capacity units have more, but equal sized, copper kettles to handle the flow rate. It takes up a LOT less space than a tank heater which was the main reason we looked at them during the kitchen remodel. So far we've been happy with it. Light bender eye mender ___________________________________________________________ Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may. Sam Houston | |||
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| quarter MOA visionary |
Still quite vague but I respect your respect for your plumber, it's just that I prefer a bit more detail. Thanks | |||
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| Staring back from the abyss  |
Balony. 10 years here with no "block ups". Gas tankless and I'll never go back. ________________________________________________________ "Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton. | |||
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| Raised Hands Surround Us Three Nails To Protect Us |
I don’t think they block up but I do believe the heating elements become coated in the hard water scale and are less efficient. I installed an in-line descaler for the whole system. The descalers are disposable and like $20. This was my first year with the new system. The descalers are plastic and a low point in the system. I forgot about the descaler when I winterized and did not remove it. First time I turned the water on in the cabin this year was met with water in the floor. Looked at the cartridge and you the whole casing was cracked. ———————————————— The world's not perfect, but it's not that bad. If we got each other, and that's all we have. I will be your brother, and I'll hold your hand. You should know I'll be there for you! | |||
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| Get my pies outta the oven! |
It’s my understanding they work better in Europe due to the fact that it’s all 230V (but lower amps?) and every water heater is at a point of use and not trying to supply an entire house from one. | |||
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| Thank you Very little |
Could be we didn't get into any thermodynamics inquires during our stay, basically everyone was tired and wanted a hot shower, we just wanted to find the switch.  There was only one in our unit, 2br, 1 ba, did have kitchen with washer and dryer unit which was a combo and didn't work worth shit drying... | |||
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| Member |
Please do explain... I'm curious as all hell to hear the bullshit explanation for this one! | |||
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| What is the soup du jour? |
I found these two videos on water heaters very interesting: Why tank water heaters may be better than you think: Heat Pump Water Heaters (clipped to start at 5:00) This message has been edited. Last edited by: Vgex, | |||
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