Share your experience with Rinnai water heaters

March 02, 2025, 01:50 PM

quote:
Originally posted by HRK:
We replaced the 50 gal gas water tank with a Rinnai, mounted it outside so we didn't have to make an exhaust run.

That is a good reminder of trade-offs. My Rinnai is exterior in the garage wall:

Pro - no exhaust through roof.

Con - Factor #1 for arrival time of hot water is distance from Rinnai. The closest room to it is the laundry room, and the furthest from it is the kitchen. The two most frequently used bathrooms are some distance so I turn on hot water before taking a leak.

Con - Factor #2 on arrival time of hot water is gpm rating of faucet. My Master bedroom is slightly shorter run than kitchen, but I can get hot water much faster by turning on the high gpm tub faucet which is the highest flow of anything in the house. The dickhead builder installed some nanny state flow restricted faucet in the kitchen sink so it was a double whammy of distance and low flow.

March 02, 2025, 02:57 PM

dry-fly

Awesome input guys, I appreciate it. I’ve been reading up on the Navien units a lot today.. primarily the one below. It’s also the model that the first plumber recommended.

https://www.navieninc.com/products/npe-240a2

March 02, 2025, 03:07 PM

bigpond73

That looks like exactly the model we have. Installed new when we built our house in 2020. Ours is LP. I just did the descaling on it yesterday.

We love ours, and it is still going strong. Maintenance is easy. We have been very happy with our Navien water heater.

March 02, 2025, 05:57 PM

dry-fly

quote:
Originally posted by bigpond73:
That looks like exactly the model we have. Installed new when we built our house in 2020. Ours is LP. I just did the descaling on it yesterday.

We love ours, and it is still going strong. Maintenance is easy. We have been very happy with our Navien water heater.

Thanks for that!

March 02, 2025, 09:18 PM

mark60

It's been 6 or 7 years since I put in a gas Rinnai and haven't had any trouble with it. Every 2 years I run vinegar through it to keep it clean.

March 02, 2025, 10:27 PM

TMats

quote:
Originally posted by dry-fly:
Awesome input guys, I appreciate it. I’ve been reading up on the Navien units a lot today.. primarily the one below. It’s also the model that the first plumber recommended.

https://www.navieninc.com/products/npe-240a2

Same model we have as well, although 240A, not A2, which I assume is an updated model. Ours is 9 years old, no issues.

March 02, 2025, 11:07 PM

dry-fly

quote:
Originally posted by TMats:
quote:
Originally posted by dry-fly:
Awesome input guys, I appreciate it. I’ve been reading up on the Navien units a lot today.. primarily the one below. It’s also the model that the first plumber recommended.

https://www.navieninc.com/products/npe-240a2

Same model we have as well, although 240A, not A2, which I assume is an updated model. Ours is 9 years old, no issues.

Good to know

March 03, 2025, 07:13 AM

DTREND75

I have one. If you go with that, have them install the "booster" for it. Press a button, and you’ll have hot water in about 30 seconds.

March 03, 2025, 08:42 AM

mark123

I had a Rinnai installed long ago. Not sure when. It's been wonderful. At one time I had 6 people living at my tiny house (8 if you count the one daughter's friend and boyfriend that were her so often that they showered more than a few times here).

With kids the best part is never running out of hot water. The worst part is also never running out of hot water because they stay in there for 50 minutes. In the summer our monthly gas bill is like $30.

Back when I had it installed there were a whole lot of naysayers here on SIGforum. I'm happy that I didn't listen.

March 03, 2025, 09:16 AM

bigpond73

quote:
Originally posted by TMats:
quote:
Originally posted by dry-fly:
Awesome input guys, I appreciate it. I’ve been reading up on the Navien units a lot today.. primarily the one below. It’s also the model that the first plumber recommended.

https://www.navieninc.com/products/npe-240a2

Same model we have as well, although 240A, not A2, which I assume is an updated model. Ours is 9 years old, no issues.

Yes, ours is also the A model, not the A2. Sorry for any confusion.

March 03, 2025, 10:17 AM

HRK

Couple of things to consider, condensing vs non condensing, you want condensing, it's more efficient. Ground water Temp, the lower your ground water temp the more rise you need in your heater.

Depending on where you are in TX there are three different water table temp zones per Rinnai. The colder the groundwater the longer it takes to heat, same with a boiler/tank, but a bit more important when selecting tankless.

We selected the RU98 model, which was the highest residential unit at the time, today I would go wit the REP199eP, it's smart-circ, built in recirculation pump, 199,000 btw... 7.9 GPM..

March 03, 2025, 12:24 PM

dry-fly

Thank y’all again for the input…this place never ceases to amaze me! I had a third plumber come by for an estimate this AM. They use Navien as well. Plumber was very thorough and patient with all my stupid questions. He beat the best estimate so far by $1300 for the same equipment. It’s a condensing model that says it has a recirculating pump built in for what it’s worth. I’ll more than likely pull the trigger on this one soon.

March 03, 2025, 12:29 PM

Gustofer

Curious what the quote was.

March 03, 2025, 12:32 PM

dry-fly

quote:
Originally posted by Gustofer:
Curious what the quote was.

They ranged from : $8500 to $6800 and the final winner at $5500. Still a lot of cash, but the last plumber had the best attitude, know how and estimate.

All for the same equipment

March 03, 2025, 12:36 PM

Gustofer

Wow, that's a lot of cash.

I bought my unit (and the valves) off of Amazon and did some of the work myself but had a plumber come in to do the copper work. As I recall, I was all in for around $1500.

March 03, 2025, 12:37 PM

BigSwede

We had one in our previous home, worked great for years, still does as far as I know.

Our new place (13 years old in 2018) has two 50 gallon water heaters, one electric and one gas, they feed off each other. Have never run out of hot water. One crapped out a couple years ago and we replaced both

March 03, 2025, 12:48 PM

Georgeair

Unless your water heater is a house or two away, or you live in a mansion, there is no way it's actually taking 5 minutes. Have you actually timed it?

Had same complaint from my daughter at a new home we just finished. Timed to kitchen sink, it was 45 seconds. For our endless supply of tankless hot water, I couldn't care less.

I'm just saying if it's actually 5 minutes, there has to be something going on besides just normal delay in water transiting pipes. Other than a long circuitous route through your house or Beverly restricted pipes, no idea what that would even be.

While I guess it's possible, does it even make sense to put a recirculator on a tankless? It doesn't have a tank anywhere to cycle back to....

March 03, 2025, 01:51 PM

dry-fly

quote:
Originally posted by Georgeair:
Unless your water heater is a house or two away, or you live in a mansion, there is no way it's actually taking 5 minutes. Have you actually timed it?

Had same complaint from my daughter at a new home we just finished. Timed to kitchen sink, it was 45 seconds. For our endless supply of tankless hot water, I couldn't care less.

I'm just saying if it's actually 5 minutes, there has to be something going on besides just normal delay in water transiting pipes. Other than a long circuitous route through your house or Beverly restricted pipes, no idea what that would even be.

While I guess it's possible, does it even make sense to put a recirculator on a tankless? It doesn't have a tank anywhere to cycle back to....

Yes, I exaggerated some, but it’s an easy three minutes with the faucet wide open to get hot water in the kitchen. The Navien model I posted earlier has what they are calling a “recirculating pump” built into it..not adding one

March 03, 2025, 02:21 PM

smlsig

Another important thing to do if you have the accessibility is to wrap the hot water lines with pipe insulation as much as possible. The few dollars spent will result in quicker hot water being delivered to your faucet and therefore you will use slightly less water.