Our water heater seems to be kaput - rusted out pipes on top and water is welling up from them. What kind of experience do you have with replacing water heaters? Who is a good plumber? Should I go with a tankless system? Is everybody happy that I'm going to be stimulating the economy?
From what I understand, the biggest problem is if you have a large family or use a lot of hot water simultaneously (like washing dishes, taking hot shower, etc). When I looked into them a couple of years ago, there were a lot of plumbers that wouldn't retrofit them into existing plumbing. Retrofitting was really expensive from what I recall, too (to the point you may not save much money in the long run if you won't be living there for a decade or more). Do some research before you jump into it. Here's a Consumer Reports article on them : http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...eaters/overview/tankless-water-heaters-ov.htm
We have a reasonable-sized house (2600 sq ft), but only 2 people - and we're planning on living here for a long time. I just don't want to get something that will cause me pain or frustration in the long run.
D.o.D, Are those the limitless hot water heater systems? I have 2 regular water heaters in my current house but they are getting old, and I am thinking of going with the limitless system. Did you make that choice? And if not, do you recall what the cost of the retrofit was? Thanks, DD
For that size house, you'll be fine with one tankless water heater. The primary concern with these is having to let the water run for a bit until it gets hot. Based on the faucet's distance from the water heater, it can take anywhere from 10 seconds all the way up to a few minutes.
DaDakota, yeah - same thing.... aka "on demand water heaters". I decided against it when I couldn't find very many people around here to do a retrofit. I think a few years ago they were asking $2000-$3000 to do the retrofit. Most installers would not even do the retrofit. I think I calculated it would take me over 10-15 years just to break even on the thing (I could be mistaken - it's been about 3-4 years since I looked into them). I think it was in Consumer Reports where I read that it would take about 20 years to break even. That made it even more "not worth it" to me. I don't know... do the math before you make the switch and see if it's really worth it. Also make sure you get one that can handle the amount of water you need heated and get a qualified installer to do it. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on them. Some people think they're great while others don't think it was worth it.
The pain and frustration part can just be luck when it comes to repairs. Just make sure you have someone qualified to repair the thing when you need it and have availability of parts. When I looked a few years ago, getting parts for and people to repair some of the models was more difficult, but that may have changed in the 3-4 years since then.
The only experience I have with one of those was when the wife and I stayed at a B&B in Fredericksburg for a romantic anniversary weekend. We got a room specifically because it had a huge jacuzzi tub...but once we tried to fire it up, there wasn't any hot water. We called the owners of the B&B, a local plumber came to check it out, and he wasn't qualified to work on the tankless heater. They were going to have to call in a specialist from San Antonio, and he couldn't get there until two days after we left... *sigh* At least they gave us the room for half price.
They're great. There almost everywhere in Asia. The problem as other has mentioned is the repairs are expensive and its hard to find people to work on them.
The problem with converting is the energy source. If you are replacing an electric water heater, you will need a much larger wire/breaker. If you are replacing a gas water heater, you will need a larger gas pipe, possibly all the way back to the meter.
Seems like a rip-off to me until the prices come down. If tankless water heaters are where we are headed as a society, then the prices should naturally come down as the market becomes saturated with more of the product. If the product is affordable but the retrofit costs are excessive to actually install them, then that is going to be an ongoing issue for this product taking off. Early adopters are the ones who are going to pay out the nose especially. Are there any incentives or tax breaks for going tankless? If it truly is an energy saver, then it seems like there should be breaks for going to them. Has Obama said anything on them as part of his green energy plans?
Same here. My closet where my water heater was stored wasn't wide enough for a standard water heater, and so I wanted to go tankless but nobody wanted to do the retrofit.
The family next door to me has six kids. When they built their house, the have regular water heaters and one "on demand" water heater as a backup if the tanks run low. Apparently this hybrid system is somewhat energy effecient as the water going to the tanks is already heated, so the tanks don't run that much and for a large family that uses a ton of hot water, it is apparently pretty good. That being said, they told me that they can tell when their water heaters run out of water and it switches over to the tankless water heater. It apparently just can't get the water as hot as the water heater, so you end up in warm shower instead of a hot shower. Not a big deal when its warm outside, but apparently not that great in the winter. So I always wonder, just how hot can the water get if its the only water heater you have?
I know some people who had a somewhat similar experience... They rented a house that had a tankless water heater - the thing went out several times (I don't think anyone ever figured out why), and each time it went out, it was a huge ordeal to find someone who could work on it, and most of the time they'd have to wait a few days 'til said specialist would be able to come out. When it did work, it was really good. But when it didn't it was horrible. Be sure you factor in repairs and authorized people into your considerations.
Sounds to me like this technology needs more work before it becomes worth the hassle. The whole "minutes to get hot" deal is not appealing to me at all. Thankfully I don't have a big family yet so I don't ever run out of hot water anyways.
So in short, at this point the technology is kind of like the car only the mechanic can drive. So you'd better have a good mechanic or learn to fix it yourself.
That's what's so weird... it's popular overseas like in Europe, I think. I wonder what the Euros think of it, if it's that prevalent.
