Tankless water heater ripoff.

[.... callchet ....]

A tankless water heater is simply that. A regular water heater with a very small tank and a flow switch. It should actually cost less than a regular water heater. It uses a small fraction of the materials to make.Especially the electric water heaters. Almost all new water heaters have quick recovery heating elements. If your water heater has 5500 watt elements, you could turn your electric heater down to 100 degrees an it would supply all the hot water that you need. Experimenting would provide the best temperature. So until you can afford a tankless heater, you can try this.

[Mojorabbit]

1. I have one and love it

it is propane fueled. I have only one complaint about it. My master bath is at the opposite end of the house and it takes a few minutes of running water through the pipes going under the house to the bathroom before it warms up. We keep a bucket to catch some of it to use for the plants so it is not wasted. In the kitchen in the front of the house it heats up almost immediately.

[.... callchet ....]

2. There was a marine supply house that used

to sell point of use water heaters. You installed it by the faucet and when you turned on the water it turned on the electricity. Had hot water instantly without running all that water in the sewer.

[Warpy]

3. Tankless heaters also last a lot longer than conventional heaters

and a lot of plumbers don't know how to install them properly, thus increasing the cost. You don't just pop a tank out and pop a tankless heater in, it has to be replumbed. That's where the cost comes in.

The first thing I've always done in every new place is turn the water heater to its lowest setting. Large families who like to shower at the same time of the day might find it politic to turn the heater up an hour before that time to ensure hot water for all, but for small households, the lowest setting provides ample hot water.

[stubtoe]

4. Whenever I go to plumbing stores, the staff always pooh-poohs tankless heaters.

"Not enough to service a whole house" "not efficient (with electricity)" and so on.

But if that is the case, why are they so popular in Europe and Japan?? There never seems to be a good answer to that.

I'd get one but we're all electric and I'd have to get a propane setup.

[ret5hd]

7. There are plenty of electric ones.

[.... callchet ....]

9. Get two small ones and install them in series.

Most houses have adequate power to run them. You don't need gas.

[kristopher]

10. They provide huge savings overtime

In Japan most homes have a heater at every hot water tap. They are small and simple to use but the drawback is that the rate of flow is tied to the groundwater temperature. In the winter the flow to get really hot water might be very low, actually little more than a trickle.; but in the summer, with warmer water being input, the flow is both very hot and strong. They also use a separate heater to heat bath water.

I think the lack of popularity lies in the variable performance and the low flow rate relative to what a US water heater can provide.

[hunter]

5. A tankless water heater is made of expensive copper, not steel.

And the control mechanisms are much more sophisticated than a simple thermostat to prevent it from either scalding you, or at worst, exploding.

It's been my own experience that tankless water heaters do not save money if you have teenagers.

My kids used to be afraid of using up all the hot water because they knew mom and dad would be very upset if our showers turned cold. Furious naked parents frighten teenagers.

But as soon as we installed a tankless water heater our kids started taking advantage of the "unlimited" hot water and our gas bill went up.

[Digit]

6. Furious naked parents frighten teenagers.....

:rofl:

[FSogol]

8. Be careful with that. Stuff can grow in 100 deg water. Ever heard of

legionnaire's disease?

Get the most efficient heater you can afford. Turning it down too low is not the solution.

[AZCat]

11. It's more of a problem with storage.

But tankless water heaters with long piping runs before the plumbing fixtures can have problems, too, even if you turn up the supply water temperature. They should really only be point-of-use. Of particular concern are fixtures where the water is aerosolized, like shower heads (you end up breathing in the legionella bacteria).

Tank-type water heaters should be turned up to at least 122 degrees F, and possibly hotter (you don't start killing most of the bacteria until ~130 degrees F). It is best if this is used in conjunction with a shower that has an anti-scald valve (preferably ASSE 1070 rated).