Anyone have a tankless water heater???

[antsss]

If so, do you like it? Does it really work? Is is saving you money?

Our current water heater is dying a slow death and we need to replace it. We're looking at a Navien Tankless water heater which will cost about $4000 including installation. Just wondering if anyone has any opinions...

Thanks!

 

[skyman8963]

i dont have one in my house but I have 6 of teh in my restaurants. We use the Rennai system, I havnt had any issues with any except the first one. They put a residential unit in instead and it didnt last due to the heavy use.

Sorry not much help but thats what I know about them.

I only paid about 3200 for install

 

[donac]

We just put in a new furnace. The higher priced furnace they offered us had the option of putting on a tankless water heater. we were told that it would give us over 200 gallons of hot water. Dh and I turned to each other and said "DS would never get out of the shower" we didn't get it.

 

[Mickey527]

I have one and everyone in the family loves it. I have a spa tub and this is the first time I can fill it totally, I used to have to fill it then get in 1/2 tub and fill it after the tank heated more water.
My gas bill has dropped about $20 a month even though we are using more water than before since we can fill the tub better.
Be aware though that the water is not instant. When you turn on the water it takes about 2-3 minutes for the hot water to get up to the bathroom or kitchen. For some reason it takes longer for the hot water to get to the basement sink which is right near the hot water heater.
I have the Rennai also. It cost me about $5,000 for the heater and installation. I did have alot of plumbing they ahd to do because the tank has to be positioned near a window or outside wall for venting and my old tank was on the other side of the basement not near a wall.
I didn't get a cent off my taxes however, it wasn't enough to claim it, at least that is what turbo Tax said.

 

[ontariomonkey]

My parents have one and it takes quite a while for the hot water to arrive. You can completely wash your hands before the hot water starts flowing. It's kind of annoying. I suppose you could turn the water on when you sit on the toilet, then it would be ready when you are. Multitasking, clever!

 

[momrek06]

My parents have one and it takes quite a while for the hot water to arrive. You can completely wash your hands before the hot water starts flowing. It's kind of annoying. I suppose you could turn the water on when you sit on the toilet, then it would be ready when you are. Multitasking, clever!

To OM, I believe your parents need to make a very small adjustment to remedy this situation. Have them call their furnace man, tell them the water is taking forever to get hot.
I have my furnace people come out once a year and do a preventative maintenance check on the entire furnace.


To the OP, We built our Boston home in 2005 and put in a tankless water heater and love it. No complaints at all.

 

[Sleepy]

All we have around here are caldaias, which are tankless water heaters. They also control the water flow in the radiators for the house heat. WHen these units are new, they are great, but when they get older, they are a huge pain. Not as simple as changing an element. Not so easy to do a self fix.

We also find the water takes a while to heat. If it is first use of the day, it will take over a minute and of course, winter takes longer than summer. It does take longer for the upstairs to get hot.

I personally don't like these units. They stop working for no reason. Of course, the ones they have over here might be less quality, but this is my experience. In addition, flickering of the electricity is a guaranteed malfunction of the unit. It can take several steps to figure out exactly what it needs to get it back online. Maybe just a restart, or turning the power off at the unit (which is always outside) or shutting the power off completely to the house. Electricity is not the best here, so you can see how this wouold be a pain. it is especially troublesome if you have already started the shower, thought the water was the right temp, and undressed to step in, only to redress and go outside. grrrrr.

 

[minniecarousel]

We got a Noritz in October. We haven't noticed any savings in the gas bill yet. We did, however, add a recirculating pump a month ago. You press a button in our bathroom, and it gets the water really hot. We have noticed our water bill go down as a result of this pump.

The main reasons for going tankless: resale value; we needed a new HW heater anyway; no probelm with sediement with tankless.

 

[antsss]

Thanks so much for all the responses so far. I just wish the tankless wasn't so much more expensive than a regular water heater!!

 

[RNMOM]

I am also interested in getting these. We are on a slab and our hot water began leaking from the tank to the kitchen and utility room. DH wouldn't consider the tankless so they had to route the new pipes through the wall behind the cabinets and then into the laundry room where they run along the wall. Grrrrrr. It cost us about 1600. additional to do this and patch the walls. I would like to put two smaller units. One for the kitchen/laundry and one for the two bathrooms to share. One is only a half bath.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Don't have one, but my brother installed one in his place, actually two. The first was in the kitchen, under the sink, the second was closer to the center part of the house for the rest of the water. I think the one in the center of the house is gas and the kitchen one is electric.

He's been overall happy with them, he said he's glad he installed on specifically in the kitchen because of the delay issue.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Thinking of getting one.