Charade said:
I'm curious as to why. I've been thinking about a tankless water when this one goes.
in order of most important to least important:
1) to get a tankless water heater that would meet our needs we would need to spend a large amount of money on the product, installation, and other add-ons. it would be slightly more than 3 times the cost of a standard water heater. we also would have to have some work done on the gas connections we currently have as we have been told they are not appropriate for the tankless heaters. at this point, we really do not have the $$$$ that this would cost. we were told that as best we would save ~$100/year. given the initial investment it would take us quite some time to recoup, let alone save. on top of that we are not likely to be in this house for more than 5 years. since we are already receiving the maximum energy credit from other improvements, we cannot include the $300 credit in our savings.
2) going hand in hand with #1, people we know who have gone tankless have long wait times for hot water when they first turn on the sink/shower. this is apparently a well-known problem with tankless heaters. to avoid this annoyance (and avoid wasting all that water while you are waiting for it to heat up) many installers recommend a special pump system or an additional heater at the source, which of course increases the cost.
3) we did not find the flow rates of many of the tankless units to be satisfactory for our water usage needs. for example, in the mornings, we are generally both taking showers one right after the other and using hot water in the kitchen. if you are interested in tankless, do some math on what your peak time flow rate usage might be. if anyone in your family takes long showers, this might not be the best way to go.
4) depending on where you live, in the winter you might actually use more gas with a tankless heater than with a standard heater due to the very cold temperature of incoming water and the additional energy needed to quickly heat this water as opposed to heating it up and then letting it sit until it needs to be heated again in a standard heater. if this is the case, you may not actually end up saving any money other than the initial $300 tax credit.
5) it is my understanding that the tankless units also need electricity to run part of the system. if you lose power you lose hot water. we have power outages pretty frequently where i live. i suppose you could hook it up to a ups, but this is just another headache.
6) this is not a concern for us as we have gas, but everything i have read has said that completely electric tankless heaters are even worse than traditional water heaters. the only tankless heater that people should consider is the ng variety. so, if you don't already have ng, this could be an issue for you.
i am sure that tankless is a good option for many people, we just decided it was not a good fit for us at this time. if you are interested in getting one, i would advise you to do your homework and be sure that your information is coming from unbiased sources. the frst sentence on the link you posted is, for example, somewhat misleading. you do not pay to heat your water 24 hours/day with a standard heater. it heats and then sits in the insulated tube until it needs to be heated again or is used. it's not like it is constantly being heated with the gas running 24/7.
our inspector recommended we replace it sooner rather than later.
