OT-Tankless Hot Water Heater

[ferris198]

Anyone have one ?
Thinking of getting one.

 

[disneyfreak89]

My DH is a plumbing inspector and just put one into his parents home last year. Here are his thoughts: First, if you want it to be efficient, you should get a (condensing) model. Second, there is a slight delay in getting hot water over a regular tank type water heater. Third, they require a large gas input so you may have to re-do your gas piping. Fourth, the size is determined by the 'flow rate' if you have several bathrooms that require hot water at the same time, you will want a larger 'flow rate'. Hope this helps!

 

[chasbos]

I asked my water heater technician (we had a problem a few days ago with our propane water heater) if he would recommend one and he did not. He felt they were still very "new" and all of the kinks have not been worked out of them yet.

We live in southwestern Ontario and the weathers are cold - he has heard of some freezing in the winter if the wind comes the wrong way into the vent.

And from what you pay extra for them, you will likely not save that much in energy costs.

Personally - I will go for a propane one again.

 

[disneyfreak89]

I asked my water heater technician (we had a problem a few days ago with our propane water heater) if he would recommend one and he did not. He felt they were still very "new" and all of the kinks have not been worked out of them yet.
We live in southwestern Ontario and the weathers are cold - he has heard of some freezing in the winter if the wind comes the wrong way into the vent.
And from what you pay extra for them, you will likely not save that much in energy costs.
Personally - I will go for a propane one again.

DH says: We installed a "Takagi" tankless water heater, it has a built in temperature sensor in the vent that activates an electric heater coil to prevent freeze up. I agree there are allot of parts and only time will tell if they are reliable. Its been a year and a half and so far so good. The savings come from not constantly reheating 40 gallons of water 24 hours a day and you do get an endless supply of hot water (as long as you don't exceed the flow rate).

 

[MikeyNS]

They've been in use for YEARS in Europe. The only reason we didn't get one in our new house is that we have no access to natural gas, and even though there are electric models the difference in yearly cost between the tankless and a really efficient electric hot water heater was maybe $3/month (according to http://conservens.ca/resources/reports/Domestic-Water-Heating.pdf).

The numbers didn't make it worthwhile.. but I think they are a great concept.
It is sooooo much cheaper to heat your hot water with natural gas.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

We've had one for 3 years now - built a new house and had it installed instead of a hot water tank. Our gas bill has gone down about $15/month despite the fact that we also went from electric stove to gas and electric dryer to gas.
Only issue is it takes a few minutes longer to heat up - you have to turn on the shower, brush your teeth and it's hot before you are done brushing. No issues with having both showers going at the same time plus washing machine (uses cold anyway) and dishwasher.

 

[ferris198]

Thanks for all of your help !
I have done some research, but wanted real opinions, so once again thanks for the response.
For those of you that have them, did you buy it or rent it ?
Thanks

 

[disneyfreak89]

For those of you that have them, did you buy it or rent it ?Thanks

Bought it.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I spoke with a guy from Mattamy who is responsible for the instalation of these tanks. They put them in several subdivisions. He said they have been nothing but a pain and that they really are not made for Canada. Beyond that I can't say anything else. He got very technical about it.

We were going to get one but after that we decided to stick with what we have.

 

[disneyfreak89]

He said they have been nothing but a pain...

I should note that the first one my DH installed in his parents house was not working properly....after several phone calls to the manufacturer, they finally agreed to replace it (since my DH was the 'installer' he had to go this route, otherwise, the homeowner would have the professional who installed it deal with the manufacturer and deal with all that rigamaroll). When he installed the second one, it worked fine.....as mentioned previously, its been almost 2 years now and they've had no trouble with it.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

We bought ours.
We've also never had a single problem with it. I would definatly put one in any other house we buy!!