Tankless hot water heaters

[Neesy228]

Our very old hot water heater is rapidly failing, so we need to make a quick decision on whether to spend the extra money and get a tankless system or just go with the less expensive traditional water tank. Any thoughts? If you have a tankless system, do you love it or hate it? Was it worth the cost to you? Would you do it again? Did you notice any difference in your bills? (Our would be a gas heated unit) I would love some first hand experience to help us decide!

 

[borgthe]

I love our tankless. I don't know if it saves money, but it is nice not to have that huge unit taking up all that room.

 

[OKW Lover]

We got a tankless water heater for our new house. Love it. Never run out of hot water and it takes up very little space.

 

[wiigirl]

I love our tankless. I don't know if it saves money, but it is nice not to have that huge unit taking up all that room.

 

[MomToOne]

I have a tankless I put in about a 1-1/2 years ago. I ended up with a top-of-the-line, externally vented one (read: it had to placed outside) because of old house/new code issues.

I generally love it, although I feel bad having to run the water for awhile to get hot water to come out because of our current drought. Once the water gets hot, I have no problems with the water temperature being inconsistent, although I know that used to be a common complaint about them.

My gas bill has gone down, but my old water heater was in really bad shape so it was not running efficiently at all.

They are more expensive to install, but last longer (up to 20 years) if you maintain them properly - you need to flush them occassionally if minerals build up. Brand matters - make sure you get a good one for your circumstances. There are also different "sizes" so to speak - make sure you get one properly sized for your needs, or you may find you don't have enough hot water when you run multiple water users at once.

 

[MHSweb79]

We have a tankless hot water heater and it works great -- you'll never run out of hot water. I don't think we noticed much of a change in our gas bill.

 

[Nomne]

Love ours! best decision we ever made on so many levels!

 

[Anthony1971]

The only draw back to tank less is having to run the water before it heats up, there are solutions to this but the water heater would then run more. As far as savings it is unlikely you will see any when you factor in the cost and likely end up negative. Most believe from the get go what you save in gas or electric is negated by having to run the water... that is if you pay for water. If you take care of a 12 year tank heater you can get 20+ years out of it... Both types require maintenance but the tank less will be easier as you need to drain a tank at least once a year. If you do not maintain either expect it to fail within days after the warranty period is up

 

[donkeyandshrek]

Love mine. Would spend the extra tomorrow for another if I had to. Mine is on gas and it doesn't have to run long at all to warm up. with teenagers, never running out of hot water is a bonus!!

 

[Fantastic4]

We are in military housing and have one. There are 4 of us. I have had the dishwasher running and all of us shower and we didn't run out of hot water. We also live where the temps have been extreme cold this winter it doesn't take much time to get hot. Can't comment on the bill since we don't pay utilities.

 

[ceecee]

We got a tankless water heater for our new house. Love it. Never run out of hot water and it takes up very little space.

I like being able to fill the garden tub for a hot soak and not run low on hot water. As well as all of the showers in the am. DD takes a 20 minute shower a day. Luckily we have a well so we don't pay for water. As far as saving $ with the tankless, we haven't noticed much difference.

 

[mguilford1]

We had ours put in 1 1/2 years ago. Love it! Never run out of hot water! Yes you have to let it run for a minute or two to get the hot water, but at least the electricity isnt heating it all day when you dont need it! Our electric bill went way down and we only pay a bit more for the propane. We got a two year no finance charge for our $2500 water heater. The price included installation.

 

[travisx4]

We replaced our 40 gallon gas water heater with a tankless gas unit 2 years ago. First off you never run out of hot water, with the tank we could not get through 2 showers without running out. As far as our gas bill it went from an average of $45.00 per month to an average of $17.00 per month. The extra space is nice in the basement and since we are in a flood zone it was nice to have a unit mounted on the wall where the pilot light would not extinguish if the basement took on water (as has happened in the past). The unit we have is a Rinai

 

[lurkernj]

We got one about a year ago. I love that we don't run out of hot water since one child doesn't get out of the shower for at least 20 minutes. That's also a downfall since before he would have to get out since the water got cold.

I think we save on gas, but our water bill has gone up since the shower and or sink has to run awhile before the water gets hot. Seriously, I turn on the shower, go get towels, brush my teeth, go to the bathroom, get undressed, and the water has just turned hot.

When I'm doing the dishes, I turn it on, clear the table, wipe the counters/table, put away whatever needs to be put away and then it's usually hot. I've washed dishes in cold water because I don't feel like waiting.

If I knew all of this beforehand, I think I just would have gotten a bigger hot water heater.