Water Heater for family of 4. What size tank do you have?

[mudman]

In the market for a hot water tank. Wondering if a 50 gal tank is enough for a family of 4 with two full baths.

 

[lovetomow]

We have three bathrooms and have a 50 gal gas hot water heater. Have only gone cold on us once. That was two showers and washing machine going at same time!

 

[Skatermom23]

If it is gas, then you should be okay. If it is electric, then it is too small. However, I would still consider a larger size. I have two teenagers and the amount of water they use is crazy!

 

[Fizzgig]

I have a husband who is able to go through a 50 gallon water heater by himself in the mornings.

How much hot water does your family use at the same time? Have you considered a tankless water heater? With my DH, I will definitely replace with a tankless heater next time, beyond the fact that they last for over 20 years and pay you back in energy savings in something like 3 years.

 

[SondraC]

There are 5 of us, 2 1/2 baths and we have a 50 gallon. If we needed a new one I would do the same size again.

 

[drivencrazy]

Family of 6 here... we have a 50 galon tank. Some days if the showers aren't to long we can all get clean with that!

But, we will be getting a tankless water heater when ours goes!

I vote for tankless!

 

[disneyandme]

We put a tankless in in Jan 2007 and it has been wonderful. We have unlimited hot water, we can all take back to back showers, and we can run the dishwasher or washing machine while showering. It's been wonderful. It costs more upfront, but you don't pay to keep a tank of water heated all the time.

 

[mudman]

Interesting that you all report about wanting to go tankless. That is what we have now and hate, hate, hate it!!!.

It wasn't bad when it was new, but now that our home is 15 years old. The coils have slowly built up deposits and we have very little hot water. I understand that this is typical. It's a cheap way to go at first but certainly doesn't last long term.

The cost of replacing the coil in the tankless is more than going for an electric water tank. Considering the price of oil now electric may be cheaper since we can don't need to burn oil in the summer months just to get hot water.

 

[seashoreCM]

There are lots of variables when it comes to water heaters.

If you crank up the temperature of the hot water, one tankful will last for more showers because everyone will mix in more cold and less hot. But the heater won't last as long and carelessness can lead to getting burned or scalded.

Can you afford to not run the washing machine and dishwasher until everyone has taken showers?

Can you do without curfews so the kids can wait awhile between showers? (You probably call the latter "dilly dallying".)

If you have the discipline, you can get by with a 40 gallon gas or 50 gallon electric.

They make stand alone tankless heaters so the whole furnace doesn't have to be kept running.

You can rig up a stand alone tank heater and a furnace tankless heater so the former acts as a tank only in winter and as a fully operating heater in summer. You will need the help of a plumbing heating specialist to get this working right.

Home handyman hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/home.htm

 

[drivencrazy]

Interesting that you all report about wanting to go tankless. That is what we have now and hate, hate, hate it!!!.

It wasn't bad when it was new, but now that our home is 15 years old. The coils have slowly built up deposits and we have very little hot water. I understand that this is typical. It's a cheap way to go at first but certainly doesn't last long term.

The cost of replacing the coil in the tankless is more than going for an electric water tank. Considering the price of oil now electric may be cheaper since we can don't need to burn oil in the summer months just to get hot water.

I can understand what you are saying, did you clean out the tankless water heater once a year or so? We are looking into getting one. If we do get one, we will also get water softener so the tankless water heater will have a longer life! We have VERY hard water here and when doing research about the tankless water heater found that it won't last well with the hard water... so just another thing on our list! I think with all things not everyone can always be happy, but I am hoping when we get one we will love it!

 

[mudman]

I can understand what you are saying, did you clean out the tankless water heater once a year or so? We are looking into getting one. If we do get one, we will also get water softener so the tankless water heater will have a longer life! We have VERY hard water here and when doing research about the tankless water heater found that it won't last well with the hard water... so just another thing on our list! I think with all things not everyone can always be happy, but I am hoping when we get one we will love it!

I don't think we cleaned out the tankless system. But we did get our furnaced cleaned yearly. I guess it would be a separate service? To be honest, it wasn't ever recommended to us to clean it. I don't think we have particularly hard water either.
I do know that it was more efficient when it was newer, but still not great. I'm hoping with a separate water tank we will be happier. But we'll see.

 

[DIZNYCHERYL]

We too have a tankless, we are on our second one and absolutely love it! Our first one needed repairs, it was about 6 years old, and yes it was less expensive to just replace it. For us it has been very economical, we burn natural gas and use lots of hot water, with a large jetted tub, showers, dishwasher, etc., it is our water heater of choice.