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Out tankless water heater is a Rinnai. It's performed great since we've been here. Being a ~4k sq ft house, there are a few faucets (kitchen is the worst, we have to run the faucet until the water is hot before starting the dishwasher) where it takes a minute to get hot water, but once it's there it maintains just fine.
Out tankless water heater is a Rinnai. It's performed great since we've been here. Being a ~4k sq ft house, there are a few faucets (kitchen is the worst, we have to run the faucet until the water is hot before starting the dishwasher) where it takes a minute to get hot water, but once it's there it maintains just fine.
👍 Thanks. Yeah I've seen that brand around.
Costco uses AO Smith which has been around for 80 years.
Cold water in the pipes has to get pushed through before the hot.
Just gotta get my gas company moving on my contract.
+1 for Rinnai, excellent tankless. Navien also makes really good ones too
To avoid the "pushing cold water through" issue, make sure you add an recirculating pump to the line so that the cold water is just recirculated back into the water heater instead of down the drain
I've also had great results with my Carrier unit at my place and a Lennox system at my parents in regards to HVAC.
also hot water heater is a misnomer, it's just a 'water heater'; hot water need not be heated
We had our WH (not tankless) fail at our old house, I think it was an AO Smith.
Issue had to do with plastic parts failing in the temp control box. Replaced with a metal housing dial (warranty repaired) & it was GTG.
One of our old neighbors had a Carrier. It had a design defect with the cooling coil, and Carrier covered only the part and not the $700 of labor to dig it out and replace it.
I'm on my second house with a Trane and they have been awesome.
Carrier sucks dick, would not recommend after spending nearly 20K on replacement units at a property.
Rheem makes great water heaters, they have a hybrid one that also has a mini a/c in it (but in reverse) so your garage/storage area where the heater is gets cooler and water inside gets hotter.
Make sure you invest in the upgrades for the filter housing (get a 4 inch one vs std 1 inch filter) that can be washed. I'd recommend UV light also to help kill bacteria.
Have heard good things about trane, Goodman and AO Smith too.
The water recirculation is a great tool, also euro homes have a little on demand water heater in bathrooms/kitchen that you flip a switch a minute or 2 before showering/water use to instantly heat up some water so you don't run it cold and waste water.
Whatever you do, make sure they don't use PEX water lines/distro as there is a lawsuit going on right now for failures very early on.
Thanks fellas for the advice. : thumbsup:
Gas line contract should be here any day then I'll start evaluating contractors/brands.
And definitely no pex in our house. All copper.
My house was built with an American Standard HVAC (I believe they are the same as Trane). It's given me issues every now and then (mainly around the first time the heat kicks on for the fall/winter) but I believe that has more to do with the install than anything else. Unfortunately the issues are intermittent/unpredictable and service can never get here when it's acting up.
I also have a Rheem tankless. Works well. We can run the dishwasher, laundry, and both showers at the same time without issue.
That has been the best part of the tankless WH. We've yet to manage to outflow the unit (once we found the ideal temp setting [130*] tried bumping it up to 135* & we'd get intermittent cool spurts).
That has been the best part of the tankless WH. We've yet to manage to outflow the unit (once we found the ideal temp setting [130*] tried bumping it up to 135* & we'd get intermittent cool spurts).
Apparently it puts too much of a strain on the network when they start up or something. This was 6 or so years ago so they might have changed the guidance and/or technology improved but that's what it was when I had to replace the water heater last time. I'd love to switch to a tankless.
Does a decent job and has two hardwired switches (one in the kitchen, one in the master bedroom) to prime the pump. Then in about 3-5 minutes, i have instant hot water at every tap!
For retrofit jobs, they also have a wireless receiver and wireless switches so you don't have to run Low voltage wiring if you so please!
Apparently it puts too much of a strain on the network when they start up or something. This was 6 or so years ago so they might have changed the guidance and/or technology improved but that's what it was when I had to replace the water heater last time. I'd love to switch to a tankless.
How do they do with hard water?
That's definitely a really good call out... it's recommended to have a water softener/pre-filter to prolong the life of your tankless due to the capillary-like tubes in the heat exchanger to heat up the water. I installed a carbon-prefilter and a traditional salt water softener upstream of the tankless.
Additionally, you could always call a plumber/DIY a vinegar/or other acid cleaning method to flush the tankless every so often.
That's definitely a really good call out... it's recommended to have a water softener/pre-filter to prolong the life of your tankless due to the capillary-like tubes in the heat exchanger to heat up the water. I installed a carbon-prefilter and a traditional salt water softener upstream of the tankless.
Additionally, you could always call a plumber/DIY a vinegar/or other acid cleaning method to flush the tankless every so often.
We have a softener but our water is hard AF and still concerns me. I'd have to do the prefilter as well.
Something to deal with if/when it's time to swap the heater if that happens before we move out of here.
Gas line goes in Monday
HVAC goes in Wednesday
New stove too. Can't wait to be cooking with gas.
Like this one
Guess I never gave an explanation as to why we were converting to gas. Hurricane blew through back in beginning of August. Left us with this. The cost to repair that chimney was $$$$$. Going with a high efficiency heater we don't need the chimney anymore.
The worst I experienced was a house we rented in college.
No central air or heat. Window units in the rooms for A/C & there was a propane tank in the yard for gas heaters.
But, we were broke college kids & couldn't afford the propane fill. So we got by with extra blankets & heated mattress covers & an electric heater on full blast. IIRC it was around 42* inside the house that winter.
Glad we're in SE TX & not pretty much anywhere else. Might've died in that cold.
The worst I experienced was a house we rented in college.
No central air or heat. Window units in the rooms for A/C & there was a propane tank in the yard for gas heaters.
But, we were broke college kids & couldn't afford the propane fill. So we got by with extra blankets & heated mattress covers & an electric heater on full blast. IIRC it was around 42* inside the house that winter.
Glad we're in SE TX & not pretty much anywhere else. Might've died in that cold.
New system has been fabulous. 96% efficient. Now I can let my wife keep the heat on whenever she wants. Definitely feel more airflow in rooms that used to be colder.
Next up is chimney removal. No not DIY. Removal, recapping soffet, shingle repair and residing that side of the house.
Hot water heater will stay electric for the foreseeable future. Without a chimney my gas options are limited to direct vent (not recommend by anyone I've spoken to) or tankless which my HVAC guy was not a fan of.
We have to have our chimney trim replaced. Starting to look a bit rough at the base. Will be paying someone to do that one, I'm not getting on the roof.
We have to have our chimney trim replaced. Starting to look a bit rough at the base. Will be paying someone to do that one, I'm not getting on the roof.
Our insurance adjuster even commented how steep our roof was. My life insurance policy isn't enough to justify it.
Removing the chimney is definitely not a DIY project.
09-21-2020, 10:14 PM
Definitely feel more airflow in rooms that used to be colder.
Our insurance adjuster even commented how steep our roof was. My life insurance policy isn't enough to justify it. 
