Sooooo as some of you know I just purchased back in May and have been doing some renovations. Over this time we haven't turned the hot water on. We really didn’t care to because the 50gal tank that was in there seemed to be pretty new (less than 3 years old). Well I had a plumber try and fire it up last night and no dice. The ignition would spark but the pilot just wouldn’t light.

I am toying with the idea of scrapping trying to fix it, if it’s more than $200 and just getting a tankless system. I am seeing tankless water heaters in the $500-1000 range and was wondering you all's thoughts on it?

 

Got a 199,000 btu Noritz and hate it. Have to run a half gallon through it before it even fires. With a tank, you have hot water between the tank and faucet, tankless you got cold water there, real quick. Mine would be a lot better if the water heater was near the kitchen sink, but I'm about a 40 foot run of pipe away. For showers it is great, but I will never wash hands with warm water again, as I'm not going to wait 2+ minutes

I hear Peerless is better than Noritz, and you can use the unit to provide hydronic heating to your entire house, in addition to hot water.

 

I had this discussion with Mike last night. The reason why he did not get a tankless water heater was because they only can heat the ambient water up so much. If you live North, of say, DC, then you'd have some real cold water in the winter, and might even need two of these things in succession to heat up the water to 120 degrees F.

I live in Florida, and when our water heaters goes, I'm thinking about getting one.

 

I used to do home energy surveys for the electric company.
There are only 2 reasons to get a tankless IMO.
1) you live in a small condo and need closet space
2) you are a 1 or 2 person household that takes quick showers.

Regular water heaters cost 50 cents an hour to heat...once hot, they maintain the heat for a long time before ever coming back on.
Tankless can use up to 2 bucks an hour so if you have teenage kids or a wife that takes a long shower you have potential to use more electric than a conventional water heater. PLUS, the additional up front cost...not just the cost of the TL Waterheater, also the cost of electrician to upgrade the amperage on the breaker.

Just not worth it from what I would consider the horse's mouth.

J.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys, I really appreciate it.

Rockstar143: Question for you, I would go with a natural gas TL water heater since my 50gal is natural gas ATM. Would it still need to run off electricity? I know alot of things but these are Greek to me at the moment.
Also it is only a 2 person household but I wouldn't mind taking a long ass shower from time to time, I'm concerned with running the dishwasher and shower simultaneously as well with the TL water heater.

 

Any cost benefit if you were to run it as a NG vs electric. I have 2x 50 gal tanks gas fired in my house and would likely need 2 TL in series to keep up with demand. Could still be a winner though?
Interested in your calculations and if they have a NG calc.

 

i considered going tankless as i saw them being used at my relatives houses in Australia. great for space savings and don't need to run the hot water that long before the water gets up to temperature. i figured for my small single family house with 1.5 BA, i could get away with a really good tankless heater... but not sure if i can justify the extra expense though.

would still be interested to see the number comparisons... my current HWH is 15-20 yrs old...

 

They make different units rated for running more things at once. My father in law works for a gas company and they install tank-less Rinnai brand units. You can get one, for example, that does 1 sink and 1 shower simultaneously or one that does 2 sinks and 2 showers simultaneously. Pretty obvious on this but you also have the option of adjusting the temp on the unit.

 

Sorry, just checking back in. My analysis is based solely on electric, although I've read lately that propane and NG are getting up there as far as cost goes. I guess it all depends on what the meter says at the end of the month with each diff. tank!

For electric, I can definitively say that I don't think it'd be worth it to me.

 

I like the tankless water heaters.

 

Looking into one of these:

I read what posters posted above but this is Natural gas versus Electric. Anyone else use tankless now?

 

I know a few people using natural gas tankless systems. No complaints from them.

 

We just had a navien natural gas tankless water heater installed this past April and we love that thing! It cost us about $1800 installed (came from an electric tank water heater).

Our old water heater was 20 years old and it was time for a new one and since we switched our furnace to natural gas we decide on a natural gas tankless water heater. The plumber that installed it said if you get a tankless water heater it must be gas only. He said avoid the electric, they are junk.

 

If you're going to run tankless, make damn sure that your water softener is working perfectly and test the output water to ensure that.

The heat exchanger in the tankless uses super tiny tubes to rapidly transfer heat and it's very easy to clog with hard water deposits.

 

If you stand the chance of losing power throughout the year and don't have a generator the idea of having 2 days worth of "warm" water in a 40-50 gallon tank makes me smile.

 

If I lose electric I can live without hot water although I haven't had that problem in about 20 years.

 

Good to know

Even on a natural gas tankless?
Hell even with a tank why would losing power = losing hot water.

 

Not to mention, in the event of a zombie apocalypse, you'd have a great personal source of 50 gallons of clean, drinkable water.

 

Natural gas tankless has to ignite and vent no? I don't think any of the tankless units out there have a standing pilot, probably electronic ignition? And I would think there is an internal fan that helps move the combustible gases out? No electricity, no fan, no fire.

Same for a tank, how would it ignite and get rid of the combustible gases with no electricity? What I was saying was at least with a tank you have that 40-50 gallons of already heated water, granted it'll be mixed with fresh cold water as you use it so the temp in the tank will drop fast.

Not sure what temp water fends off zombies...

 

^thanks for the explain, I was wondering too...
I wonder if they have a manual override though...like, you know, for something very high tech, like a match.

 

My 50gal tank water heater has a standing pilot and no fan. It vents ambiently through a chimney. It's not plugged into the wall for electricity. As long as there is gas, there will be hot water.

The temperature of the water is less important than the fact that you have 50 gallons of clean drinking water in a reservoir at home. I don't have a tank water heater for that particular reason but it's certainly a benefit.

 

My "dumb" nat gas hot water tank that requires no electric was one of the things that kept me sane after losing electric for days following Sandy. If I couldn't take my daily shower I would have lost it.

I read somewhere that the government is going to regulate these dumb tanks into obsolescence.

 

I was always under the impression that all natural gas water heaters require electricity to operate.

 

it comes down to lighting and venting. some can run, and some cannot. in my particular case it wouldn't reheat because the power vent...I have no chimney. I was able to squeeze 2-3 days of warm water out of it when we were out of power for a week back in the fall of 2011.

 

tankless is in it's infancy is isn't a great option IMO. Just like High efficiency washers, have never had one last more than 4 years vs 10+ years on a standard one.

 

How does a tankless water heater differ from a standard one in the event of a Zombie Apocolypse?

This could be vital info.

 

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