We need to repipe the whole house, and while we're at it, my DH wants to move our water heater out of the garage and make space for an extra freezer for us there. And now, he thought it would be a good time to get a tankless water heater for the whole house.
Does anyone here have one of those? What are your thoughts? Any recommendations? Caveats? Advice? Deals?
TIA
Full Version: Tankless Water Heater advice/deals needed!
We don't have one, but I've heard nothing but good reports on them. The other day I was listening to Lou Manfredini (Mr Fix-it on WGN radio out of Chicago) and he was raving about them...here's a snip off the station's website,
" Consider installing a tankless-water heater. Hey, this technology has been around for almost 70 years. Now units are less expensive and can save you hundreds of dollars each year. How? They create hot water on demand so there's no stored water needing to be continuously heated. (Think about when you're away or asleep.) Cost? Around $200-$250 more than a standard heater, but you'll recoup the cost increase in just two years.
What's more, standard water heaters tend to reduce in efficiency as time goes on. A seven-year-old tank heater runs at about 60-70% efficiency. While a tank-less heater of the same age runs at about 82%. The limitations? Multiple fixtures can't run at the same time, making it difficult to run your washing machine and take a shower simultaneously. But the savings are really worth it. Trust me."
" Consider installing a tankless-water heater. Hey, this technology has been around for almost 70 years. Now units are less expensive and can save you hundreds of dollars each year. How? They create hot water on demand so there's no stored water needing to be continuously heated. (Think about when you're away or asleep.) Cost? Around $200-$250 more than a standard heater, but you'll recoup the cost increase in just two years.
What's more, standard water heaters tend to reduce in efficiency as time goes on. A seven-year-old tank heater runs at about 60-70% efficiency. While a tank-less heater of the same age runs at about 82%. The limitations? Multiple fixtures can't run at the same time, making it difficult to run your washing machine and take a shower simultaneously. But the savings are really worth it. Trust me."
I just added a switch to my regular water heater, about 15-30 minutes before we need hot water we turn it on, the rest of the time it's off (I'll be hooking up a timer to it soon). The efficiency % thing as far as I know you just have to drain it every few years. Works for me.
do you know about the programs where you get 20% off gift cards to homedepot and lowe's? that could help you save some $$$.
Replacing a water heater like that is hard work that few people really appreciate. It's a tankless job.
Good luck, Monga
Good luck, Monga
QUOTE(Monga @ 03-17-2004 - 10:54 PM)
We need to repipe the whole house, and while we're at it, my DH wants to move our water heater out of the garage and make space for an extra freezer for us there. And now, he thought it would be a good time to get a tankless water heater for the whole house.
Does anyone here have one of those? What are your thoughts? Any recommendations? Caveats? Advice? Deals?
Does anyone here have one of those? What are your thoughts? Any recommendations? Caveats? Advice? Deals?
I saw the people on This Old House installing one, they raved about how efficient they are. Pretty neat. Here's a link to where they talk about it - link
QUOTE
Tankless Hot Water Heaters - Pros and cons of "instantaneous" hot water heaters
Q: Can you give my your opinion and any information you may have on using a tankless hot water heater? I presently have a gas-fired hot water tank, and I have to replace it every seven to eight years because of hard water. Can the tankless hot water heater be connected to gas and or electric? The price is not bad and they appear to be efficient. Do they reach the needed temperature for dishwater use?
— Donna
A: Richard Trethewey replies: First there needs to be a definition of terms. There are heating boilers that have an internal or external heating coil, called a tankless, for making hot water. I am not a very big fan of these systems, which require you to leave your heating boiler up to full temperature for the whole year.
A newer tankless water heater is a wall-mounted unit that only comes on to heat the water when a faucet opens looking for hot water. Because you are heating water as you need it, it is "tankless," also called instantaneous. They work beautifully and are made of stainless steel, so they last. The up side is that you could shower for 24 hours straight. The down side is that it makes a limited amount of water per minute, so two major uses of hot water cannot happen at the same time. They are perfect in smaller use applications, such as vacation homes, campers, or boats. They are very popular in Asia and parts of Europe.
The amount of water we can get out of these units depends on temperature rise, or how cold the water coming into the house is versus how hot you want the water to be at your faucet. The greater the temperature rise, the lower the flow rate. Maximum flow rate on most units is 2.5 gallons per minute. That's more than enough in real life, but less than Americans are used to. You can get water hot enough for dishwashers.
They are available in gas or electric, but I would only recommend gas at this point. The electric would need at least 14 to 15 KW (a lot of power), and the electric elements can scale in hard water.
Q: Can you give my your opinion and any information you may have on using a tankless hot water heater? I presently have a gas-fired hot water tank, and I have to replace it every seven to eight years because of hard water. Can the tankless hot water heater be connected to gas and or electric? The price is not bad and they appear to be efficient. Do they reach the needed temperature for dishwater use?
— Donna
A: Richard Trethewey replies: First there needs to be a definition of terms. There are heating boilers that have an internal or external heating coil, called a tankless, for making hot water. I am not a very big fan of these systems, which require you to leave your heating boiler up to full temperature for the whole year.
A newer tankless water heater is a wall-mounted unit that only comes on to heat the water when a faucet opens looking for hot water. Because you are heating water as you need it, it is "tankless," also called instantaneous. They work beautifully and are made of stainless steel, so they last. The up side is that you could shower for 24 hours straight. The down side is that it makes a limited amount of water per minute, so two major uses of hot water cannot happen at the same time. They are perfect in smaller use applications, such as vacation homes, campers, or boats. They are very popular in Asia and parts of Europe.
The amount of water we can get out of these units depends on temperature rise, or how cold the water coming into the house is versus how hot you want the water to be at your faucet. The greater the temperature rise, the lower the flow rate. Maximum flow rate on most units is 2.5 gallons per minute. That's more than enough in real life, but less than Americans are used to. You can get water hot enough for dishwashers.
They are available in gas or electric, but I would only recommend gas at this point. The electric would need at least 14 to 15 KW (a lot of power), and the electric elements can scale in hard water.
And another link from their page, with a guide to buying a hot water heater.
QUOTE(goosifer @ 03-18-2004 - 06:36 AM)
It's a tankless job.
groan...
Thank you all! You are all amazing! I'll tell you, last night when my hubby asked me to do some research about prices for this, I did, but I also said to him "Wait, I have to ask my friends at B$" and that's why I posted here. This community never ceases to amaze me. We all benefit by this global knowledge and for this I'm very grateful!!
I do not know about the 20% off programs at Lowe's but I'd certainly be interested, was there a thread about this somewhere and I missed it? We will surely need something like that since we need to buy patio furniture, remodel the kitchen and build a retainig wall and a tool shed in the back! (Hubby is trying to actually make space in the garage to fit his car in there and get me some storage for all my "deals"!!
I do not know about the 20% off programs at Lowe's but I'd certainly be interested, was there a thread about this somewhere and I missed it? We will surely need something like that since we need to buy patio furniture, remodel the kitchen and build a retainig wall and a tool shed in the back! (Hubby is trying to actually make space in the garage to fit his car in there and get me some storage for all my "deals"!!
It's a way to get 20% off giftcards to various stores. It involves signing up for one or several membership programs and cancelling to avoid fees. If someone can verify that there's no thread on this, then I will post the complete info.
I'd love to know about it, so whenever you have a chance, please post! Thanks a bunch!
I copied some of the most pertinent info from FW. I will add more as time allows....good luck! Please let us know how it goes! I hope this is helpful to you.
List of Dealpass gift card programs indexed by store
I hope this is helpful to you. List of Dealpass gift card programs indexed by store
Thanks a bunch! This will come in handy!!! Wow! And these cards could be used in conjuction with coupons when making a purchase I would imagine?
Yes, you can use those with any coupon - they're just gift cards like you might buy someone as a present.
A word about dealpass.com and other sites - there are definitely some good deals to be had, but be careful. They are out to make money, and will do a hard sell on you when you try to cancel. You have to be vigilant and watch your card for charges as well. I believe the way it works is you buy the cards through them, then after some amount of time they refund 20% to your credit card. So you have to watch for the refund, then you can cancel the membership.
The cards they give you are in $20 increments or something like that, so people laugh because they'll go into HomeDepot/Lowes/whatever with a big stack of $20 gift cards, and the cashiers are amazed.
Anyway, I'm not knocking these programs at all, just warning you that you have to be vigilant - like any experienced deal hunter.
A word about dealpass.com and other sites - there are definitely some good deals to be had, but be careful. They are out to make money, and will do a hard sell on you when you try to cancel. You have to be vigilant and watch your card for charges as well. I believe the way it works is you buy the cards through them, then after some amount of time they refund 20% to your credit card. So you have to watch for the refund, then you can cancel the membership.
The cards they give you are in $20 increments or something like that, so people laugh because they'll go into HomeDepot/Lowes/whatever with a big stack of $20 gift cards, and the cashiers are amazed.
Anyway, I'm not knocking these programs at all, just warning you that you have to be vigilant - like any experienced deal hunter.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.