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Tankless water heaters

 
 
jcboy
 
Thu 12 May, 2011 06:24 pm
So many told me I should get a tankless water heater for the house. Well it’s a pain in the ass. Takes forever for the water to get hot. Oh you save a lot of money on your gas bill, blah blah blah, bull crap, the first month I saved $6.00. The tankless cost $1700.00, $340.00 to install and $260.00 for the electrician. I should live so long to see this sucker pay for itself.
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Type: Discussion • Score: 22 • Views: 5,187 • Replies: 20
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talk72000
 
  1  
Thu 12 May, 2011 07:02 pm
@jcboy,
In Hong Kong we used to boil the water and then fill the bucket and then add cold water and bathe from the bucket. To speed up the process we added a tankless heater. Maybe you need to heat water in a pot and add to a bucket like we did. I know, I know, this is so NOT North American.
jcboy
 
  2  
Thu 12 May, 2011 07:14 pm
@talk72000,
Well it sounds like a faster way of getting hot water lol.
talk72000
 
  1  
Thu 12 May, 2011 07:17 pm
@jcboy,
Mr. Green
0 Replies
 
hawkeye10
 
  2  
Thu 12 May, 2011 07:18 pm
@jcboy,
jcboy wrote:

So many told me I should get a tankless water heater for the house. Well it’s a pain in the ass. Takes forever for the water to get hot. Oh you save a lot of money on your gas bill, blah blah blah, bull crap, the first month I saved $6.00. The tankless cost $1700.00, $340.00 to install and $260.00 for the electrician. I should live so long to see this sucker pay for itself.
Agreed
http://able2know.org/topic/166863-1

The only way this makes sense is if they are right that we can get 20 years out of them before major replacement...which is nothing more than a hope at this point. I also have some vibration noise in the wall on mine, which is hugely annoying.
hawkeye10
 
  1  
Thu 12 May, 2011 07:25 pm
@hawkeye10,
Quote:
The DOE computes average annual operating costs of $388 for a storage-tank heater, and $272 for a tankless heater. That's $116 less. If the tankless system costs $2,200 installed, and saves $116 a year, it would take about 19 years to break even on the investment. If the new tankless system replaced an Energy-Star storage-tank heater (its operating costs are $360 a year), it would take about 25 years to break even. Anytime, but particularly when money is tight, saving $116 starting about 20 years from now is not high on most homeowners' lists.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-02-12/classified/ct-home-0212-water-heater-chomes-20100210_1_tankless-water-heater-hot-water/2
jcboy
 
  2  
Fri 13 May, 2011 04:10 am
@hawkeye10,
No wonder you save money on your gas bill, by the time the water gets warm in the kitchen you’re already done cleaning it.
hawkeye10
 
  1  
Fri 13 May, 2011 10:31 am
@jcboy,
jcboy wrote:

No wonder you save money on your gas bill, by the time the water gets warm in the kitchen you’re already done cleaning it.
My kitchen is about twice as far from the heater as are the bathrooms, so I have the same problem. I was told that it takes 2 seconds for the heater to turn on and that it was "instant hot water" but I think that it is 2 seconds to on, then another 10 seconds to hot, and then because this hot water is moving through copper pipes that have been all the way cold I lose a lot more as the first seconds of the hot water run lose all their heat into the pipes. What I was expecting as 2 seconds longer to get hot water is actually at least 20-30 seconds in winter , which gets annoying. If were still living in Arizona where the actual water use charge was high I would be even more pissed about the new water wastage , but here in Washington state water is relatively cheap, they charge us a big standard fee and a little water use fee.
0 Replies
 
farmerman
 
  1  
Mon 16 May, 2011 12:05 pm
@jcboy,
Quote:
No wonder you save money on your gas bill, by the time the water gets warm in the kitchen you’re already done cleaning it.

The difference in time that it takes for a tankless heater to send you water should be no different than a tank unit , assuming they are located in the same spot of the water flow. I have two zone tankless heaters , both located at zones of usage. The bathroom/kitchen take no ore than about 30 seconds to deliver 135 degree (F) hot water at a 6gpm (this is a rinnai ubit). If youre having a "time of delivery" problem, Im proposing that theyve mount3ed it too far from your water use area. Its kind of dumb to even have the plumbers so locate a unit, especially since the whole benefit of these things is proximity to where you need it. If it isnt improperly located, it sounds like yopuve got a 3gpm delivery unit. DO you have a 5 gpm faucet and line? That could be your problem too.
Plumbers need watching too.

I have 2 Rinnais and we love em. I can shower all day, my wife can have a load of wash and qwe can be doing dishes without the booster heater on the dishwasher even kicking in(The kitchen upstairs bath have a 6gpm unit set at 150 degrees F).

Your savings may be based upon a fact that youve only got 1 pwerson on the line. Weve had up to 5 people doing separate things and have always run out of hot water in the past. Whenever the kids come home and we are all in competing uses, we never have a decrease in hot water and our savings have been substantial especially with the "summer/winter" hookup of the old oil burner requiring it to come on and just heat a tank full of water every 30 minutes ALL DAY AND NIGHT.
Now we have a propane system for heat and a tankless system and weve saved total pf about 120 a month the last two years(Normatized to a BTU/BTU basis not just fuel cost. If I just figured the rising fuel cost my savings would be more (And the weather these last two wintrers has been brutal).

MY thoughts about yours are

1location of the unit v the lengthy the hot water travels compared to your ould "non tankless system"

2water delivery v heater capacity. I know the 6 gpm sytems cost about 3000 with an in line temp sensor.
farmerman
 
  1  
Mon 16 May, 2011 12:09 pm
@farmerman,
Also, did you have your pipes insulated? or is your tankless in a closet or under the sink? (many people do locate them right beneath the sinks and run the "chimney" out at that point.
(We actually run the chimney of one into a portable greenhouse that I use for starting veggies on the patio in winter.
MMarciano
 
  1  
Wed 18 Jan, 2012 07:49 pm
@farmerman,
Quote:
I have 2 Rinnais


We have one, I've heard you should have more then one and then theres no problem. We are considering having another one put near our bathroom, it does take quite a bit of time for the water to get hot. You don't notice it during the summer but this time of the year you sure do.
0 Replies
 
MMarciano
 
  1  
Wed 18 Jan, 2012 07:50 pm
@farmerman,
Our is out in the open, outside the kitchen window, so the water is hot there, but takes a bit of time to heat up when you'er in the shower.
farmerman
 
  3  
Thu 19 Jan, 2012 06:00 am
@MMarciano,
WE have an old farmhouse with typical "telescope" additions that were constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The "Gas guys" first installed our initial Rinnai waaaay down in one of the basement areas of e telescope addition. This made the water run of a few hundred feet. So we told the installers that , according to their contract they were to consult with us before installation (We had the right of approval). They hedged a bit and then they finally installed the units BENEATH the areas that defined their use. We have 2.5 baths and a kitchen next to a laundry. The Kitchen laundry is one zone and the bathrooms are another. In coldest winter it takes about 30 seconds to draw steaming hot waster.
We keep the kitchen /laundry temp at 135 and the bathrooms at 120.
Gone are the days when our old oil furnace would kick on every ten minutes to keep the tank of hot water at temperature. Even though the tank was insulated well it also took time before hot water was measurable at the tap.
farmerman
 
  2  
Thu 19 Jan, 2012 12:15 pm
@farmerman,
Hawkeye doesnt like em. However he often sees conspiracies in many kitchen appliances
hawkeye10
 
  1  
Thu 19 Jan, 2012 12:22 pm
@farmerman,
farmerman wrote:

Hawkeye doesnt like em. However he often sees conspiracies in many kitchen appliances

I have several well articulated rational reasons for not liking them.
0 Replies
 
maximus321
 
  0  
Sat 21 Jan, 2012 01:07 am
@talk72000,
yes it to easy way and helpful
0 Replies
 
hawkeye10
 
  1  
Mon 24 Dec, 2012 01:43 am
nuff said!

http://www.conocophillips.com/EN/about/energy/energyissues/PublishingImages/Residential%20Natural%20Gas%20Prices.gif
0 Replies
 
arturoi
 
  1  
Thu 3 Jan, 2013 08:12 pm
@jcboy,
nice information...
0 Replies
 
BaronDavis
 
  1  
Fri 4 Jan, 2013 01:18 am
@jcboy,
Hello Community,

Tankless water heaters, also known as demand-type or instantaneous water heaters, provide hot water only as it is needed. They don't produce the standby energy losses associated with storage water heaters, which can save you money. Tankless water heaters heat water directly without the use of a storage tank. When a hot water tap is turned on, cold water travels through a pipe into the unit. Either a gas burner or an electric element heats the water. As a result, tankless water heaters deliver a constant supply of hot water. You don't need to wait for a storage tank to fill up with enough hot water. However, a tankless water heater's output limits the flow rate. Tankless water heaters can avoid the standby heat losses associated with storage water heaters. However, although gas-fired tankless water heaters tend to have higher flow rates than electric ones, they can waste energy if they have a constantly burning pilot light. This can sometimes offset the elimination of standby energy losses when compared to a storage water heater.

Best Regards,
Baron Davis
0 Replies
 
jcboy
 
  1  
Fri 4 Jan, 2013 05:18 am
We don’t have a tankless water heater in the new house and probably won’t be getting one.

My friend Brian who leased out the old house for us told me the two guys that rented it have already complained about the hot water problem.

0 Replies
 
 

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