The time has come for us to replace our old 30 gallon water tank. I’m tentatively planning on having a gas fired tankless water heater put in, but I’m wondering if thats the way to go. I’ve heard the advantages that it is more energy efficient and that it delivers faster hot water than a tank and that I will never have to worry about a tank rupturing and flooding my house.
Is there a downside other than the installation cost ? Does it really deliver plentiful hot water ? Are they reliable ? Do they last long ?
Has anybody here bought one and regretted it ?
If you have well water with high mineral content, not so great due to deposits, scaling.
How active is your household?
We had tankless for my wife and I, plus three teenage kids.
dishwasher constantly going, washing machine constantly going, showers, etc. the tankless could not keep up.
I bought a tank to replace the coil and we have had zero issues (and the water heats up just as hot, but obviously not as energy efficient as the tankless coil).
If your house is small and not quite as active, tankless probably fine and the right solution
Also, our neighbor has a tankless water heater. When the power was out, he had no hot water. I assume there is an "igniter / starter" that uses electricity. Maybe some models have a battery back up.
I'm considering a tankless one too (maybe a smaller, "auxiliary one" for the upstairs bathrooms), so I'm curious to see what other replies you get to this thread.
How active is your household?
We had tankless for my wife and I, plus three teenage kids.
dishwasher constantly going, washing machine constantly going, showers, etc. the tankless could not keep up.
I bought a tank to replace the coil and we have had zero issues (and the water heats up just as hot, but obviously not as energy efficient as the tankless coil).
If your house is small and not quite as active, tankless probably fine and the right solution
This, it depends on how many people are using the tankless. A quick recovery hot water tank is nice as well but pricier than your standard version and you obviously still have the tank taking up some space.
Also, our neighbor has a tankless water heater. When the power was out, he had no hot water. I assume there is an "igniter / starter" that uses electricity. Maybe some models have a battery back up.
I'm considering a tankless one too (maybe a smaller, "auxiliary one" for the upstairs bathrooms), so I'm curious to see what other replies you get to this thread.
Good point on the power being out. We had our furnace replaced a few months ago and the installer had shut off the gas while he did the work which also included shutting off the hot water heater. He forgot to turn the hot water heater back on but we had hot water for two days and didn’t even realize it was turned off. Ours is a 50 gallon, but just an example of how long the tank based version keeps the water hot. And that was in the middle of the winter in Michigan.
Also, our neighbor has a tankless water heater. When the power was out, he had no hot water. I assume there is an "igniter / starter" that uses electricity. Maybe some models have a battery back up.
I'm considering a tankless one too (maybe a smaller, "auxiliary one" for the upstairs bathrooms), so I'm curious to see what other replies you get to this thread.
Good point on the power being out. We had our furnace replaced a few months ago and the installer had shut off the gas while he did the work which also included shutting off the hot water heater. He forgot to turn the hot water heater back on but we had hot water for two days and didn’t even realize it was turned off. Ours is a 50 gallon, but just an example of how long the tank based version keeps the water hot. And that was in the middle of the winter in Michigan.
The installation cost quotes were all over the place. I have a very simple install. The gas line is already there, and the exhaust vent to the outside is in place too. It's a 2-step process....remove the old tank, hook up the new tankless. We received estimates as high as $4 THOUSAND DOLLARS. Shop your installation around.
One thing to consider -- how far away from the water heater is your kitchen and your main bathroom ?? You may lose some of the hot water benefits, if you can't insulate the whole run.
The other thing I remember from the install was that we had to upgrade our electrical to 200 amp service. Don't see that in many pro/con list.
We have a tank now and I'm happy with it. It works as expected, we don't have a high demand (yet, daughters are 6 and 8), and haven't run out of hot water. We have a 40 Gal with a mixing value which allows you to up the temp on the water heater and basically get the performance of a large water heater. I have no way of measuring the actually cost, just believe what it says on the tag on the unit which doesn't seem like a lot. Simply DIY replacement.
Oh and i bought a heat pump water heater which saves energy.
But there are lots of benefits to tankless as you'll surely see with any google search of pros and cons...like this one...
Link - ( New Window )
The installation cost quotes were all over the place. I have a very simple install. The gas line is already there, and the exhaust vent to the outside is in place too. It's a 2-step process....remove the old tank, hook up the new tankless. We received estimates as high as $4 THOUSAND DOLLARS. Shop your installation around.
One thing to consider -- how far away from the water heater is your kitchen and your main bathroom ?? You may lose some of the hot water benefits, if you can't insulate the whole run.
One thing that ended being the deciding factor was the exhaust vent. I didn't have a good place to put the vent, and that determined the location of where I could put the damn thing. Which meant that I had to run a new gas line from the main.
After further discussions with my plumber I decided to just go with another normal tank and install drip pan under it. I'm also adding water leak sensors.
(For full disclosure, I do live on an island off the Gulf Coast of Florida, where outside temps never fall below 50° on even the coldest night in January.)
I'm in a house with two upstairs bathrooms that are quite a distance from the current tank hot water heater in garage (SoCal house; no basement). The water has to run quite a long time before there is hot water in the sink or shower upstairs. I would think this would be the case regardless of whether I had a tank or tankless in the garage.
I was considering some kind of "mini-tankless" located right in the upstairs bathroom (electric?) that could heat up the cool water in the hot water line until the hot water from the tank arrived.
I've also heard about the recirculation systems. I had assumed these were to save water, not to supply hot water sooner.
Any info on the above appreciated.
It looks like its tankless for us.
I understand the concern about floods... I have a finished basement where the tank is.. However, the standard warranty for a tank is 10yr... so, every 10 years i just replace.. its not crazy expensive and i get the latest energy efficiency and peace of mind...
We had a Navian as well in our old house. We only had it for about two months prior to selling the house, but I loved it. Ours had the auto circulation feature that I highly recommend -- every tap in the house would have hot water within 5-10 seconds.
If you're worried about a leak from a tank you can add in a leak detector that shuts off water supply when a leak us detected for less than $100.
If you have a standard outlet you can put in a recirc pump under any sink. It senses the temp in the hot water line and pumps water back into the cold water line to keep hot water always at the tap.