Apr

7

Tankless Hot Water Heaters: Two Secrets to Being Happy with Your Heater

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With tankless hot water heaters all the rage now, you may be surprised to learn that many owners of these units are not so happy with them.  You can avoid many of their problems, though, by mastering two secrets to being happy with a tankless heater. They are: (1) be willing to adjust your habits and (2) be sure the installation is done right. Sounds easy enough, right? It is.

Be Willing to Adjust Your Hot Water Habits

If you have always had hot water from a tank system, you are used to certain things that will change when you get a tankless system. The hot water will arrive a bit differently. This is easiest to understand with an example: If you are getting ready to wash some dishes by hand with a tank system, you might wait a short while for the water to get hot, but once it starts coming out of the faucet hot, it will continue that way. Many people wash dishes by keeping a very slight trickle of hot water coming into the sink, so they can rinse as they go along.

With a tankless hot water heater, your wait for hot water initially is typically somewhat longer than with a tank system, as the heater will be sensing water moving through it and then beginning to heat it. The small-trickle method won't work because tankless water heaters require a minimum flow of about half a gallon a minute or more. This depends on the particular brand and model. Takagi tankless units require .5 GPM typically, while some other brands need more water.  So you have to run more water all the time, which is wasteful of both water and energy.

So supposing you decide to change your strategy. You will just turn the hot water off and on as needed. This is the greener way to do dishes anyway, but you may be surprised when the water coming out of the faucet is cold. The tankless heater stopped heating water when you turned the faucet off, and now it will have to get up to speed again, with another wait while cold water is coming out.

This means that an adjustment in your dish-washing methods is called for. Either rinse your dishes as you go along by being willing to use partly cold water, or just use cold water, or pile your clean dishes up and rinse them all at once… or in batches, depending on the space by your sink.

An adjustment like this isn't difficult to make, but it's good to be aware beforehand that there will likely be a variety of such adjustments. For example, depending on the size of your unit, you may have to wait to do those dishes till someone else gets out of the shower.

Tankless Hot Water Heater Installation MUST be Done Right

If you surf online and read owner's comments about their tankless hot water heaters, you will discover a good number of complaints. Many of these complaints are because the installers didn't get everything right. They didn't use large enough gas line. They installed a tankless heater in an unheated attic in Vermont and the pipes burst. They didn't run the vent correctly for a gas heater, and the unit acts up when it's windy outside or at other times. They didn't set the water hot enough. I could go on, but you get the idea. Some mistakes seem really dumb but others are more subtle.

Why are there so many bad installation jobs? Not many people are experienced in tankless wather heaters. Furthermore, a good number of the installations are done by plumbers, electricians, and skilled homeowners just doing what they are used to doing rather than checking the manual to see what is actually needed. (You can download most manuals from the internet, by the way.)

So if you get a unit installed and there are problems, have the installation thoroughly checked over. As one man commented online, "As a service provider for over 2 years I have found 95% of the over 150 heaters that I have serviced had installation issues. Once the issues were rectified the complaints disappeared."

Changing some habits and being careful about installation… these are your two keys to being happy with a tankless hot water heater.

I hope you are finding the information you need. To keep up with the pages I'm adding, you can subscribe to my RSS feed. Best wishes, Lou Wright

Apr

3

The Best Tankless Water Heater

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What is the best tankless water heater? What brand, what model, what type? Well, it depends... The best water heater for your household is one that meets all your needs, works reliably, and is as energy efficient as possible – all this without costing an arm and a leg. So which one should you buy? First I'll talk about the two types and the various brands and then about the steps you need to take to choose for yourself.

By types, I mean gas (both natural gas and propane) and electric. The best tankless water heater will always be gas, because they are more energy efficient. But they may not suit your particular needs. They are more expensive to purchase and more difficult to install correctly.

Best Gas Tankless Water Heater Brands

When it comes to brands, there do not seem to be any objective comparisons online. Consumer Reports does not have current evaluations.  Jim Dulley is a respected writer on many aspects of energy saving in the home; you can access his very inexpensive downloadable bulletins at www.dulley.com. He comments in his Update Bulletin #678, which I bought, that "Bosch, Noritz, Rheem/Paloma, and Takagi are my favorite high-output gas-powered tankless models."  He goes on to explain what features these brands have that make them his favorites. The bulletin also has detailed comparison charts of gallons per minute temperature rises.

More on brands: in doing research for this website, I read very widely all over the internet. I read customer reviews of all hot water heaters at Amazon – that link takes you to Amazon's page where they are all listed. I also read forum posts, long conversations of comments on blogs and websites, and reviews at other places. Based on all that, here is my considered assessment for gas tankless units. I haven't yet done enough reading on electric ones, but Titans are very popular – not always the same thing as being best!

  1. Noritz seems to be the very top of the line. They are not widely available online, as it seems you need to work directly with people certified by the company. I found several comments from professional installers that these are the best, in their experience.

  2. The Takagi heater (link goes to my article about this line) is very much appreciated by its owners, and I also read favorable comments from professionals. If I were buying a  unit myself right now, I would get a Takagi, and that is why I put an insert in the right sidebar of this site, showing various Takagi heaters currently on eBay.

  3. Bosch makes good units, very durable, but I did see a lot of complaints about their telephone customer service.

  4. Rinnai has many fans and a few detractors.

  5. Rheem, made by Paloma, is also mentioned by Jim Dully and is worth considering.

What is Best for YOU?

In deciding how to select a unit, you need to evaluate the extent and nature of your usage. This includes questions like how much you are willing to adjust your habits, how many people live in your home, the climate, and how many hot water uses you want to be able to do at the same time.

Here are some detailed guidelines in a useful article on another website: How to size a tankless water heater-- this  article includes a map of the US where you can estimate your incoming cold water temperature, if you live in the US, of course! (I noticed that this ecologically-oriented website sells the Eccotemp line of gas heaters, which I have not yet researched. )

Apr

2

Tankless Water Heaters: Four Things People Like and Dislike About Their Heaters

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Tankless water heaters are growing in popularity, and with good reason. But not all is rosy with using such a heater. Here are four things that owners of tankless water heaters like and four things that they dislike.

Four Things People Like About Tankless Water Heaters

Owners of tankless hot water heaters comment that they like them for a variety of reasons. Here are the top four:

  1. Endless hot water is great! No more running out in the middle of a long shower. Knowing you will always have enough is a good feeling.

  2. Saving money: Although tankless units generally cost over twice as much as conventional ones, over the long haul you typically spend less, as these units also last over twice as long and can be repaired where a conventional unit would have to be replaced. Also, there are tax credits available in the US for certain gas units that meet Energy Star standards.

  3. Saving space: tankless water heaters are amazingly small. They just hang on a wall and take up way less space than their conventional counterparts.

  4. Doing something for the environment by not wasting energy: It's obvious that heating a large tank of hot water 23/7 is wasteful of energy. In contrast, tankless units only heat water when you need it.

So with these benefits, the tankless units sound great! Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out that way.

Four Things People Don't Like About Their Tankless Water Heaters

Because tankless hot waters deliver water so differently from conventional tank water heaters, it takes some getting used to. You will have to adjust some habits. Plus, a lot of owners discovered unexpected obstacles during or after installation. Here are the main four things that owners report not liking about their setups:

  1. Flow delay: unless you happen to be using a unit that is right at the point of use, you will have to wait up to several minutes for hot water. Washing dishes by hand and turning the faucet on and off as you rinse? This habit works poorly with most tankless units because you'll have that flow delay every time you turn on the faucet. Besides your having to wait not necessarily patiently, another drawback is that cold water is most likely just going down the drain. (One Australian study concluded tankless water heaters waste "substantial" quantities of water.)

  2. Not having enough hot water if the water heater wasn't sized large enough: If your unit isn't large enough for your needs, you will have cooler water than you want, or if it is hot enough, there might be less of it than you like. This is more of a problem in the winter in colder climates, where the incoming water will be way colder than it would be in, say, Florida. If you have this problem, the way to fix it is to upgrade your system in one way or another. If you are still just shopping, be sure to do your homework on how to size a tankless hot water system. (Some brands, like Takagi, sell heaters that can be joined together in parallel.) Generally, people in milder climates seem to be happier with their units, probably for this reason.

  3. Problems with the heaters not working right: probably most of these issues can be traced to the installation not having been done correctly. Few contractors have experience with installations. As a result, owners' complaints on forums and review sites are numerous. Less than stellar customer service from some of the manufacturers doesn't help, either.

  4. How expensive they are: It's not too surprising that tankless units cost more than the tank style – especially the gas ones, which are better for the environment. But if you are installing one in an existing home, you are quite likely to have to upgrade your gas or electric inputs, which can be expensive. Gas ones need venting as well. Many owners reported that the totals were higher than they expected, which means their payback period is further off.

So if you are researching whether to get a tankless water heater, consider these factors. If you get one, you'll know what to watch out for!

Apr

1

How to Heat Water Efficiently

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You're here on this site most likely because you're researching tankless hot water heaters. As I emphasize on this website, they are not for everyone. There is a significant up-front cost made all the greater because in many (most?) cases you would need to increase the capacity of your gas or electric lines. The electric heaters place a heavy burden on the power grid during peak hours, so paradoxically may not help with overall energy savings for the society. (More about this in several places here on this site.) Read more

Apr

1

Tankless Water Heaters: Some Basic Information

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I was pleased to find this article from the US Department of Energy, EERE (Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy). As it's in the public domain, it can be reprinted and so I am putting it here. The original article can be found here. Even if you know the basics, some of the links at the bottom may be useful to you.-- Lou

Demand (Tankless or Instantaneous) Water Heaters

Demand (tankless 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. Here you'll find basic information about how they work, whether a demand water heater might be right for your home, and what criteria to use when selecting the right model. Read more

Mar

31

Tankless or Not? How to Choose a Hot Water Heater

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This short article from the US Department of Energy website consists mainly of links to more detailed articles that may be useful in helping you choose what kind of water heater (or heaters – we have a solar heater and then a tankless unit) will be most useful to you. (The article is in the public domain and thus I can legally copy it here.) -- Lou

Selecting a New Water Heater

You have a lot to consider when selecting a new water heater for your home. You should choose a water heating system that will not only provide enough hot water but also that will do so energy efficiently, saving you money. This includes considering the different types of water heaters available and determining the right size and fuel source for your home. Read more