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!

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.
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.
Bosch makes good units, very durable, but I did see a lot of complaints about their telephone customer service.
Rinnai has many fans and a few detractors.
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. )

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