Meant to say also, that our current tankless heater is a Rinnai (model RUCS75i), and it has worked flawlessly.
Crater Lake, Oregon vacation property build thread - BASE CAMP ⛺️
- Thread starter Hojack
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My experience with tankless is only go that way under two conditions. 1. Space means that is all that will fit and 2. It will run near daily with a shower or two.
I had three separate units in my current house. The one used most infrequently died within 2 years and this is with back flushing once a year. Replaced under warranty and the new one failed again. Build a shed and went to a tank water heater.
The next one lasted 5 years. This one fed the laundry, kitchen and spare bedroom. Lots of short runs from the kitchen. I replaced it with a smaller unit and it died last year. Saw yearly maintenance and will replace with a tank water heater when I remodel the kitchen and laundry room.
The one that fed the two bathrooms for the bedroom side of the house lasted 10 years before dying. Since space was not a concern I went back to a tank water heater there.
The only thing I can think of is that short duration or lack of use really does hurt these things. If they see regular showers they seem to do alright.
They were Rinnai.
I had three separate units in my current house. The one used most infrequently died within 2 years and this is with back flushing once a year. Replaced under warranty and the new one failed again. Build a shed and went to a tank water heater.
The next one lasted 5 years. This one fed the laundry, kitchen and spare bedroom. Lots of short runs from the kitchen. I replaced it with a smaller unit and it died last year. Saw yearly maintenance and will replace with a tank water heater when I remodel the kitchen and laundry room.
The one that fed the two bathrooms for the bedroom side of the house lasted 10 years before dying. Since space was not a concern I went back to a tank water heater there.
The only thing I can think of is that short duration or lack of use really does hurt these things. If they see regular showers they seem to do alright.
They were Rinnai.
food for thought
Interesting to hear that others are seeing failures on tankless water heaters even with maintenance.
Our tankless heater is over 12 yrs old now and has never had a twitch. We do have the plumbing service that installed it come back each year to performance the prescribed maintenance. Looks like maybe we have been lucky or others have been unlucky. I am happy to be lucky for a change.
FYI My bride is very retentive and has tracked our energy use over the years. The data led us to conclude that the tankless heater is performing as advertised in energy savings. So when this unit needs to be replaced, we be replacing it with another.
Good luck.
PS Your project and your work are impressive. Thanks for sharing your progress.
Our tankless heater is over 12 yrs old now and has never had a twitch. We do have the plumbing service that installed it come back each year to performance the prescribed maintenance. Looks like maybe we have been lucky or others have been unlucky. I am happy to be lucky for a change.
FYI My bride is very retentive and has tracked our energy use over the years. The data led us to conclude that the tankless heater is performing as advertised in energy savings. So when this unit needs to be replaced, we be replacing it with another.
Good luck.
PS Your project and your work are impressive. Thanks for sharing your progress.
We’ve had a tankless about a month and a half, and still can’t get it to cool down enough to shower. We’re pulling off of 5 gallon water cans, so maybe the cold just isn’t cold enough. If I do adjust it to the right temperature, the burner goes out right after that. Doh! We plan on putting this in a cabin eventually, maybe a colder water temp then will make it work okay, dunno.
That is another problem we had. Our tap water temperature fluctuates seasonally. In the summer it was really hard to get it set up for a less than scalding temperature. Then we would have to adjust it again in the fall. Our summer tap water temperature is basically comfortable showering temperature if you can handle it being cool.
We’ve been getting a comfortable temperature by recirculating in a 5 gallon container, I just stick the shower head in the same container we’re pulling from. When the temp is good, I set it up to pull from that can only without running the heater. We get a nice shower, but it’s not as easy as it’s supposed to be.
On our Rinnai, you can adjust the temp. with dip switches, but for a few bucks extra they make a push-button thermostat that can be mounted remotely. Mrs. 1911 likes really hot water and tried to set it at 130+, but it worked way better (and is still plenty hot for me) when I turned it down to 125.
Ours has adjustments too, but if I turn it down too much the flame goes out. If I turn the hot water flow down too much the flame also goes out.
Nice.
We had oak from our place milled and plan to make furniture out of it, it’s black oak.
We had oak from our place milled and plan to make furniture out of it, it’s black oak.
Hojack
♠️Project Snowball❄️
Hojack
♠️Project Snowball❄️
- Thread starter
- #534
Loaded up Thursday after work.
Another beautiful sunrise over Mt. Hood
I ordered 2 more loads of gravel. Rolled out the rest of my road fabric.
Walter came over with his tractor and helped me unload the paper drying fabric I got a month ago from a friend who works at the paper mill at Willamette Falls. These drying rolls cost $15,000 new and only last a few weeks
, paper ain’t cheap!
Rolling out the red carpet
Knife River right on time as we just finished laying down the road fabric.
Another beautiful sunrise over Mt. Hood
I ordered 2 more loads of gravel. Rolled out the rest of my road fabric.
Walter came over with his tractor and helped me unload the paper drying fabric I got a month ago from a friend who works at the paper mill at Willamette Falls. These drying rolls cost $15,000 new and only last a few weeks
, paper ain’t cheap! Rolling out the red carpet
Knife River right on time as we just finished laying down the road fabric.
Hojack
♠️Project Snowball❄️
- Thread starter
- #535
Knife River delivers 2 units of 3/4” minus.
I moved the breaker panel. I don’t know what I was thinking when I installed it…
. I moved it from where the water heater closer to the door.While unloading I decided to place the floor tile in the shower to see how it’d look.
Then it was dinner time.
Hojack
♠️Project Snowball❄️
- Thread starter
- #536
Got up early to start paneling the wall so I can get the new fridge installed. The heat is on today and don’t want to have to hit run to town to buy ice.
Walter came by and helped me unload the fridge and cabinet, I think he was excited as I was to see them inside.
The 2” ABS drain pipe stuck out just enough that I needed to trim my cabinet to get it to fit.
Stocked fridge and power now time to get the sink installed.
Walter came by and helped me unload the fridge and cabinet, I think he was excited as I was to see them inside.
The 2” ABS drain pipe stuck out just enough that I needed to trim my cabinet to get it to fit.
Stocked fridge and power now time to get the sink installed.
Hojack
♠️Project Snowball❄️
- Thread starter
- #537
Got the sink installed and now time to plumb the drain line.
After plumbing the sink I found I needed to custom fit the butcher block table top to the wall.
I drew a line and used my fine tool to cut and remove a bow in the pine board. Of course it had to be right where the cabinet was going…
After plumbing the sink I found I needed to custom fit the butcher block table top to the wall.
I drew a line and used my fine tool to cut and remove a bow in the pine board. Of course it had to be right where the cabinet was going…
Have you considered a hinged butcher board shelf that could cover the toilet during times of non-use and to extend your working table space in the "kitchen" area? Love the work you are doing here!View attachment 3074851
Installing the butcher block counter top.
View attachment 3074853
Waters flowing
View attachment 3074852
Plenty of storage .
View attachment 3074854
This sink is amazing. Deep and came with so many accessories to make this a win win for a tiny house
Nice kitchen toilet!