Are there any HVAC guys on this forum? I'm considering buying a tankless hot water heater to replace an old rusting out unit. Does anybody know anything about them? Good or bad?
House hot water heater question (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter paulj
- Start date
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Interested about this as well...I had looked at them in the past, but they were a bit $$$, and the install was obviously more than a normal hot water heater (either dual 50A 220v circuits) or a pretty serious natural gas line. I think the idea is cool though, unlimited hot water but you pay nothing until you want it, no storing wasted energy...
MaddBaggins
Remember the KnightRider!
Check out www.rinnai.us for some info
I work for Ferguson enterprises, the countries largest plumbing distributor. We sell a ton of these units down here in Tucson.
You need 120v household outlet
3/4" gas line
They are a little pricey but the price on tanked heaters has doubled in the last 4 years, making these a bit more attractive.
I've researched and sold a number of different brands and I think this one is the best in the U.S. When my heater starts to poop out I will be going with one of these.
If you want you can call me at work M-F 6am to 3:30pm MST 520-795-0296
I can answer some questions for you.
I work for Ferguson enterprises, the countries largest plumbing distributor. We sell a ton of these units down here in Tucson.
You need 120v household outlet
3/4" gas line
They are a little pricey but the price on tanked heaters has doubled in the last 4 years, making these a bit more attractive.
I've researched and sold a number of different brands and I think this one is the best in the U.S. When my heater starts to poop out I will be going with one of these.
If you want you can call me at work M-F 6am to 3:30pm MST 520-795-0296
I can answer some questions for you.
I've installed a few of these and I personally like em.There easy to plumb in and like the previous post states with the cost of tanks climbing like they have the sticker shock isn't so bad.The first one I put in was 3 or 4 years ogo and I haven't had a service call on it so there you go. I do custom kitchens and baths for a living and it's all about the service and the quality.I can safely say that these units are great and they sure do save alot of space. As far as Ferguson,we have em here,I use em,I like em. Pick the guys brain. GOOD LUCK!!
I installed a Takagi Tankless water heater 3 months ago. It works great. It was probably twice as much as a traditional water heater, but I was able to mount it outside. Getting the square footage in my house was an easy trade for the extra cost of the tankless water heater. Some are only for indoor mounting and some are indoor/outdoor so make sure you know where it's going.
I was looking into them about a month ago for a new camp I'm building. We have no gas (on island) so had to go electrical. Problem is that the sucker I would need/want would pull 180 amps at full load. Since I have only a 200 amp service, I think I need to pass. But I really like the idea of these and would have preferred to go with a tankless than a traditional unit.
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And if Paul Harvey recommends the rinnai, it must be good, right?
We are planning a tankless when our heater poops out as well.
We are planning a tankless when our heater poops out as well.
I have nothing useful to add, except there is no such thing as a "hot water heater".....
Why would you heat hot water?
Why would you heat hot water?
I just got back from a 4 day float/fishing trip. The campground where we have stayed for the last 15 years just installed a couple of Bosch "instant" heaters and they are the deal. These particular ones are propane. I have heard the electric ones are not as good, as in buy much larger than you think you'll need because they don't keep up. The solution for the poor-performing electric heaters was to install a ball valve and slow the flow. This "solution" came directly from the factory. If you are all electric, you might just consider an tank heater and insulate the crap out of it.
Ed
"Hot water heater"....now that's a good one!
Ed
"Hot water heater"....now that's a good one!
I used to work at a plumbing supply house. We had people ask about tankless units alot. We always told them they were crap, had several plumbers install some and custermers were not happy. You have to look at the entire picture. Amp draw, temp rise of the water, GPM output! etc. GPM usually is what kills you. If you have a jaccuzi tub or anything that takes a good bit of hot water then the heater wont be able to fill it and if it will it will take forever!
The companies will tell you that they can get them to work for your application, you just need to piggy back 2 or 3 or 4 together, then you got to figure how much $ will you really save when you habve to spend that much on the heater(s).
Hope this helps some.
The companies will tell you that they can get them to work for your application, you just need to piggy back 2 or 3 or 4 together, then you got to figure how much $ will you really save when you habve to spend that much on the heater(s).
Hope this helps some.
If I may ask, why do you want to go tankless? Do you want "instant" hot? THere are many ways to accomplish this.
MaddBaggins said:Check out www.rinnai.us for some info
I work for Ferguson enterprises, the countries largest plumbing distributor. We sell a ton of these units down here in Tucson.
You need 120v household outlet
3/4" gas line
They are a little pricey but the price on tanked heaters has doubled in the last 4 years, making these a bit more attractive.
I've researched and sold a number of different brands and I think this one is the best in the U.S. When my heater starts to poop out I will be going with one of these.
If you want you can call me at work M-F 6am to 3:30pm MST 520-795-0296
I can answer some questions for you.
We just put in a gas fed Rinnai recently, works great and mmmm..some long hot showers now!
We put in a gas tankless when we remodeled. I freaking love it. No problems, and unlimited hot water. I will never have anything else.
MaddBaggins
Remember the KnightRider!
89s rule said:
A few years ago tankless were crap. Electric tankless are still crap.
But the new gas ones by companies like Rinnai and Takagi are awesome. A Rinnai can put out 8.5 gpm with 35deg rise all day long, 5gpm at 65deg rise. We have been selling these around here for about 4 years, 100+ units in that time span and not a single call back or warranty issue. I will not hesitate to install one when my 3yr old heater poops out.
that sounds good. I have no clue what brands they were. But the ones we could get we could not even sell a gas one b/c no one was approved to install it.
paulj -
I have one other ?
Why do you need a HVAC guy? Would you not rather have a plumber?
paulj -
I have one other ?
Why do you need a HVAC guy? Would you not rather have a plumber?
Watch your water quality.... in our area of the country we have a lot of hard water... we have seen the small passageways internal to the heaters get clogged with minerals...sometimes so badly they can't be cleaned with acid. At this point we have several Bosch Aquastars installed, several Steibel-Eltron electrics and we're watching them all carefully to make sure they perform the way the customer expects. We are authorized to sell the Rinnai- but haven't found the correct application to try one yet.
Luke Lefever
Lefever Plumbing & Heating, Inc
Elkhart, IN
Luke Lefever
Lefever Plumbing & Heating, Inc
Elkhart, IN
MaddBaggins
Remember the KnightRider!
LukeZero said:
Hard water can be a concern. Rinnai has piping diagrams for a bypass valve setup. You can bypass the heater then hook up a small piece of garden hose to the inlet and outlet, hook one end up to a small pump ina bucket of descaler(like vinegar) and let it run for an hour. flip the valve back and open a hot tap to run out the residual descaler and thats it. It is a few minutes of work on your part but will keep the heat exchangers clean.
And tanked heaters build up scale as well. It just all settles to the bottom and causes the heater to work much harder for the same result. So really they should be drained and cleaned regularly as well but very few people do that.
The Bosch Aquastar was a good unit for small applications. I say was, because the are now Controlled Energy Corp. and the Aquastar has been replaced by a newer, better model. I believe the Aquastar is still available at places like Home Depot. They bought truckloads of them back when and are still selling thru their stock.
I've installed the electric and the gas tankless heaters. I wouldn't recomend the electric because of the high amps needed to get a decent Gal Per Min . And I would only install on a system with a softner if the water is even a little hard. The tubing in the unit is 1/2 inch tubing rapped around the burner and it will clog up quick with hard water. I've had to acid wash one unit once a year. Other than that the customers have been happy with them. The won't put out the volume of a gas water heater because of the size of the tubing (1/2 inch to 3/4 inch) but they are cheaper to run.
Kevin
Kevin
- Thread starter
- #19
el_diabolico said:
It's for my wife's father's vacation house in Colorado. He asked me to look at alternatives to replace the leaking water heater he now has. It's a large commericial unit, and a replacement is out of site cost-wise. The reason we thought about tankless is that the house sits empty for months at a time, so you're paying for hot water that isn't used. On the other hand, when the house is used, especially during ski season, there is sometimes a big rush for water when 3 people want to use showers at the same time as the washing machine is being filled, etc. So my question is really if a tankless can keep up with a high peak demand.
The one I'm considering is a Tagaki commercial unit that puts out a max of 9.6 gpm. I added up the fixtures in the house and their gpm requirements, and it looks like we'd probably need 2 units. Also the temperature of the cold water out of the pipe is like 40 degrees, and it needs to be raised about 80 degrees more.
Thanks, Madd Baggins for letting me pick your brain over the phone.
89 Rules: I really meant my post to be addressed by a plumber. I don't know why I put in "HVAC guys".
Thanks to everyone else for their input.
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