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Tankless water heater advice

2,957 Views | 25 Replies | Last: 5 mo ago by legalbird
EliteElectric
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Our OEM natural gas water heater is turning 25 years old and considering upgrading to a NG tankless. Our home is a 4-3 with an outdoor kitchen roughly 2800 sqft with an outdoor kitchen and bathroom so an extra kitchen sink, shower and vanity.

  • What's your experience been?
  • What's the best unit for performance and longevity?
  • What brand/s do I need to watch out for?
  • Condensing yes or no?
www.elitellp.net/

Muzzleblast
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I've had a Rennai for 13 years. Flush it twice a year. I'm on well water with lots of iron. Mine runs on propane. Never had an issue with it.
Costa and Andreas
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Hello fellow Greek!

4100 ft with 3 bathrooms and 5 kids. Never had an issue with immediate hot water, only with water pressure when three knuckleheads decide to shower at the same time lol.
JP76
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what gallon is the existing tank heater ?

Are you running out of hot water now ?

I doubt you will see 25 years out of any tankless trouble free



Tankless is more maintenance

Control boards don't like lightning and power surges

Cost more up front

More prone to freeze damage

Will not produce hot water in a power outage



Rex Racer
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AG
JP76 said:



Will not produce hot water in a power outage




Even if it's a Propane or Natural Gas one?
EBrazosAg
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AG
2 Rinnai that are 21 years old. Each has needed one new "motherboard ". I flush each every year or so (very easy to do yourself). Otherwise no issues.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
EliteElectric
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Costa and Andreas said:

Hello fellow Greek!

4100 ft with 3 bathrooms and 5 kids. Never had an issue with immediate hot water, only with water pressure when three knuckleheads decide to shower at the same time lol.
I know this scenario VERY well, except mine will also start the dishwasher and washing machine!!!!
www.elitellp.net/

Rex Racer
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AG
Rex Racer said:

JP76 said:



Will not produce hot water in a power outage




Even if it's a Propane or Natural Gas one?
Never mind. Did my research and see that yes, even those require power on a tankless.
Tumble Weed
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A lot of plumbers can't work on them.

The plumbers that do, only work on a certain brand. Parts are expensive.

The work fine until they kill over dead. Mine was around 13 years old. Can't remember the brand. I would rather have a tank, but due to location (over head in the second story), we decided to go with another tankless.

I will put a tank in my next house so I can work on it myself if needed.
75AG
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AG
Gotta have power to light it up
jphil1
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AG
There are only the two of us in our house, which came with a tankless water heater. They are expensive compared to a regular water heater. For just two people they are not worth the extra cost You still have to wait for the water to get hot and the maintenace is more. No advantage that I see.
Rex Racer
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AG
75AG said:

Gotta have power to light it up

The advantage of having a tank. You don't need power.
birdman
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Tankless is the way to go. It's not really even close.
BrazosWifi
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jphil1 said:

There are only the two of us in our house, which came with a tankless water heater. They are expensive compared to a regular water heater. For just two people they are not worth the extra cost You still have to wait for the water to get hot and the maintenace is more. No advantage that I see.
Waiting is a function of the water in the line between the heater and your sink/shower.

The real benefit is when you are using a lot of hot water it won't run out.
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Diddler_44
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AG
Another thing to consider is the gas requirement. A typical 50 gal gas heater is about 40,000 btu. A tankless is about 200,000. You may have to increase the size of the gas lime supplying the heater.
EBrazosAg
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AG
Absolutely true and important consideration. As for waiting for hot water, you cannot use a recirc pump like you would on a tank heater to prevent the wait. You can use a recirc pump with a push button switch and a temp sensor …. You just push button 20-30 seconds before you turn on shower or sink. It's not an idea solution but it works - at least it has for me for 20 years.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
legalbird
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A) Condensating is supposed to be more efficient. However, the drip/drain is supposed to be caustic. Condensating might be larger in size so good luck sitting in flush within your exterior wall. If hangs on the outside of the house it will be ugly and concealing the pipes is hard.

B)A super freeze will kill it no matter what side of the house you have it. There is some thermal protection in there, but not much. The freeze will happen and when it thaws, the copper can bust. If thawing is not an issue, the electrical components can freeze/break.

C) Being THE electrician of Brazos Valley, do you have a whole house generator? Not stalking, but if you do you would be ok during power outages.

D) Tip. Tell your electrician (hahah) to mount the GFCI plug as high as possible in the area. I have seen numerous idiots put the electrical directly below all the plumbing. It was just a normal 110 volt plug, not GFCI, and not protected from water.

E) WATCH the plumber. As you will need to service/drain/flush, make sure all the off/on valves are facing you, easy to reach, easy to toggle , etc.

F) There is NO feasible repair when they blink out, and you will be told to simply replace. Parts and know-how are super limited.

G) Some of the rich folk get two tankless waters heater. That is usually for upstairs/downstairs or alot of family members.

I might add more comments, but this is the real deal.
philothea
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Rex Racer said:

Rex Racer said:

JP76 said:



Will not produce hot water in a power outage




Even if it's a Propane or Natural Gas one?
Never mind. Did my research and see that yes, even those require power on a tankless.
Mine doesn't. Had hot water when the freeze came and no power. Just propane.

The fact that the water heater closet is in the middle of the house with no outside drain led me to tankless to replace the water heather they had when I bought the house. It does have an auto cutoff if the sensor in the pan below gets wet. The sensor/cut off does plug in the wall.


Rex Racer
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AG
philothea said:

Rex Racer said:

Rex Racer said:

JP76 said:



Will not produce hot water in a power outage




Even if it's a Propane or Natural Gas one?
Never mind. Did my research and see that yes, even those require power on a tankless.
Mine doesn't. Had hot water when the freeze came and no power. Just propane.

The fact that the water heater closet is in the middle of the house with no outside drain led me to tankless to replace the water heather they had when I bought the house. It does have an auto cutoff if the sensor in the pan below gets wet. The sensor/cut off does plug in the wall.



Good to know. Thanks. I was wondering about that since I had hot water during snow-pocalypse, as well, with my old fashioned tank water heater.
75AG
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AG
What sends a spark to the main heater without electricity? My propane tankless does not work without electricity.
JP76
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A tankless has to have 110v for the circuit board to function at least on all of the major brands I have seen. I think back in the day maybe bosch made one that would work without 110 but I think it was discontinued.
Barnyard96
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AG
Building a new house. Opted for the tankless mainly for more floor space in garage. Looks wayyy better.

I hear the power grid is good in BCS.
legalbird
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Power grid is great depending on where you live.

Electric is necessary for the tankless because there is a digital thermostat that the homeowner controls. Basically, it stays on 120 degrees.

Also appliances like most dishwashers require 120 degrees to run efficiently.
waltdebord
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AG
We installed a tankless with a circulating system to keep hot water near all outlets so the wait is always minimal. Don't know about savings on power but I like the concept. Also, power is required (electric) for it to protect itself from freezing so we have installed a whole home generator system after losing two of them to the "Big Freeze" four years ago. I have no intention of going back to a tank heater.
Walt DeBord
XpressAg09
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AG
Curious to know what folks think a tankless water heater install would be.

I live in NW Harris County (Tomball) and have two tanks in the attic (third "floor") above my second story house. I was quoted $8k for removal, install, cleanup, etc.

3 shower heads, if that makes a difference. He said they build it so that "every shower could be going at the same time," and you'd still have heat. But is that overkill?
legalbird
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Try to keep install at ground level if possible. Water overhead is never a good idea.

A good tankless heater is about $1300.

Get some quotes from more than one plumber. If you have a 2024 truck in the driveway, and a gold ring on your finger, the quote just went up 30%.

I actually heard that from a good source. Trades people will give the poor guy a break every now and then, but you help pay for it.
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