NowhereMan
New Member
I installed this model of tankless water heater myself. It was a fairly involved job, with water lines, propane, electrical, and even some carpentry. It's an exterior unit. We're in the Santa Cruz mountains of California, and at our altitude (about 1600'), freezing temperatures should never be a problem. The unit went into service at the end of January 2017.
When I first installed it, there was a fairly loud clunking noise each time it came on. I contacted Rheem, and they walked me thru a fairly lengthy diagnostic process that showed it was a pressure surge. So, I put in a surge protector, and it has worked (nearly) flawlessly ever since.
The only issue we ever had was a couple of times we got an error code "29", which is something about the "air inlet" and doesn't seem applicable, since it's an external unit. In any case, I think that has been resolved, although I want to talk to Rheem to be sure (I haven't had a chance to contact them about it yet).
Other than that, there is only routine maintenance--occasional vinegar flush, clean the water filter screen, and change the scale inhibitor. The vinegar flush takes a while, but that's only once every 6 month, and the other stuff is trivial.
So, was it worth the high price? If I'd had to pay somebody to install it (which would have at least doubled the price), I'd probably say no. But since I did the install (and actually enjoyed most of that work), I'd say yes, definitely. Part of the reason is due to the space we saved from getting rid of the old water heater tank, which occupied a big chunk of our laundry room. And, BTE (before tankless era, as we say around my house), we were also without hot water when the power went out--which happens all the time here, thanks to PG&E. Our previous WH was electric, and required too much juice for our generator. Since going tankless, we're never without hot water, which makes it much more pleasant on those occasions where we have to go 3 or 4 consecutive days without electricity.
The tankless will probably never pay for itself, but I'd do it again.
When I first installed it, there was a fairly loud clunking noise each time it came on. I contacted Rheem, and they walked me thru a fairly lengthy diagnostic process that showed it was a pressure surge. So, I put in a surge protector, and it has worked (nearly) flawlessly ever since.
The only issue we ever had was a couple of times we got an error code "29", which is something about the "air inlet" and doesn't seem applicable, since it's an external unit. In any case, I think that has been resolved, although I want to talk to Rheem to be sure (I haven't had a chance to contact them about it yet).
Other than that, there is only routine maintenance--occasional vinegar flush, clean the water filter screen, and change the scale inhibitor. The vinegar flush takes a while, but that's only once every 6 month, and the other stuff is trivial.
So, was it worth the high price? If I'd had to pay somebody to install it (which would have at least doubled the price), I'd probably say no. But since I did the install (and actually enjoyed most of that work), I'd say yes, definitely. Part of the reason is due to the space we saved from getting rid of the old water heater tank, which occupied a big chunk of our laundry room. And, BTE (before tankless era, as we say around my house), we were also without hot water when the power went out--which happens all the time here, thanks to PG&E. Our previous WH was electric, and required too much juice for our generator. Since going tankless, we're never without hot water, which makes it much more pleasant on those occasions where we have to go 3 or 4 consecutive days without electricity.
The tankless will probably never pay for itself, but I'd do it again.