Mark,
As for the tankless, YUP you guessed it, the requests came to me.
Usually when I mention the pro's & con's of tankless vs tank on a WH call they opt for regular tank types, mainly over price.
I knew, without question you'd react to my mentioning the tankless, it's all good...your inputs valid and I want your "devils advocate" approach to this.
But, I have installed quite a few just in the past few years and there is NO question they are gaining popularity, prolly over fuel costs rising so much.
As for the cost justifying..I never pick the model, customer does..most often a Rheem/Paloma, which runs at the low to middle 2K range installed.
(a little less than the averaged longterm cost to install two 6 year after gas savings, rebate & tax credit, then add the benefit of never running out of hot water)
I agree on the cost issue, I think MFG's have always had a tendency to bleed us dry, then we wind up hearing things like : "Geesh, plumbers make great money!" when in fact it's the stock.
A large family that depletes a 50 gal tank often will reap major savings, especially when you factor the tax credit and out local gas company's rebate.
A retired couple that washes dishes every few days won't.
Mark, the tankless I've done have not once been "solicited" by me, though I do mention them when it's not an emergency switch-out, the fact is they are a pain in da butt to install due to the 3/4" gas feed, and the vent, also inspectors tend to be more scrutinizing over them as they're so new (permits MUST be pulled for the gas co rebate).
I know as much as I know about them, because I like to be able to state the facts to my customers I took the time to learn all I could, still am.
Mark, when I decided to do my first tankless, I consciously knew that the calls were coming in for them more and more..I either try to sway them to get a tank type, or lose business to the next guy that would install one.
Not one problem yet.