Tankless hot water good or bad?

[DIY]

Tankless sounds like a great idea especially in limited working space(s). However, I have read more bad,and not so good reviews on most brands of tankless and from users of tankless systems than good. It seems overall that they are tempremental ,and need the perfect "install environment" to work maintenance and hassle free. Most complained about the adjustments being less than expected to keep of with the demands of hot water needed, the down time needed to order some special part,and a host of other technical "might be's." The local Lowes and Home depot here have stopped carrying tankless,infact HD has sent the units they had back to the manufacturer. Being fare, others have experienced not the slightest of problems. I have seen whole house tankless gas or electric units priced at $190. TO $1500. No doubt, as with anything else you get what you pay for... The problems i have encoutered with conventional units were a heating element goes out after maybe more than reasonable years of service,or replaceing a whole unit for a bigger capacity. Both of those take less than 2 hours to remedy if that. All said, i am still open to the idea of tankless... i can just see it turning into undue problems to save 12" to 15" in my case. All others(i would be interested to know what plumbers have to say that have installed tankless too)with experience good or bad with tankless would be greatly appreciated!!Thanks!

[master plumber mark]

you can read into them what ever you want to....

because tankless reminds me of something like the solar panel craze of the 80s..
and lots of people are jumping on the band wagon...

most informaitoin you will find on them is about 80% negative


Recently RHEEM just had a major recall on them due to
carbon monoxide....



if you have an total electric system, dont even consider a tankless..

[kordts]

If you go with one of the "Big 3" Noritz, Takagi, and Rinnai, you won't be disappointed. They cost more because they are better. They aren't maintenance free. They need to be serviced on a yearly basis. The good thing is that they are all componants, meaning once one is installed, it should be good for 20 years. It's a lot easier to lug around a tankless that a tank style heater, I'll tell ya that.

[Beary]

Funny this post came up. I have read a lot of negatives about them as well. My neighbor installed a gas one a year ago and other than the installation being more complicated than expected, it likes it as much as the tank WH it replaced. He is a DIY kind of guy and he had to call someone to install the bigger vent. I asked my plumber about them and he doesn't like them. But the reason he gave for not liking them is they require a bigger vent installed on the roof. That was it.

I'm going back and forth, but I sure could use the space my tank is taking up right now. I have heard to buy the better brands. By the way, I noticed our Lowes is still selling them. Maybe it is a local thing.

Beary

[jadnashua]

There has been some lively discussion here. Just use the search function onthe blue bar and read them yourself.

[kordts]

They don't have to vent thru the roof, they can vent thru a sidewall.

[master plumber mark]

Being tax time and inventory time

and because I pay my bills on time

a large local plumbing supply house just about

gave me a NORITZ tankless water heater


plus about 35 + feet of ss vent pipe for it.....



This was a display model still in the box ....

I dont have the model # handy but can get it

tomorrow.....



I am just wondering how good is this brand because

no one would give them even $100 for it....




what I am going to do with it,, I dont know yet

but you dont look a gift horse in the mouth....


even if it is a tankless heater (I suppose)






http://www.weilhammerplumbing.com/houseofhorrors/

[cbl]

My neighbor installed a Bosch tankless in his home 4 years ago. He has 6 people in his house all taking showers and doing laundry around the clock. No problems as of yet. He claims to never have run out of hot water!

[jadnashua]

What part of the country are you in? The incoming water temperature can have a huge impact.

[master plumber mark]

I am tired of hearing all the .........
from the tankless salesman and am presently
looking to install one in my own home

then do a little experiment

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Just went to a training seminar last night on the

takagi tankless water heaters.......

that was fun....like a three stooges film-fest.....

I was not aware that when you vented one
out the side of the house like a power vent
that they used a Stainless Steel single wall
vent pipe..... and it died outside just like a
power vent with a metal Tee with screens on
both ends .......

Now the odd thing that the salesman tried to gloss
over was the fact that the actual temperature of
the tee and out going gases reached about
300 degrees.... you can fry bacon on that!!

they let you take this out the roof of your house
in single wall SS pipe too!!

I think that could set the Attic on fire some day
or the , bushes or leaves on fire
on the side of the house....

you should use triple wall flu pipe if you want to avoid future problems




Have you ever burnt yourself on a motor cycle muffler
or a lawnmower muffler???



We asked him what happened if a kid or dog touched
this hot as hell vent pipe and he did not have an answer..

he said that they would only do it once.

BRANDING the neighbor kids is very possible too with the
side house outlet at about knee height..........

But he jokes that is what you got insurance for......

I was not too impressed....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------



So I think I will install one in my own home
and do an on-going experiment on it.....

Waiting to see if I can get a heavy duty Takagi
for free from my supplier then slap it on the wall

I am looking for a couple of small gas meters right now..

then I am gonna hook it up right next to my 75 gallon
BRAD-FORD WHITE...install a bypass on the plumbing system

I already have a one inch line with a 3/4 outlet less than
5 feet away...

I have a full 12 inch chimmney going out the roof......



I presently have a NORTIZ unit new inthe box but I dont know how good that brand is...

model #VP-4-36str would anyone know how good this one is???





Lets see....here is my criteria

incomming water right now is about 45......

I got two kids and a very HIGH MAINTAINCE WIFE

we have three bathrooms --one bath-tub rarely gets used,

one has a bath-whirlpool tub- it gets used a lot.

two kitchen sinks , one dishwasher,

one laundry


again the wife is -----HIGH MAINTIANCE------

and she is not going to put up with a lot of .....



soon its going to be put up or shut up

[Ken Birrenbach]

This has been an interesting discussion. I have heard almost nothing about electric. My daughter did a remodel last year and they put in an electric that provides enough hot water for her family of three. They have only one bath upstairs and rarely use the downstairs bath. I don't know the size, though. I am thinking of puting an electric unit right in the hot water line under my kitchen sink because the kitchen is 40 feet from the water heater. The bathroom is right above the gas water heater, so we don't have a delay problem there, but we waste a lot of water running out the cool water in the kitchen. Any comments on this idea? Ken