Does this sound right? This is from a local handyman who did a little work for us before, but this just doesn't sound right. AND we can't wait for him!:
In my opinion, a tankless HW heater simply isn't the right solution for you. It typically will require a larger gas supply line be run, as well as a new different type of exhaust - these tare needed because of the amount of gas they burn per minute (a lot) and the amount of exhaust (and high temps) that are generated. They start at about $1,000 for the heater, and a bunch more to install them, especially in a retrofit situation where you may need new supply and new exhaust lines run. They also will never give you "instant" hot water the way you are wanting it (which is why we talked about A RECIRC SYSTEM). A recirc system only works if it has a reservoir of existing hot water to recirculate the water from and back to. A tankless heater has no
reservoir, so it can never deliver "instant" hot water…just unlimited hot water. So, a large family with a lot of people taking showers at the same time every day might find a tankless heater of specific benefit, because they wouldn't run out of hot water. Not really your situation.
But even with a tankless "unlimited" hot water solution, you still have to wait for the water to run for a couple of minutes and watch the water (= money) go down the drain while waiting for the water to get hot at the points of use. A tankless heater doesn't change that at all, and it can never be fitted with a recirc pump, so you can never add that feature to a tankless heater later on, like you could with a tank-type heater. Lastly, they are complex products with circuit boards inside, and need to be cleaned and maintained regularly to avoid expensive service calls…and probably won't last as long as a good tank-type heater, which costs less than half as much. For people who are usually "home" a good part of the day, or in-and-out, and are using water periodically, a tank-type heater is actually pretty efficient. If you had a vacation home that was only used on weekends, that might be different... and thus a tankless system might make sense…especially if it were installed when the home was being built
(new construction).
We would be glad to install a new tank-type heater for you, but we don't have any available time until later this week….Wed or Thurs at earliest. We are usually booked between 1-2 weeks out, so new jobs coming in are usually put into
the queue and get done in about that amount of time…sometimes longer, depending on the size of the job, and how much time we need to spend sourcing materials.
If you know where we can buy the type of heater that's required for your modular home (do they carry them at Home Depot?), please let us know….and we can give you a quote to put one in for you. But it won't be until later in the week, due
to existing commitments. Sorry I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but we just don't have empty slots on the work schedule….we're full. We could fit this in, but not until later this week.
Please let [name] know if you want to have us do it…and IF SO, also let her know if you know where we can procure the correct type heater for your home. Thanks!