Opinions on tankless water heaters?

[swag]

It's time for a new water heater. I can get a state tax credit, allegedly get some ongoing savings, and possibly do less environmental damage if I get a premium efficiency tankless water heater.

Anybody have any experiences with such things?

Thanks.

[Omphaloskepsis]

1. Gas works better than electric..

And contact an electrician to see if your wiring is up to the task of powering one.

Be careful, they can't carry a huge load at the same time. Taking a shower while doing the dishes while washing clothes will end badly. AKA freezing your balls off. They do make ones that can carry a heavy load. I guess it depends on your house and use.

[bridgit]

2. Just tossed your q out to the living room...

hubby says he's installed them in industrial/commercial buildings, some are small like maybe under the counter lunch room sized, just for washing up and stuff, Ramen, instant coffee, etc; some are larger but either way you can set them to get super hot real quick

tax incentives are good :thumbsup:

[Rambis]

4. heavy lime deposits

in my town. The water tastes great and all but a water heater lasts about 5 years tops due to the minerals in our water. I don't know if there is a way to clean this unit out if you have this problem. Something to think about anyway-

[bridgit]

5. hm, i can see where that might be a problem, maybe a filter before the heater...

or a preventative maintenance gig where you flush the heater every so :shrug:

[Omphaloskepsis]

6. You might need a dielectric union..

I'm running low on time here but try googling it.. Installing one might cure your woes.

[SacredCow]

3. I was looking into them a while back....

Was planning to build a new house, but backed out at the last minute (whew!)

As I was told, most residential units can't handle a great amount of demand at once. So, you'd get one for the Kitchen, one for Laundry, and one for the bathroom (maybe more if you have many bathrooms). This was some time ago, so it could be totally different now). I mostly wanted them because I have lived through a ruptured 40 gallon heater in the attic, and I like the idea of no big volumes of water overhead....

[AngryAmish]

7. Uninformed opinion here

I was going to build a house a few years back. I was very enthusiastic about them. It just seems like a very elegent solution.

[Lance_Boyle]

8. best bang for yer buck.

Why pay to keep 40+ gallons of hot water on hand at all hours of the day and night? The newer tankless models deliver plenty of hot. Just size it for your needs. Have to be able to handle 2 hot showers and a dishwasher at the same time? Buy a model that can handle that load. Pay no attention to the naysayers who think tankless will give you shrinkage in the shower - they apparently don't know that the things come in different capacities/sizes. ;-)

[conscious evolution]

9. Go with a gas I HWH

Most electric IHWHs have a very high KW demand that most homes are not prepared to handle without upgrading the electrical system.Even using several small IHWHs will require rewiring.
One house I recently worked on would have resulted in over $15,000 in electrical upgrades to operate properly and safely.

[swag]

10. Oh. V. important consideration.

I was only thinking about the price of gas in the future.

Thanks!