Tankless Water heaters, Opinions???

[Hal Flynt]

Hi all,

Well I noticed a damp spot in my basement shop floor last Friday and now the water heater is leaking about 4 Oz/ day, so it must be time to replace a 15 year old gas water heater.

I helped a friend install a Takagi TK-2 NG tankless in his house with 2 teenage girls and wife, 3 baths and he hasn't run out of hot water yet. I think I may just order one and install it which will free up some floor space in a cramped shop anyway.

Doe anyone have any negatives or other Brands/ models to recommend?/

Thanks.

[Scott Coffelt]

Positives: Less energy, unlimited hot water, less space
Negatives: 3 times the cost up front, may not be able to get as hot, but definitely hot enough to do all that is needed.

Other than that, not sure. I plan on putting one in my new house.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

The only problem that I have heard with them is that as Scott said, they normally don't get as hot as a normal water heater. The only time that this is really a problem is on long runs, far from the heater when heat losses cause the temp to not be as hot as desired. The situation that comes to mind is where the water heater was in the basement as far from the master bedroom on the second floor as possible. The master bath had a jaquizzi tub, so you want really hot water. The water just wasn't as hot as the people wanted...

[Hal Flynt]

Thanks,

I'm gonna bite the bullet and give it a shot.

This unit flows up to 6.7 Gal/minute and continuously 4 gal/min or 240 gal/ hr. so it's rated for 2 showers on at the same time. It also has temp controls that will go up to 180 degrees, normally set for 120. and uses up to 175,000 BTU. They have smaller units for less money and lower flow, but Jeff's point has been considered to temp and flow.

I got this unit for $823 delivered so it's about double what I would be spending on another floor standing unit. And the durability should outlast a floor stander as well as cost about 1/3 to 1/2 as much to operate, especially since it's just the 2 of us now.

But the big deal is that it will allow me to put some shelves in below it and reclaim a 24" X 24" patch of floor space. That new Rikon can go up right beside it. :D

[Jim Becker]

I would have used one of the larger, 240/gph units in our home already except we could not accomodate the venting requirements/specifications...this time. We ended up with a high efficiency gas tanked unit (PVC exhaust) that is performing well and cut our costs. But for the planned house addition...no question, it will be a tankless unit!

[Joe Mioux]

I have had one in one of my greenhouses for 15 years.


It works great. Don't worry about the water not getting hot enough. I have had steam come out the hose end before because I had the gas valve too open and the water valve not opened far enough

Install it and forget about it. You will love it!
Joe

[Dan Mages]

I like them and I want one, but the politburo won't allow them in the village. They site 25 year old data that they are hard to maintain and there are few mechanics around that can fix them. Maybe when the new guy is elected next week things can change.

Dan

[Scott Coffelt]

One other thing that many people forget about, is they use cold water to tone down the hot, thus you really get less hot water with a HW heater. As I understand with the on-demand is that you set the water temp to what you would want for hot, just use it. In the case that the others want it cooler, then you can mix in cold as you see fit.

For those that have issues with the heat level, most likely they choose a model that could only support 120 degrees, the folks that I have talked to around here went with 140 degrees and even in the coldest of days were totally pleased with the level. They could even ratchet it up a level if need be.

Where did you order it from and what brand? Thanks

[Erin Raasch]

We looked into a tankless about 2 years ago, we had just bought our house and were upgrading the mechanicals. We were told that they weren't feasible in this part of the country (SW Wisconsin) because of the lime in the water. Of course, they could have just been handing us a line because they didn't know anything about the tankless :(

Erin

[Joe Mioux]

Erin: I think your plumbing guy steered you wrong .

Where does the lime go in a regular water heater?

Respectfully JOe

[Hal Flynt]

Scott, I bought a Takagi T-K2 from Designer Plumbing in FL.
http://www.designerplumbing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?

Click on Tankless Heaters under Categories on the left.

[Darren Ford]

Scott, one of the first things we do whenever we have moved (and we have moved alot, hopefully no more) is turn down the temp on the water heater. Most people have it set at a level that is dangerous if you have small kids around.

Everyone with young children should go now and check their hot water, if it can burn you, it can really hurt your kids. They don't understand, or forget, the hot/cold mix procedure. Turn the thermostat down to where it cannot burn even at its hottest -- you will not miss the extra degrees I promise.