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March 30, 2006
Tankless Hot Water Heater
I want to have a tankless hot water heater installed. My research as come up with $1500.00 installed. Is this correct? And does anyone have a recommendation as to an installer? Is there a better alternative? Many thanks
Comments
You need to separately vent tankless water heaters as they cannot be tied in with the furnace flue.
Posted by: Anonymous at March 30, 2006 2:03 PM
Are you considering a gas or an electric tankless? I use a propane Aquastar ($369) in the country and an electric Seisco RA28 ($500) for our upstairs rental unit here in BedStuy. The installation upstate was easy enuff, but here I had to involve ConEd and electricians (the excellent WCK Electric) to upgrade the elec service to the house. New meter, new 200Amp panel, dedicated wiring.
I feel strongly that tank style water heaters are completely dumb, just obsolete energy wasters, so it was all worth it.
Posted by: Reno at March 30, 2006 9:21 PM
it would be gas unless you can tell me why electric is better....and thanks for the response.
Posted by: Anonymous at March 31, 2006 1:36 AM
Hi, well for one thing electric needs no air intake or exhaust venting. It's also physically smaller. Otherwise, they're about the same. The circumstances of your fuel or power situation, and where you want to locate it will have a lot to do with your decision.
Also, the temperature of the water supply here in the northeast is mighty cold in winter so that's an important factor when you choose how powerful a unit to get.
Posted by: Reno at March 31, 2006 7:22 AM
Tank water heaters are not quite as dumb as they seem; check out comparisons on heat loss and efficiency (eg: http://www.pmengineer.com/CDA/Archives/8cf9e86f7c298010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0____ ).
For electric, the heat loss is so low that tankless electric advantage is almost nil. Gas: if you get a powered combustion heater, the efficiency with standby loss is about 67%. After much research, I conclude that I would save abt $8/month (10%), so roi is 8+ years.
Also..tankless heaters are subject to lime buildup, resulting in loss of efficiency, and need periodic cleaning. Gas tankless for 2-3 bathrooms require 125-180kbtu which usually needs new gas piping. Add that cost to the additional venting cost. They are however, good for vacation homes.
Posted by: cmurthi at April 1, 2006 6:31 PM
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