Tankless Gas Water Heater?
Is it worth to change an old water heater for a tankless water heater? If I have a triplex, where would be the most efficient location for the tankless water heater? Is it really cheaper than keeping all year around the tank full of gallons of warm water, even if I am away for the…
Is it worth to change an old water heater for a tankless water heater? If I have a triplex, where would be the most efficient location for the tankless water heater? Is it really cheaper than keeping all year around the tank full of gallons of warm water, even if I am away for the weekend or if I decide not to shower that day? Any personal experience?
We are running a Viessmann wall mounted – with hot water tank. Gives us the hot water and radiant heat on 2,400 sq. ft. works great. My system is hard to compare – we are feeding it with propane.
You want a stainless heat exchanger – Viessmann offers a life time warranty. Other brands may give you problems after 8 years.
I don’t have too much info on the Hybrid GE models. I think MP posted a comment once. MP care to weigh in?
As an architect I’ve also been told that the indirect fired HWH is the most most efficient (as SteamMan states). It’s basically a holding tank with a hot water coil inside it that is heated by the same boiler that heats your home. This of course is dependent on the efficiency and capacity of your existing boiler. I love the concept of the tankless but haven’t been able to put it to use yet.
I have an electric HWH in my 1BR rental apartment for my family of 2 + baby and the cost is through the roof.
@MP
Just read your paper on heatinghelp.com. Didn’t know about the rise temperature of tankless water heaters. Thanks for pointing out this works.
In the article, I noticed a mention of 4.5GPM for a shower head. It so happens I’ve been in the market to replace all faucets and shower heads in our house. The typical GPMs I found are between 1.5 to 3.
So if I get this right, with an output of 4.5GPM from the tankless water heater there could be 2 faucets at 2GPM.
Although this looks right on paper, is this how it also works out in practice?
The Rinnai tankless water heater in our apartment is a huge plus. I never want a tank water heater again. You have no idea how nice it is never to run out of hot water….
… until you never have to run out of hot water. Ever!
Is a Hybrid Water Heater a valid option?
http://www.geappliances.com/heat-pump-hot-water-heater/water-heater-electricity-calculator.htm
Folks, I have said it before, the money you spend on heat and hot water is connected when it comes to talk about efficiency and thus saving money on domestic water heating. Here’s the list from most efficient to least. ROI can be discussed forthwith.
1- Modulating/condensing (mod/con) boiler with solar backup and indirect fired hot water heater (HWH).
2- Mod/con boiler with an indirect fired HWH.
3- Any modern gas boiler (steam or hw) with indirect HWH.
4- Tankless PoS (I did not mean point of use) HWH.
5- Gas fired HWH
6- Electric HWH
7 Oil fired HWH
As I said, I am not figuring in initial cost here. Solar can be integrated with an existing steam or hydronic boiler.
-SteamMan
“For a family of two you will still need a 30-40 gallon hot water heater. After running the shower for 10-12 minutes, you need to wait for the tank to re-heat […]”
Amen to that. I have a 40 gallon gas-fired tank water heater, for a house w/ 2 adults and 3 kids. In the morning, if I take a shower right after my wife, the water isn’t hot. It takes about 10 minutes to get a hot shower again.
also, most water heaters have a vacation mode so you can turn it way down if you’re going .. on vacation.