Tankless Water Heater

6 Responses to “Hot Water Heater – Tankless Or Solar?”

1. Amy
   December 1st, 2009 @ 6:35 pm

   BOTH! They work great together!
   Solar water heating is a great way to provide up to 75% of your hot water. However, it can’t provide 100%, you need backup. The ideal solution is to get a solar water heater to do most of the heating. Then run the “hot out” from the solar storage tank to the “cold in” off an on-demand water heater. If the water is hot enough, the on-demand doesn’t turn on, it just passes it through, no energy used. If the water isn’t hot enough, perhaps you had a stretch of bad weather, it will add any needed heat. But instead of heating water from the city at 50 degrees, it will be heating partially heated water, maybe 80 degrees. This requires less energy.
   Depending on where you are, and how many people in your household, the equipment can cost about $3000 – $5000. I don’t know the cost for an on-demand heater.http://www.altestore.com/store/Solar-Wat…

2. roderick
   December 1st, 2009 @ 8:22 pm

   Would that be lowland Arizona like Phoenix, or highland like Flagstaff? Phoenix is basically Los Angeles if you ask me, and will never really freeze. My brother in Hawaii has solar and a conventional water heater, but the conventional has been turned off for years, even though sometimes a string of guests takes showers for 45 minutes. I’m a big fan of that arrangement, and maybe it would work for you. The conventional heater could be kept as standby in case you had guests over, and besides, it would only add a fraction to the price of solar. But I’m making the assumption that you’re in an area that’s always kind of warm.
   Tankless or conventional would be cheaper in terms of initial cost, but of course, solar has very little energy cost once installed – just a little electricity to run a pump.
   Maybe try walking around your neighborhood and looking for people with solar on their roofs? Then knock on their doors and ask how it’s working out?

3. Louis J
   December 2nd, 2009 @ 2:19 am

   it all depends. you can get different types of tankless. i prefer the tankless. the cheaper one you can only get hot water out of one faucet at a time. but, with a normal water heater,tank, the gas runs on and off all the time keeping the water hot,with the tankless you will only use gas when you run it. you can also have hot water for as long as you want,if you like a nice long shower. solar, you better hope you dont have a week of bad weather with lots of clouds and little sun. the use of a tankless will lower your yearly gas bill by over half. go talk to the plumbing guys at home depot,they can give you information sheets on them that are really good.

4. George
   December 2nd, 2009 @ 3:27 am

   Solar is great if and when the sun shines. Tankless are also great. You need to have enough water pressure for them to work correctly. Both qualify for the energy tax credit. However a geothermal heater also qualifies for the tax credit and it is an endless source of hotwater.

5. bonsai guy!
   December 2nd, 2009 @ 4:38 am

   I am a plumber, and I would say tank less!!! They are a little more than are regular water haeter but you are not keeping a larg volume of water hot 24 hours a day, only when you use it. when you do use you have endless hot water because it is only heating while there is flow going threw the hot water pipe. if you have more questions about it you can email me at matsonbonzai@yahoo.com

6. Michael
   December 2nd, 2009 @ 5:15 am

   Check out http://www.tankless-water-heaters-faqs.c… for all sorts of good information.
   With the right tankless water heater you can power upto 3 showers all running at the same time, and this includes an endless supply of hot water.

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