Tankless Water Heater

10 Responses to “Is A Tankless Water Heater Worth The Investment?”

1. Nomudsli
   November 29th, 2009 @ 7:33 pm

   I HAVE A TANK LESS AND LOVE IT
   I have a gas Bosch Tank less hot water heater and I have it for 2 yrs and love it… endless hot water…. I ordered this from Lowe’s (special order) and did get an extended warranty… never have used it…. Now even though it is gas it does have a plug in for electricity…. But I have saved like you would not believe….MANY HAVE SAID IF YOU USE LOTS OF HOT WATER… YOU WILL RUN OUT OF HOT WATER…. SO WRONG…. I have let the water run for over 45 min just to see what would happen… still had hot water….
   AND THE BEST PART TAKES UP SO LITTLE SPACE…. Especially living in the east where we have to keep are hot water tanks in the house… on the wall… out of the way
   Yes you need to make sure you get someone that knows what they are doing to install this…At the time the tank was 698.00 with a 10% coupon off… and then when it arrive it had a small minor dent on the front…and did get another 100.00 back from Lowe’s due to this…then to install this .. it took a 5 hrs…because of the pipes required….venting etc… so added on it was an additional 375.00 to get this installed plus the parts…
   YOU asked
   has it been worth the price of changing over
   YES YES and YES if I had to do over would I Yes
   Just remember if you find one at Lowe’s you like and some one else has it cheaper Lowe’s will match the price plus take 10 % off from that but remember brand to brand model to model
   Good Luck

2. RYS
   November 30th, 2009 @ 1:02 am

   It does depend on the amount of use – the more hot water you need, the faster it pays back. That is pretty obvious.
   My own discovery was that the cost of installation is a big variable. In my case our gas demand is already at the maximum of what our supply can bring in. Tankless heaters need a more intense heat source and generally draw more gas. In our house we’d have to replumb the gas supply all of the way back to the meter. That added expense greatly extends the payback time. Consider usage, the tankless sticker price, AND the cost of installation. Every case is different.

3. kdsmm
   November 30th, 2009 @ 4:27 am

   A tankless water heater can cost up to three times a traditional storage-tank water heater. Some tankless water heaters that use natural gas or propane require expensive stainless-steel exhaust-venting pipes. The gas lines feeding the heaters need to be larger than a traditional water heater. This is not a challenge , but can add considerable expense in an existing home where the fuel lines might need to be redone.
   Tankless water heaters are more energy efficient than traditional storage-tank heaters. A traditional storage-tank water heater might be 60 percent efficient while a newer tankless heater often can produce efficiencies of 80 percent or slightly higher.

4. cblrdy
   November 30th, 2009 @ 5:31 am

   They are very effecient. Remember that most water heaters are heating all the time. Tankless water heaters heat on demand. The more water you use the more it will heat, so you won’t run out of hot water with any normal demand (dishwasher, shower, washing machine at the same time). When it’s not in use it’s not using any gas at all. They run in the 2300.00 range installed, which is high for a water heater, but they are very problem free. Check out the Rinnai website.

5. William B
   November 30th, 2009 @ 8:27 am

   depends on your usage,
   if you use a lot of hot water no,
   if not then yes
   your using power regardless if its a tank less or not
   will the cost of changing over be worth it ?
   say you have a electric HW/ heater, and the power goes off you still have hot water, also with gas,
   but a tank less one will not work when the power is off
   has to have power for the sensors

6. shonny
   November 30th, 2009 @ 5:24 pm

   I personally don’t own one but my dad chose to go with one in his new home instead of a propane fired tank type water heater. I don’t know the exact figures but according to him the tank-less has cut his propane consumption considerably. He is now convinced its the only way to go. When i build my new home that is the way im going to go.

7. DAN THE AC MAN
   November 30th, 2009 @ 2:44 pm

   some good answers already…i’ll add…tankless are good for large hot water demands,such a a large family,,oversized tub,hot tub,etc,,they also save space if thats a concern,,but i’m not sure the extra cost [about 3x a tank heater] is worth it if youre just doing it for the energy savings…a typical natural gas water heater uses about $30 per month in gas for a medium-large family…if the tankless saves 33% of that [which i doubt it saves that much] then thats $10 per month savings, or $120 per year,at the MOST….its likely less savings then that,,so your talking about a 10-15 yr payback…its true the tank water heater would likely need replacing in about 15 yrs,,but its also likely that the tankless will need expensive repairs by then,,some of the gas tankless are quite complex,i doubt the warrenty is longer than 5-10 yrs for most of the parts,and labor isnt cheap either…..of course the payback time is quicker for propane since the heater cost is the same,but propane is about 2 x cost of natural gas,therfore the savings is double…my opinion is to get a tankless if you have a real need for it,,otherwise stick to conventional tank heater,,what are the odds you will be in the house more than 15 years anyway??………dan

8. premiere
   November 30th, 2009 @ 6:16 pm

   Even though the cost of the tank (mine was $2,000) and the labor (i’d charge $500) are high, you definatly reap the benefits of the gas and water bill savings in less than three years.

9. JOE
   November 30th, 2009 @ 10:11 pm

   if you install it, absolutely. depending on install cost, payoff can take a while.

10. tom the plumber
    December 1st, 2009 @ 1:09 am

    yes

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