Hot Water - Tankless on demand vs traditional hot water heater

[buck_wild]

Anyone using tankless with electricity (over gas - I don't have gas access).

Come on city boy- have you never seen the big white or silver tanks they have in the country ?

[Skipshot]

Anyone using tankless with electricity (over gas - I don't have gas access).

Yes, I put one in when we remodeled. It has preformed flawlessly for over a year. Pretty high electrical demand but mine is staged so that it only calls for elements as needed. I bought an Eco Smart off of Amazon. Reviews were good and there are several videos on net for maintenance & repair. There are probably better ones out there but I figure for $600 if it lasts at least 5 years I'll just buy a new one if I can't fix it.

[Passafist]

Big plumbing friends of mine say to avoid the on demand ones. Lots of service issues you don’t get with the tanks.


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Mmmm I’ve had mine 15 years (outdoor Rianini brand) all I do is cycle CLR through it once every year or two. Endless and I do mean endless hot water I can shower while washing clothes and dishwasher running

[ken800]

Doing my first build of any kind. Will be building a barndo on family place (no gas / all electric). 2,100 sq ft finished out for living with a 1,000 shop and utility room (washer , dryer, sink etc..).

Will be weekend home until retirement, then our primary residence until such time we take over the home places. Then it will revert to extra square footage when kids/grandkids visit and party hosting place.

Any advantages with on demand as compared to a traditional hot water heater. Cost differences, preferences, regrets..etc.

Thanks in advance!

When I did a complete renovation of an older home, I went with all electric as our only option was propane since there were no gas lines. I looked at the electric on-demand hot water heaters but it was going to require way too much in terms of breaker capacity for a family of four so I went with a 55 gallon electric conventional hot water heater. If this was only going to be a getaway, a smaller tankless will work for you.

If you have yet to do the electricity, you can always size your service to accommodate the large current demands and I'd still go that route.

Ecosmart has some cool maps and such on their website for planning. I'm in central texas and would probably have wanted an Ecosmart 36. It requires 4 40-amp runs, lol. That means my main service panel would have 160 amps just for the hot water heater. That ended my search right there.

[txwhitetail]

Mmmm I’ve had mine 15 years (outdoor Rianini brand) all I do is cycle CLR through it once every year or two. Endless and I do mean endless hot water I can shower while washing clothes and dishwasher running

I’m not a plumber by any means but these two guys both do over 5000 new builds and equally sizeable service crews. Both recommended a hybrid tank heater.


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[Gclyde28]

Haven't read all the comments but if I was going all electric I wouldn't go tankless unless the load was VERY minimal. Gas, I wouldn't think twice about going tankless.

[MossyRockRanch]

Well water cause any issues with the Electric Tankless water heaters ?

[1riot1ranger]

Well water cause any issues with the Electric Tankless water heaters ?

It depends on the water quality where you are. I've had mine in over a year, used on weekends and no issues. Water is from a windmill, between Kerrville and Harper and unfiltered. I should probably go through a descaling process at some point but so far no issues.

[Stolle]

Anyone using tankless with electricity (over gas - I don't have gas access).

We are all tankless/electric at the deer camp. One big one in the cabin and one small one in the skinning shed. Ecotemp is the brand we are using.

[Passafist]

Big plumbing friends of mine say to avoid the on demand ones. Lots of service issues you don’t get with the tanks.


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I’ve owned mine for 12 years and not a single bit of trouble. Maybe I’m just lucky

[SharpEnd]

When we built our house a dozen or so years ago our builder was dead set against tankless, and talked me out of it. My compromise was to have him install a recirc pump, that I subsequently put on a timer. This gives us instant hot water anywhere in the house, as long as the pump is running. I have it set to run in the morning for a couple of hours at dinnertime, and late in the evening, basically during hours of the most demand for hot water. Side benefit is that I can turn the timer to manual in extreme cold weather an run it constantly which seemingly helps to prevent pipe freezing.

[Mohawkman]

I put in the biggest one the make a couple of years ago. It will take care of all three showers and laundry at one. We love it. Every expert said gas only. Mine is LP. i do have a small electric in my processing room and it will not get hot when faucet is on all the way. Have to run it at 25%. Good luck.

[tigerscowboy]

This topic is redundant. Seriously.

Tankless is a luxury. It has no possibility of being more efficient vs natural gas water heaters.

Spin it anyway you wish or keep pushing it because you bought one.

There is a reason most builders and plumbers don't put them in their own homes.

[DBLHKUP]

We switched out our 12yr old hot water tanks that were in the attic, to a Renai RL75 tankless natural gas. It’s been going strong with zero issues for 8 years. Many times all 3 showers are being used at the same time, not once has it not been able to keep up. However, after reading several posts after the winter storm and tankless systems....you lose power with really cold temps projected, too be safe and keep copper heater coil from rupturing you must shut of the water to it and drain. This is not difficult at all. Other than that, man these things are awesome. Very low maintenance and dependable.

[Buck hunter332]

The technology in tankless has come along way