Hot Water - Tankless on demand vs traditional hot water heater

[ThisLadyHunts]

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.

And the reason is...?

[tigerscowboy]

And the reason is...?

More expensive initially at installation. Less longevity (never heard of one last 10 years). Encourages more water usage = waste.

[ThisLadyHunts]

More expensive initially at installation. Less longevity (never heard of one last 10 years). Encourages more water usage = waste.

Understood.

[Take Dead Aim]

More expensive initially at installation. Less longevity (never heard of one last 10 years). Encourages more water usage = waste.

Wrong on many levels. Im on year 15 on one and 12 on another. Where it so called waste water it saves on electricity/gas as its not heater water in a tank throughout the day. Tank units are a dying breed.

[Hooverfb]

Biggest disadvantage is they all require electricity even if they're heated with gas. Now some companies used to build them where the flow of water would power the electronics, but I think they were a bit ahead of their time and died off.

[Hix]

Go tankless and use propane, install them close to the bathrooms so you don’t have to wait on hot water and put them in an exterior wall that’s part of the heated home and insulate the supply and hot line.
I mounted one of mine in a garage wall and the pex will freeze when it’s really cold if I don’t leave the water dripping or run a heat lamp on it. The other one i have on the other end of the house does fine.


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[PlanoDano]

Interested in the responses, We had that choice over a decade ago and went with an oversized tank with re-circulation in the farthest reaches. It gives us hot water within 5 seconds anywhere in the house. Still don't know if it was the correct decision. Had to replace the tank after about 12 years.

[Mudslinger]

More expensive initially at installation. Less longevity (never heard of one last 10 years). Encourages more water usage = waste.

I am going on 11 years with mine!

[tigerscowboy]

Wrong on many levels. Im on year 15 on one and 12 on another. Where it so called waste water it saves on electricity/gas as its not heater water in a tank throughout the day. Tank units are a dying breed.

Builders don't choose to install electric water heaters. Dying breed? Natural gas tank heaters are the #1 product installed today in new construction. You can view every approved permit at City of Houston and City of Conroe if you have an account.

Tank units are barely burning gas May through September because of the Texas attic temps. Gas bills are less than $30/month for a family of 4 until the furnaces are in use during winter months.

Tankless hot water is a luxury feature, not a money saving feature. Consumer Reports even completed a study on this many years ago.

[tigerscowboy]

I am going on 11 years with mine!

That's good.

Parents single 50 gallon tank is on year 38. I'm on year 19 with my 2 40 gallon tanks.

Sister went tankless and had to replace it before year 5.

[Big Lee]

No sense in installing a water heater if you have hot water already.

I looked into a tankless not long ago. Plumber told me with the hard water we have, I would also need to do some kind of water softening system with filtration pre water heater. Started to get expensive quick and just stuck with what has been working. Not sure how true this is.

[wellingtontx]

Tankless on Demand. Greatness. Never wait for hot water anywhere in the house. Plus IMO significant savings on utility bills. I would NOT go back to traditional hot water heater.

[7sdad]

My son has a plumbing company and he said he won't install an electric tankless unless the customer insist. And they make two different types of tankless, one were it circulates and you have hot water on demand and the other type doesn't heat it water until you turn it on and you have to wait for it to get to you.

[N.DaWoods]

Tankless on Demand. Greatness. Never wait for hot water anywhere in the house. Plus IMO significant savings on utility bills. I would NOT go back to traditional hot water heater.

This.

[DNTRanch]

Does yours have a continuous recirculating line on the system? Ours does and it cuts down on the wait time. Downside in our case it does use more C3 than I expected with the recirculating line. We live a very rural area and have C3 but the only two things we have on gas is the stove top and water heater.

Need to know more about this recirculating pump??? And the timer??
That's my wife's biggest complaint is it takes a long time for the hot to get to the kitchen, had ours put above the main bath so fine there. Is this an easy install?