Anyone have an on-demand water heater?

[greenskeeper]

when our current tank heater dies, we will be switching to an on demand heater.

the upfront cost could be an issue depending on your situation.

[Scanner]

I did just read it's about 4-5 years to recoup solar hot water costs. That sounds about right. Usually it's about 7 for solar electric.

[cicy33]

we had done some research on these as well, the thing I didn't like and made me not try it was that it did say that the strength of the flow was not always good. a strong flow is important to me. I don't know for fact as we never tried it. For the ones that do have it do you notice any difference?

[kork13]

we had done some research on these as well, the thing I didn't like and made me not try it was that it did say that the strength of the flow was not always good. a strong flow is important to me. I don't know for fact as we never tried it. For the ones that do have it do you notice any difference?

Not really, at least for me... I mean, if you ONLY want 100+ degree water, then yes, it's a slightly lower water pressure than cold only. But normally you use a mix of hot and cold, and in doing so, the water pressure evens out just fine. ymmv

[wincrasher]

I have a combination system. My house has 4 bathrooms - three close togther and one far on the other side of the house. The on-demand system feeds all baths and the kitchen, laundry, etc. There is a small conventional electric water heater used as a booster for the far bathroom. I don't know if it's even working.

I can honestly tell you I've had showers going in all four bathrooms, ran the dishwasher and the laundry and never lacked for hot water. They size the system to feed all users simultaenously. I couldn't be happier with it. On other houses I've had with tank water heaters, it was possible to run out the hot water with just one shower.

The builder told me the system was about $1500. I think it's well worth it. My gas bill has NEVER been over $50. Most months it's like $15-$20. I use gas for the water heater, fireplace and the grill.

My system gives hot water pretty quickly - usually 20 to 30 seconds when you turn on the tap. It also seems to be at maximum temp when it comes. I have a friend who has a different on demand system - hers is 4 or 5 years older than mine and she doesn't like it - she has a long wait for hot water and then when it comes, has troubles with maintaining temp - sometimes too hot, others, drops cold and then hot again.

[SavingAdvice]

Its very expensive and not worth it

[Looking Forward]

We have one and I LOVE it! Always said when we bought a house it would be one of the first changes. It is very efficient and is so small and cute mounted on the wall in our garage. It can be a bit expensive at first, but if you plan on staying where you are then it makes sense. Never run out of hot water. We run shower, dishwasher and clothes washer at the same time. I should add that my DH is in the HVAC trade so we bought the unit for cost and he installed it. So our cost was minimal, but still more than a regular tank. We have a Rinnai Luxury Efficient model R94Lsi. I think we'll always have a tankless.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Love it in my parents condo. Only way to go. I will totally get it in our next home. Also only way to go in Asia and there are heaters in shower heads now. Even easier to use.

[My English Castle]

Saving Advice--want to cite figure to back this up?

[MonkeyMama]

Never run out of hot water. We run shower, dishwasher and clothes washer at the same time.

Same here, with our tank.

To you and LAL I am curious how your gas bills are. Because these days I think you can get all the same benefits (low gas bill, ample hot water) without the expense of a tankless system.

Since we pay so little for our current tank system, I Can't imagine we could possibly save more than $5 per month going tankless. Which is why I don't see the point. (Granted, we live in a mild climate - maybe bigger savings are to be had in colder climates).

[LivingAlmostLarge]

i think it's something like $30/month for utilities instead if $100 my mom said.

[MonkeyMama]

i think it's something like $30/month for utilities instead if $100 my mom said.

Our entire gas bill currently runs $26/month (half that is fees and taxes).

I don't know if we are comparing apples to apples, but you can get your gas bill pretty darn low with a modern/efficient tank system, is my point. IF nothing else, unless you live in the mountains, it would most certainly be a waste of money if you lived in California. There may be other reasons to get one (to save space I guess).

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Have you calculated what an tankless would actually cost if your bill is only $26? Why so low? Solar?