Tankless water heater

I've had a gas fired one in my house for many years, never an issue. I live in Alaska where there are 1,000's of these installed, no issues with our glacier cold water. I'd never go back to a tank.
 
We have a tank less hot water heater for about 5 years it hangs on the wall in the same area as the old tank heater, vented out with PVC pipe you need to back flush it once a year with a gallon of white vinegar for a couple of hours. they last a really long time.
 
If your source water has a high mineral content you will get scale buildup. Several years ago I spoke to a plumber about getting one. His advice was to forget it in San Antonio, as the city water has a high level of dissolved solids. Even discounting that, it made no economic sense to me. Plumber also told me that if I wanted a gas tankless heater, a new larger diameter gas line from the meter would be required to handle the gas flow rate required for the burner. And that would be quite costly all by itself. No thanks.
 
I was installing tankless water heater in the 80's when they were first introduced from Europe. They were expensive, noisy and you had to run them forever to get hot water from the basement to the upstairs bathrooms. I've been out of the business for 25 years and there may have been huge advances but I'm not interested. Us dinosaurs don't adapt to change well.
 
"You need 110 for the controls of a gas unit. That's one downside. No power, no hot water."

Well, not exactly, depends on the unit you have....

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But not needed for the more common gas units?

Nope, not at all...a single 15 amp 120 volt circuit is all. They even have them now that can use 12 volts to power the controller {solar???}. Some don't require any electricity, they have a small impeller and when the water starts to flow it spins and turns a little generator. I have a propane/120 volt Noritz brand in my hunting cabin. It is very quiet, efficient and trouble free. They are a little expensive, but they are made real nice. It has been there in service since 2011.
When my current hot water system in my house quits I will have a tankless here. If you are interested I would suggest you take a serious look at either a Renai or a Noritz or Bosch...there is a lot of incorrect and/or outdated info on this thread. What I have is not loud at all, it is very efficient, it makes hot water in the time it takes it to get to whatever spigot or shower that's turned on, it does not use a lot of gas, it does not require any special gas line and most of the time I run mine with a regular propane grill bottle. Contrary to popular belief, tankless hot water heaters do not cake up inside any faster than any other type hot water heater. There is a lot of lime in the water where I live, and there is a lot of iron in the water at my cabin...I change a lot more heating elements in storage tank type heaters than anything needed on a tankless.
 
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They're probably fine when installed CORRECTLY.....

Natural gas water heaters (with tanks) seem to be the favorite around here. You get the endless hot water supply plus they are relatively simple to install without costing a fortune when new.
 
It might make more sense for new construction. Several years ago when I was considering getting one, I remember it was going to cost me over $4K to get one installed. At the time I had lost a hot water tank heater (after about 20 years of use) and thought tankless would be neat to have. I installed a new tank heater myself, cost me less than $500 for the tank from Home Depot. $500 vs $4000? Hmm....... tough decision.
 
I read a couple articles, and currently they say the electric one is not cost effective, you never reach the pay back stage. The gas one can be cost effective within 5-7 years.
 
It might make more sense for new construction. Several years ago when I was considering getting one, I remember it was going to cost me over $4K to get one installed. At the time I had lost a hot water tank heater (after about 20 years of use) and thought tankless would be neat to have. I installed a new tank heater myself, cost me less than $500 for the tank from Home Depot. $500 vs $4000? Hmm....... tough decision.

If $4000.00 is the going rate to install....some folks owe me a lot of money. Most units are around $1500.00. $2500 to screw one to the wall and plumb 5 lines to it don't quite seem right....but I wish it was.
 

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