Tanks, but no tanks...

[ralph7]

I am getting a quote tomorrow to replace my conventional 40 gallon water heater with a tankless unit in my 2 bath 1400sf home.
What kind of ballpark price am I looking at?
Plumber says he has a couple of options to increase the gas flow needed.
Just looking to get an idea of where I might be moneywise from your experiences. Thanks!

 

[BAM-BAM]

Put in a Bosch tankless (propane), at the lake in 2019; maybe 200-250 days a year..... have been very happy. One and one-half baths, dishwasher, 1000 sq ft Carriage house ...... endless showers!!!!!!

Can't help you with price ....... 4 years is a lifetime in construction/recent inflation!!!!!

Serviced it last year after 4 years, they flushed it out , we have well water, $150

 

[ralph7]

What was the price, I know about this inflation thing.

 

[GypsmJim]

I personally have no experience in this regard. My only tanks have been 40 gal gas.

However, my son just bought a $1MM house in TN and he has a tankless gas HW system.

In the Winter, when the water is colder, he and his wife can't take consecutive showers. Not enough hot water. In Summer it is OK. His house has basically the best of everything in it.

My suggestion is to talk to people in your area that actually have one and see their experience.

 

[WCCPHD]

My son just replaced his gas tank water heater with tankless. Was about $4800 installed.

 

[Rustyt1953]

No personal experience here so I called my nephew who has owned a remodeling company for 15 years. He said that depending on the GPM flow you desire and degree of installation difficulty his tankless water heater jobs range between a grand to $4K.


Happy hunting.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

For a price on the cost of the tank, go online to Lowe's & Home Depot. They sell the heaters. Gives you an idea of how much X BTUs cost.

If you don't relocate anything, installation should be similar to tant to tank replacement.

The distance from the heater to the faucet/shower will be the same, so the time to get hot water on your hand will be the same!

Tankless really shine if you can locate the heater right in the middle of water usage, just a few seconds away from the hands. Easiest/least expensive in new construction or major renovations. Having to re-route plumbing gets time consuming! (that is THE major cost after the heater)

My daughter's house is about 6000' and is a series of add-ons and upgrades. The tankless heater is in the basement, and for some dumb (probably flow GPMs) is plumbed with 3/8" PEX. It takes 20 minutes to get Hot water to the second story bathroom. (very bad plumbing!) To re-do this right would require tearing into walls and ceilings. So don't let anyone Downsize your plumbing stay with 1/2" lines or 3/4" trunk lines.

Ivan

 

[cmj8591]

We sent all of our spare tanks to Ukraine so I'm guessing the consumer price has gone up.

 

[SMSgt]

My daughter has a tankless water heater. I am unimpressed with it. No hotter, no faster. Her washer, on the far end of the house, has to be filled twice for the hot water to get there.

 

[444 Magnum]

Whatever model you look at, ask if there is a required minimum flow. Some units require "x" gpm of flow and will cut off if not maintained. With low flow shower heads that can be a problem depending on the heater model.

The last thing you want if for it to shut off in the middle of a shower.

 

[Gary Hogstrom]

I installed a heat pump hot water heater a few years ago and I love it. I am using less elec. and have enough hot water to keep us all happy, even when we have 5 people taking showers the same morning, no one has ever had an issue of not enough H.W.. It is especially nice in summer because it blows out cool air and helps dry the basement. If memory serves, it cost abt. $1200 plus pipe , wire etc. which I did myself. My old H.W. was from my boiler , which now does not have to run at all in summer.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

I went tankless 6 years ago. Propane fired with the proper plumbing. All's well. Don't remember the cost but it was worth it.

 

[LVSteve]

The trouble with supplying hot water in most US homes is the sheer number of places it has to go and how spread out around the home those places can be. Unless you put small, tankless heaters in each bathroom and under each sink in the kitchen and laundry room, I cannot see the point. I had an electric instant heat shower in my last home in England, and it worked pretty well.

 

[DWalt]

I considered doing it about ten years ago, but the expense involved seemed to be much too high to be justifiable for no tangible benefits in return. I stayed with a conventional gas water heater. At least in my case it made more sense. It might make more sense for new house construction than it does for replacing a conventional tank system.

 

[ladder13]

……..

Serviced it last year after 4 years, they flushed it out , we have well water, $150

Reminds me to get ours flushed.

 

[mtgianni]

With most models you will need a new larger gas vent and perhaps different piping. 40,000 btu's and low bids don't always align with 175,000 btu products. Think of having 1/4 bushel basket and then deciding it will hold a full bushel heaped.

 

[jeffrefrig]

I went to a sales/class on the Rinnai (SP?) water heaters and was not impressed the way they work. I'd stay away from them. Whatever you get make sure they pipe it so it can be back-flushed. Sometimes this will be an extra, it shouldn't be, but you need to back-flush with some descaler to protect the heat exchanger piping. How often depends on your water. One problem I saw on that particular brand is that the temperature sensor will maintain setpoint of the water outlet, so if two locations are using hot water, in order to maintain outlet temp it will cut the water flow. I'm hoping these things have been addressed, as that class was about 10 years ago. Still, I'd go with the Bosch. Of course, most houses you can't take a shower while the washer is running, so that issue may be a non-issue anyways.

 

[jeffrefrig]

Let us know what you get and how it works, etc. My water heater is nearing its lifespan.

 

[DWalt]

It will always be much less expensive to simply replace an existing tank-type heater with a similar one vs. installing a tankless heater. And you can do the job yourself. I have personally replaced two tank heaters during my life, not a big job. Installing a tankless heater is probably far beyond the ability of most homeowners especially if you need to run new gas lines, exhaust vents, etc.

Back when I was toying with the idea of installing a tankless heater, I spoke with a plumber. He discouraged me from doing that because he had seen many scaled-up tankless heaters due to the local hard water. Before deciding on anything I recommend talking with a few local plumbers first.

 

[dave1918a2]

I installed a few tankless units for friends. If sized right and the gas is correct they seem to work. I will stick with My A.O. Smith gas water heater. Up here gas is cheap. My gas bill here is less than half of what it was in Colorado. For some reason the distance from a tankless heater to the outlet makes for long runs before hot shows up. If You have a long house put in two. If You have a high house, put in a real water heater.