Green Remodel Forum

Tankless hot water heaters are getting popular lately. Are they really as good as claimed?

We had one installed over three years ago. It is a Takagi TK2, $ 850. (approx.). We had it installed during the summer when we were not using gas to heat the house. Our gas bill went down about 30%. The plumber did take longer than I thought he should have. He was confused about the electrical connection. I read over the instructions a couple of times with him. We got the optional digital thermostat which works great. We set it to 108 degrees F. We probably should have a booster heater on the dishwasher, but this temperature is good for max. at shower. So no water in the house goes above this temperature. It's a well made piece of equipment. It does not make any sense or cents to have a water heater making hot water 24/7. The Europeans and the rest of the world have used this technology for decades. We can have 2 showers going at the same time with only a sight reduction in volume of hot water the temperature always stays the same no matter how long the shower.

Thanks. It sounds great. I can get instant hot water without heating it 24//7. I am considering to have one installed in my house when I remodel.

My tankless is very temperamental. Sometimes it's cold and sometimes it's hot. I feel that I have to wait longer for the hot water. I wish I had a storage water heater now.

We had our tankless installed in the middle of the attic and it works great! Sometimes, it may not work so well if you install your tankless too far from the faucets. The water would take too long to travel.

Our tankless is installed in the middle of the attic. The hot water in the shower is fine. But the hot water in the kitchen is annoying. I don't always get hot water continuously. Sometimes I get hot water and than cool water and then hot water again. That slows down my work in the kitchen because without a lot of hot water it takes longer to remove the grease on the pots and in the sink.

Does the federal tax credit include tankless hot water?

Yes. Gas, oil, and propane tankless water heaters qualify for federal tax credits. However, electric tankless water heaters do not quailfy.

I have been contemplating a tankless water heater for about a year now. A lot of people say it takes a long time to recoup the costs, but if I could install it myself than that cost would be lower. The cost of a water heater is still very expensive whether you go traditional or tankless. I think it would be a better system in the long run...anyone have any thoughts?

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The cost of a tankless system will be higher than convention storage system. The unit itself is more expensive. On top of that, you may need alteration to the flue and you may need a bigger gas line. The system should be serviced periodically to maintain optimal performance, more cost over storage system. The saving comes from the avoidance of heat loss from the tank while it is sitting idle and not delivering hot water. How long it takes to recoup the cost depends on how you use hot water. It may sound counter intuitive but the less hot water you use and the less often you use each day, the quicker you will recoup the cost.

Whether tankless is a better system depends on the application. For instance, if the system is located the faucets with short pipe runs, it will work great. If the system is far away, you may experience longer delay in getting hot water when you first turn on the faucet and you may not like the longer delay. Also if you frequently turn on and off the faucet during each use, you may not get continuous hot water as the tankless unit takes time to turn on and off according to the flow rate of the water.