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Hi-
Any opinions out there on tankless hot water heaters for the home? Do they actually heat the water as rapidly as they say they do?
Looking at a Bosch Aquastar 125 with electronic igniton. It has 1/2″ water supply inputs, and most standard 40 gallon tanks have 3/4″. Not crazy about reducing my line volume from 3/4″ to 1/2″ as the wash machine will fill slower and I have some long runs to the kitchen, etc.
Anybody with experience on the Bosch stuff or any other, your input much appreciated.
Thanks!
Replies
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There have been a number of threads on this over the past year or so. Don't know if the specific brands you mentioned are covered so perhaps someone will give some specifics on those. However, you may want to do a search of the archives with various search terms.
*In line water heaters are expensive, troublesome and low on pressure. The french-made Aquastar is one I am very familiar with and probably the best I've seen. Water travels through heating fins and must be filtered before it gets in. If you are on your own spring water or ground water, that filter will get clogged rapidly and pressure will drop even further... Where I grew up, that's all we had. They broke down often and needed frequent replacement, but then, the utilities took care of that. Today's units are better made and last a lot longer. Paloma from Japan also makes some good stuff as well as some other company from Britain (I forgot the name...) But you're talking $1,000.00 for the top Aquastar... Ouch!fv
*Hi- A friend has a Bosch. I have a run-of-the-mill 50 gal. storage-type heater. Just last night we were on the phone comparing notes. BTU input on mine is 32,000. The Bosch is 125,000. One consideration is: where is it going to be mounted and where is the make-up air going to come from? The specs on the Bosch are likely calling for 1 sq.in. of vent opening per 1000BTU. That's 125 sq. in. for the Bosch and you would need to add additional sq. in. for any other gas appliances if any share the same space. Several years ago, before they had a louvered door on the bathroom (that's where the Bosch is mounted,) his wife was nearly asphyxiated while taking a hot bath.Another major consideration is the temperature of the supply. As you probably know, the Aquastar can only raise the temp. so many degrees. It is entirely possible in certain conditions that a hot shower just ain't happenin'. My 50 gal. storage heater is maintained at temp. by the pilot, the main burner only fires after about 3 or 4 minutes of use. All things considered, I'd only opt for the on-demand type with its more sophisticated requirements for very specific reasons. A relatively inexpensive, thoughtfully-installed, well-maintained storage type heater can be a very good deal.
*Paradoxically, the Europeans have been phasing their on demand heaters for hybrids of our tank types, and other high-end computerized systems. As Freelance rightfully mentioned, the Aquastar will allow for a temperature rise of 60 degrees only and therefore, might require that water be heated before it goes in. That makes for 2 units in series... I don't really know for sure what kind of efficiency curves are at stakes here, but I would tend to think that a standard water heater, properly installed, will come close to matching the "on demand" units.fv
*Thanks for the info guys. I checked the archives, and searched out the additional info I needed.Thanks again!
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Hi-
Any opinions out there on tankless hot water heaters for the home? Do they actually heat the water as rapidly as they say they do?
Looking at a Bosch Aquastar 125 with electronic igniton. It has 1/2" water supply inputs, and most standard 40 gallon tanks have 3/4". Not crazy about reducing my line volume from 3/4" to 1/2" as the wash machine will fill slower and I have some long runs to the kitchen, etc.
Anybody with experience on the Bosch stuff or any other, your input much appreciated.
Thanks!