I’m considering putting in (retrofit) a natural gas fired tankless water heater in a single family home (one bathroom). These are relatively recent to my area (Toronto), so information on the pro’s and con’s is pretty sketchy. Any insights either way would be much appreciated.
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Look at Rannai Tankless Water Heaters. I recently installed one in my home (2 baths) and enjoy it. Never a problem keeping up with two showers at once.
Of course the climate here in South Carolina is a "little" warmer in the winter, but I don't think you should have a problem. The biggest advantage for me ...energy savings AND not getting an earful from the wife on not having hot water after my shower!!
I would get in touch with a sales rep. and see if any units have been installed in the area. If I can answer any specific questions let me know.
Jeff
Bosch makes some good ones. There is a dealer in VT. Search online. I can also find out for you where. They rock, my dad has one in his house.
Endless showers. Possibly limitations on multiple users at once (wash dishes / shower / laundry). Frees up some closet space. Reduces stand-by loses to nothing.
You'll need a bigger flue pipe because of the much greater BTU rating. Sometimes that's a dealbreaker if the access if hard. But look at the installation manual of any unit you consider. They'll detail the flue size, run length, number of turns allowed, etc.
I would add that they ususally (almost always) require changing the gas line too.
i purchased a Bosch from Home Depot for 479.00 (one of the smaller models) and it has been great. Ive had it for about 1 1/2 months now and the only drawback is that you can only tank one shower at a time which wasnt an issue with me anyway. It only has 1/2 inlet and outlet which is what all shower valves are so its fine. I would buy the same model if I had it to do over again, works great for our big bathtub for my daughter and never runs short. Worth the initial investment in my opinion.
I'd like to present the other side of tankless since we hated it and just took one out (the house we bought came with it.) The biggest "con" is the inability to get hot water at low flow rates at say less than one gpm. Either shaving at the vanity or washing veggies in the kitchen, the water heater cuts out continually and drove us crazy! Impossible to get low flow warm water. It just can't handle start 'n' stop activities like clean up at the sink. My wife hated it! I wish they would put this info in their sales brochures. The other limitations were mentioned: 1. The top flow rate is limited to one shower. and 2. The jerk who put mine in vented 7" round into a 2x6 flue. No wonder we smelled gas in the basement continually. Besides all that they're great ;-)
Yep thats all true, I did forget to mention that. They do have a minimum flow rate needed to kick on but the smaller the unit the lower the rate for them to kick on. I think mine is 1.1gpm. I do like that they take up no space in my garage though and should save me alot of money
I replaced my tankless with a 50 gal high efficiency HWH, and after one year I saw no increase in the gas bill. I think we wasted a lot of water (and gas) with the tankless unit by cranking the faucets to full flow in order to keep the unit from shutting off. IMO, the benefits are small size, the ability to fill a huge jacuzzi, and possibly longer life span. I think the sales info on energy savings is based on theory and not actual data. The Bosch rep gave me the example of a vacation home used occasionally ... sure, but I can also turn down my tank model when I'm away from home. Maybe some other folks out there have found a way to overcome the irritating freeze / scald problems associated with low flow usage?