Choosing an On-Demand Water Heater

(Page 2 of 2)

March 17, 2008
By Troy Griepentrog 
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Tankless water heaters are an eco-friendly option. BuildingGreen.com rates on-demand water heaters among the most efficient, and the U.S. Department of Energy site states that you can save up to 30 percent of the energy you currently use with a tank heater (depending on a variety of conditions). But the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy says to expect only a 10 to 15 percent reduction in water heating energy used.

RELATED CONTENT

Although on-demand heaters are more expensive to buy and install, they’re a good investment if you consider fuel costs over time. Accounting for installation cost and energy use, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy determined that total cost for on-demand water heaters is less than for standard water heaters over a 13-year period. And tankless heaters generally have a life expectancy of 20 years, versus 13 years for a tank heater. You can expect to pay $360 to $1,800 (plus installation) for a new on-demand unit.

Water heaters are not rated by Energy Star, but a proposal is under consideration.

If your water heater is 10 or more years old, consider buying a new energy-efficient model before the old one starts leaking. When you’re without hot water, you’ll be less likely to take time to research options and make a wise choice.

To explore options for solar hot water, read Build Your own Passive Solar Water Heater and Go Solar for Free Hot Water.

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  • pinetree 3/16/2009 8:29:55 AM

    I'm thinking of replacing our 40 gal tank with three small units, one for each of two baths (sink/shower) and one for the kitchen/laundry.

    My water source is about 45 degrees F.

    Is this doable?

    Greg

  • Reuben Rajala 3/7/2009 6:48:25 PM

    We had an Aquastar for years, mounted on our bathroom wall and vented with double walled pipe for propane.

    Worked like a charm. Never ran out of hot with two young kids. But on super cold days the vent pipe would backdraft. I was not liking the cold bathroom and worried about the heater freezing here in N. NH. There appeared to be no themostatically conrolled vent damper or anything available. If it was hooked up to a large chimney, we may not have any any problem.

    Went to a System 2000 furnace that essentially has the same thing, an on demand water heater hooked up to a standard water heater. Works very well..is quite efficient.

  • mona 3/6/2009 10:47:47 PM

    We made a compromise on the water heating 9 years ago. We weren't sure about the whole house on-demand water heater so we went with a conventional water heater for the baths and laundry and installed an 0n-demand unit under the kitchen sink for the sink and dishwasher. The on-demand unit has been great. After 9 years of service we haven't had even a small problem with the unit. It gives us lots of water at the sink and dishwasher. The conventional unit for the baths has already been replaced once. We wish we had gone with the whole house unit but it would be very expensive to change over now. So we will stay with what we have. We are an all electric house so the savings of the second unit it great. Also since the kitchen and baths are a LONG way apart (at the other end of the house) we saved on initial installation not having to run pipes across the house. The only complaint I would have with the on-demand unit is that the temperature of the water is determined by how fast it passes through the unit, sometimes it takes a bit to get the right flow amount and temperature set. That may not be an issue with all units, ours was a "low end" unit with no extra bells or whistles.

  • David 3/6/2009 11:42:21 AM

    I have been using a Rinnai Tankless water heater for 8 years. Produces all the hot water we need for a family of 9 which includes babies to teenagers. The Rinnai is 180,000 to 200,000 btu depending on the unit. You can choose temperatures of 98 to 140 degrees and it can be changed as often as you like. We average about 3/4 of gallon of propane per day. At times it is as low as a 1/2 gal per day. Power bill dropped quite a bit when the Rinnai replaced the electric water heater. If you want to save money and NEVER run out of hot water get a Rinnai.

  • Todd Shaw 2/11/2009 1:43:51 PM

    DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!!

    If you have a large family as I do you will spend more money making hot water with a tankless then you will with a standard 30 to 70 gal. Hot water heater.

    The tankless BTUs/Hr is 180,000 on Bocsh 6 gallons per minute unit. That is 2 gallons of Propane per hour while the burner is on. After adding up the amount of time my family takes a shower, dishes, laundry, I calculated that it would cost about twice as much as my 50 gallon hot water tank.

    If you live by yourself then a tankless might be the way to go, but for the rest of us that are raising families the tankless hot water heater is a scam.

    As a do it your self person, I thank the plumber that informed me of this VERY important piece of information that is left out by the manufacturers.

  • Nicole A. 12/18/2008 6:58:38 AM

    I don't know if it's saved us money, but we installed a tankless water heater 2 or 3 years ago and we absolutely LOVE it. It doesn't take any longer for hot water to come out of the tap than w/ an old style tank heater, and I never have to wait for a tank to heat up if (for example) I want to take a bath after washing laundry.

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