Tankless water heater

[NH Stripper]

Oh yeah, one more comment for Ira...the tankless units don't "maintain" the water in a heated state. It's heated up as needed.

[halfdome, Danny]

This is something we want for our home since the water heater is in my 6'x9'office. I have been looking at the Sets brand. With a tank less water heater it would free up valuable office real estate and save some on our energy bills. It's like when the compact fluorescent bulbs were new they said if every home in the US had just one there would be one less power plant needed. If more people had these water heaters I would hope our dependence on foreign energy would lessen. Danny

[angib]

Hey, a bit less of makin' fun of the old folks! My sister has only just turned 50 and with her new husband has renovated a beautiful old house. As it has four floors, the heating engineer suggested they fit a hot water ring main and circulating pump - hot water is pumped around an out-and-back pipework loop, so that when you open a hot tap, hot water comes out at once.

It seemed like a nice idea, didn't cost much and means no waiting for the water to run hot. Sadly all the water pipes have been run together so it has the unfortunate side effect that the cold water comes out slightly warmed - heat seeps from the adjacent hot pipes. So instead of a one minute wait to get hot water, they've now got a two minute wait to get cold water.

Some you wins, and some you loses..........

Andrew

[Andy Ehle]

Andrew,

The same effect can be achieved with out a pump(assuming its a tank type heater.Around here we call it a recirculate line.
It's just a closed loop in the hot water line that connects to the drain port on the bottom of the heater.
It takes a one way flapper valve(so cold water doesn't come out the bottom of the heater.
It creates a convection flow through the loop.
In my moms second floor bath there is hot water in seconds.
Insulate the pipes but will use more energy because cold water is always flowing into the bottom of the heater.
If I had to do it over I probably would have gone tankless. But she likes it this way.


Andy

[Sonetpro]

I've been watching this thread with interest. My Water heater started gurgling a few weeks ago.
My neighbor bought one and is very happy with it. I ordered a Bosch and expect to install it next week.

It seems the extra cost will even out in a short time since I have LPG. What made me make up my mind though is that with a $300 tax credit it will be the same price as a tank.

http://www.boschhotwater.com/Default.aspx?tabid=671

[Ira]

Oh yeah, one more comment for Ira...the tankless units don't "maintain" the water in a heated state. It's heated up as needed.

I knew that--that's the point of having one in the first place. And I doubt Geron was talking about his parents' using a tankless on-demand unit when he was a KID.

Unless he's 15, and he looks a little bit older than that.

Plus, not everyone uses propane:

Down here, it's electric--and they DON'T fire up just by turning on a hot water tap.