I didn't do that, but I did put a sink in the basement in the utility room. Great to have a sink to do the gross stuff in.
New house build: tank water heater vs. tankless water heater
- Thread starter CarolinaCy
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I only had spigots on the sides of my house and now having one in the garage is awesome for washing cars, shoes, grill, etc.
The owner mentioned that he has a recirculation line/pump in his own house and his utility bills are high because of it, but he also said he'd never live without that in any future house.
The house will be a 1.5 story, with only 1 bathroom on the 2nd story (3 kids to share). Primary bath, laundry, kitchen, 1/2 bath all on main floor, finished basement will have full bath and wet bar. So most faucets are not that far from the water heater (which will end up almost directly below the kitchen), and I'm not sure I can justify the higher gas bill to get hot water a few seconds faster to my shower or the kitchen sink.
I had actually proposed using a hot water manifold, as I lived in a house in Johnston back in 2006 or so that was built with that. He said he'd get his plumber to quote that, but that seems like a better option as there is no increase in utility cost, and only slightly more install cost (separate supply lines to each faucet).
I have side exhaust on the furnace and tankless water heater. Love not having any pipes through the roof.
Kind of got lost in the original post, but it would be gas supply for whatever option we choose.
As far as your "minimum flow" comment, the very first thing I did in both of my last two homes was remove the water restrictor washers from my shower heads so I would get a full pressure shower (I hate weakass showers). Even doing this I NEVER had a problem with low-flow conditions with a tankless heater.
Also, the water here is heavily calcified and I have never descaled a tankless.
The feedback I got from friends and others on “minimum flow” was more to do with washing hands and things of that nature.
Regarding the descaling…. I can assure you your heater is subject to the same chemistry that applies to all other tankless heaters….
I remove all the restricters also. I want a lot of hot water.
I didn’t even know electric tankless was an option. That seems crazy.
Even if both sizes were powered exhaust, the retail cost between the two is nowhere close to $2600. Not even half that amount.
Go with tankless. The savings you'll see in efficiency and lifespan alone are worth it along with constant hot water even if the initial install is more you'll probably go through at least 2 tank water heaters before you would have to replace it. The descaling is not a big deal, just buy a pump and a couple short hoses and a 5 gallon bucket, just hook up and flip the bypass valves and flush for an hour once a year. You still have to drain a tank water heater regularly to help with the lime build up inside that so I don't see how descaling a tankless one is any more of a pain, takes me a minute or 2 to switch all the valves and hook up the pump and then let it flush for about an hour before turning everything back the way it normally is.
Like someone already mentioned installing a water softener will help too especially if you have hard water. Would also recommend looking at putting a whole house water filter in too. Between that and a water softener not only will your water taste and feel better but it will increase the lifespan of all your appliances and fixtures by reducing the sediment and hard water that would flow through and gradually build up. The whole house water filter system is pretty simple and inexpensive. We have the 10" Big Blue like this one Ten-Inch Big Blue Whole House Units – Pure Water Products, LLC and can find the filters on Amazon for like $60 a 4 pack. We change ours about every 4-6 months and its amazing to see how they go in white and come out rusty colored. Must of really had some bad water from the city 1 time as about a month or 2 after changing a filter our water pressure went way down all the sudden. Talked to my plumber and he said try changing your filter even if you just did it recently. As soon as I turned the water back on with a new filter the water pressure was back so the filter apparently was really plugged up with something that was going through at the time. Glad the filter caught it and it wasn't going through everything in the house!
Like someone already mentioned installing a water softener will help too especially if you have hard water. Would also recommend looking at putting a whole house water filter in too. Between that and a water softener not only will your water taste and feel better but it will increase the lifespan of all your appliances and fixtures by reducing the sediment and hard water that would flow through and gradually build up. The whole house water filter system is pretty simple and inexpensive. We have the 10" Big Blue like this one Ten-Inch Big Blue Whole House Units – Pure Water Products, LLC and can find the filters on Amazon for like $60 a 4 pack. We change ours about every 4-6 months and its amazing to see how they go in white and come out rusty colored. Must of really had some bad water from the city 1 time as about a month or 2 after changing a filter our water pressure went way down all the sudden. Talked to my plumber and he said try changing your filter even if you just did it recently. As soon as I turned the water back on with a new filter the water pressure was back so the filter apparently was really plugged up with something that was going through at the time. Glad the filter caught it and it wasn't going through everything in the house!
I have one in my condo here in FL. Because it's a multistory building there is always concern about tanks leaking and running down into lower floors and causing lots of damage. It is mandatory to change out tanked water heaters every 10 years minimum here for that reason. I'm on the top floor and went with the tankless. I think at the time it was only available as a German manufactured source. I don't remember it being THAT much more costly. Maybe 30% and some of that was for the electrical connections and fusing. Gas is not available here so was not an option.
As others said, another benefit is that it takes up way less space. So my utility closet went from a furnace and tanked water heater to a furnace and the tankless unit, which is about the size of two or three shoeboxes. Which opened up a bit of space where the tank had been for some storage - which is at a premium in most condo units.
I have never heard about descaling though. Maybe because the water here is from soft water surface source (Lake Okeechobee).
Go thankless and gas if possible and absolutely on the circulation pump.
Look at the new Essency Water heaters. These are a new twist on the tankless. A little hard to describe, but they give a 20 year warranty on the system and 6 years on parts and labor. They are connected to wifi and app.works.
I put two in, and with the boost feature, can act like 80 gallon heaters.
Look at the new Essency Water heaters. These are a new twist on the tankless. A little hard to describe, but they give a 20 year warranty on the system and 6 years on parts and labor. They are connected to wifi and app.works.
I put two in, and with the boost feature, can act like 80 gallon heaters.
Yesterday, I just got $2800 quote for 50 gal water heater (mine is a power vent).
I feel like that is like $1000 more than 5 years ago, but I guess inflation may have played a role?
I feel like that is like $1000 more than 5 years ago, but I guess inflation may have played a role?
A replacement for my 80 gallon heaters was going to be $5,500/each. Ouch. Spent a similar amount on the Essency product.
If you go the tank route, I would highly recommend a heat pump one. Ours is electric, efficient and keeps the basement dry.
I designed for both: standard tank in utility room and on-demand closer to the supply. Having designed it that way and plumbing it that way allowed me to start with the standard and 'add' the on-demand inline at each of the sources. What can I say, I hate waiting for the hot water.
