You stated "And requires more maintenance, generally never lives long enough to realize the return on investment of initial cost, etc." which is not true. Thus the "dumb". Sorry about your hurt feelings.
New water heater...
- Thread starter dahliaclone
- Start date
You stated "And requires more maintenance, generally never lives long enough to realize the return on investment of initial cost, etc." which is not true. Thus the "dumb". Sorry about your hurt feelings.
They are true, at least from my multiple friends' experiences, plus what the plumber told me. No, not what the marketing material says, but actual real, live experiences.
Even those marketing materials talk about the need for descaling maintenance.
Look, they certainly have selling points, but that doesn't mean they are some panacea, especially for a problem that doesn't exist for many people.
I've never read the "marketing material". I have had four in my last two homes. The first two were Rinnai and the last two were Rheem. I had the first two for 11 years and the last two for 7 years. In spite of very heavy calcium content in the water here I never once had to descale, nor did I ever have a single maintenance problem.
Interestingly, during that same time period I had two rental properties that both had "traditional" water heaters (one electric, one gas). Both had to be replaced due to the calcium build up.
And my last tanked water heater lasted 20+ years, it was the original in the house when replaced. I have a friend that is on their 3rd tankless in roughly a decade, say 10-15 years. This is in Iowa where are water has moderately high hardness.
So... for the sake of argument lets say they both last the same amount of time. What is the cost difference? What does a tankless save in energy $ over the newer high efficiency tanked heaters per year (the only kind you can buy these days)? That is where the ROI question comes from.
Based on my experience the monthly gas bill for tankless is 1/6 to 1/4 than their tank counterpart.
Get a couple quotes from local plumbers. Gas plumbing isn't overly complicated, but a typical water heater install is probably about the worst place to learn on. Enclosed space with a pilot light on the bottom floor of the house is a recipe for disaster in the case of a leak.
That is quite a bit better than the Department of Energy's estimation of 8% to 34%...
https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/storage-tank-water-heaters-vs-tankless-water-heaters/
I bought 12 A O Smith 20 gallon 208 3 phase water heaters this year for $4350 each - delivered but not installed. They aren't tankless and only 20 gallon but they are top of the line commercial grade.
Take it for what it is worth.
Take it for what it is worth.
We're coming up on 30 years on ours. Still going strong.
I'm afraid to do any maintenance on it because I'll probably knock something loose.
Yeah I agree don’t touch it or cast any wayward glances!We're coming up on 30 years on ours. Still going strong.
I'm afraid to do any maintenance on it because I'll probably knock something loose.
What temp do you have it set on? Are you running straight hot water because you have the water heater set at 110 degrees?
We have a tankless and I’d never go back to a tank. With 5 kids it’s nice knowing we’ll never run out of hot water. My in-laws have a tank and every time we stay with them we run out of hot water by the time the 4th person is done showering. I’ve just succumbed to the fact that I’m always going to take a cold shower every time we stay with them and their stupid tank heater. And their house is only ~6 years old so it’s not like they have an old unit.
