Water-Heaters

[N2Deep]

Has anybody used the tankless water heaters?
I am building a house and plan on using 2 of them and splitting up the load. Seems like a real good idea and should save some $$ rather than heating 60+ gallons 24X7 and only using hot water for about 1-2 hrs a day

any feedback would be nice
Thanks
Craig

[Rich]

I've had a few installed. Takagi makes some of the better ones. http://www.tanklessusa.com/
Takagi bought out Myson - which is what I had installed.

[roger g]

They are becoming more popular all the time. Whether it survives the test of time remains to be seen. There has been tankless h/w heaters in Europe for decades and decades and it's nice to know they finally have been "invented" here. A friend of mine hooked one up to infloor heating and so far it's working okay. The only problem (and it might be a huge problem) was that according to the advert literature the unit was rated at 180,000btu (I'm going by memory now) After he got it installed he found that the btu rate was nowhere near 180,000 even firing at high rate (variable gas valve). He called the manufacturer and they stated that when the unit initially fires up it is 180,000btu but this initial period only lasts a split second. He then spoke to other people and got different answers but the advertising literature is NOT right. Another problem he has was that the system is designed for a particular amount of water going through to stop it from burning out. Makes sense doesn't it. When the customer was only using small amounts of hot water the unit kept shutting off and the guy was feeling hot/cold all the time. I don't know what happens if you have a water saver shower head. Be carefull you don't get stuck with a lot of circulating pumps to do all sorts of things which might make the system far more expensive than you thought.

roger

[N2Deep]

This is the brand I plan on using because I only have electric where I live.
http://www.tankless-water-heater.com/index.html
Here are the specs:
Energy Efficiency 99.5%
Activation Flow Rate 0.25 gpm
Operating Range 5 - 150 psi
Temp Rise vs. Flow Rate 122 Temp Rise @ 1 gpm
81 Temp Rise @ 1.5 gpm
61 Temp Rise @ 2 gpm
Protection Thermal / Manual Reset
Warranty Lifetime 100% Parts Replacement Warranty (including heating elements) to original purchaser.

It activates at only 0.25 gpm so I don't think it would be kicking off and on. But seems like a nice unit.

I will let everyone know how it works, but that will be a few months from now. Just getting started.

[Rich]

That's a good one N2Deep. And if you think about it.. 61 degree change in water temp will put your output at a bit over 100 degree temp.