how much electricity does electric tankless water heater use?

[nwhmber]

thinking about getting rid of my water heater and replacing with a tankless to save on space. my house is all electric and on the smaller size so having a wall mounted unit would create more space in the laundry room. just wondering if they use the same, less or more electricity? thanks

[rwanders]

Product info will include power usage rates-----then you could compare with your current usage from your bills. Your utility may have some information also. Be sure and size your tankless heater adequately for your usage needs----a little bigger is better than a little too small

[tooltroll]

In theory, a tankless of similar capacity to your old tank should be cheaper, because 1- you're not paying to keep a whole tank hot 24/7; and 2- Newer stuff is generally built to be more efficient.

Rwanders is right- a little research will give you specific answers for specific units.

[builderelements]

Not that familiar with the electric tankless, I do have a gas tankless in my house, and I can say I will never own another traditional hot water heater.

To your question, it will be cheaper than the tank for the reasons mentioned by the above poster.

You could also save money by contacting your home owners insurance and telling them you have done away with the tank system. There is a ton of (in some cases major) claims per year due to a hot water heater bursting. Contact your agent to see if your carrier offers any insentive for this.

[Russell]

Put an electric on demand heater in my sisters house 3 years ago. Required 3- 40 amp 220 circuits to run. Her first one lasted about 1 year and had to be replaced with a new one (manufacturers problem). She is happy with the new one but I had to run a subpanel to power the heater.

[speedypetey]

A whole house tankless will NEVER run on a 100A service, and it is marginal that you can use on in a home with a 200A service.

You have to weigh the options whether it is worth the potential extra $3000+ to upgrade to a 320/400A service.

I have heard maybe 10% good and 90% bad about tankless units.

[bkrahmer]

I love tankless water heaters, but would never consider an electric unit (only gas). For one thing, if you want to analyze cost, you have to know how much electricity costs in your area vs. the alternative, LP or natural gas, efficiency of a gas unit (I just ordered a Navien natural gas unit today that is over 98% efficient.), etc. This may help you: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/calculators/water_heating.html

brian

[rwanders]

Tankless units are available using natural gas or propane or fuel oil----fuel oil would usually be the most economical then gas, natural or propane----electrical will usually bring up the rear and will offer the lowest capacity also. I have a Rennai, 199k btu which works very well, allowing a simultaneous shower and faucet running from a 38F water supply----produces a temp rise to 120F output at 3.7GPM

[homebild]

"how much electricity does electric tankless water heater use?"

Answer depends entirely upon who much and how often one uses their hot water and how efficient is their water heating unit.