Further Posted September 27, 2020 Share #1 Posted September 27, 2020 Thinking of installing a tankless electric water heater. My current hat water tank is located in the basement garage, that I don't keep very warm. The ceiling is 12 feet high and the water heater sits on the floor so there is a lot of exposed pipe between the tank and the heated area. Bathroom, kitchen and laundry room are all close together, I could mount a tankless unit up in the basement ceiling, eliminate some pipe and not be keeping 100 degree water in a 50 degree room. Anybody here have experience with a tankless, on demand type water heater ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikeguy Posted September 27, 2020 Share #2 Posted September 27, 2020 35 minutes ago, Further said: so there is a lot of exposed pipe between the tank and the heated area. Pipe insulation is a lot cheaper than a tankless water heater. 35 minutes ago, Further said: Anybody here have experience with a tankless, No but... I just looked and wow some tankless heaters can use a lot of power. You need to calculate you expected maximum water flow thru the heater (gallons per minute) and buy a heater that can heat that water flow. BUT.... you also need to find out BEFORE you buy, what are the power requirements for the tankless heater. Some tankless heaters need more than one 240 volt circuit. Your breaker box needs to have the amp capacity available for the new tankless heater. If you need a large heater (lots of KW) then you need to be sure your main breaker is large enough, and the electric service from the utility is large enough too. Yeah... insulation is cheap. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR46 Posted September 27, 2020 Share #3 Posted September 27, 2020 32 minutes ago, Further said: Anybody here have experience with a tankless, on demand type water heater ? I have had one for about 20 years. What I like is we can program exactwater temperature, you will never run out of hot water and you save money on the gas bill. The bad. .....when you turn on the hot water it takes about a few seconds longer to get hot water out of the sink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted September 27, 2020 Share #4 Posted September 27, 2020 If your present tank is a long distance away you might not notice the difference but my father in law’s tankless Heater takes a long time to bring you hot water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Further Posted September 27, 2020 Author Share #5 Posted September 27, 2020 1 minute ago, Bikeguy said: Pipe insulation is a lot cheaper than a tankless water heater. No but... I just looked and wow some tankless heaters can use a of power. You need to calculate you expected maximum water flow thru the heater (gallons per minute) and buy a heater that can heat that water flow. BUT.... you also need to find out BEFORE you buy, what are the power requirements for the tankless heater. Some tankless heaters need more than one 240 volt circuit. Your breaker box needs to have the amp capacity available for the new tankless heater. If you need a large heater (lots of KW) then you need to be sure your main breaker is large enough, and the electric service from the utility is large enough too. Yeah... insulation is cheap. The power is about 30 feet away, plenty of capacity, and no finished walls. There are only 2 of us here so we don't use a lot of hot water, clothes washing is probably the biggest use. Keeping 50 gallons of hot water in a cold room just seems wrong. Considering this one https://www.amazon.com/Rheem-RTEX-18-Chambers-Residential-Tankless/dp/B01MR7Z39V/ref=psdc_3754791_t1_B01NAUZJPE It draws a lot of power, but only while we're actually using hot water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoseySusan Posted September 27, 2020 Share #6 Posted September 27, 2020 40 minutes ago, Further said: Anybody here have experience with a tankless, on demand type water heater ? My experience is I want one for the bathrooms on the opposite side of the house from the current water heater. 10 years ago we added kw capacity to the line that feeds out house and the breaker box thinking we’d install a hot tub. But we didn’t get the hot tub after all, so I’ve been wanting a tankless water heater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Further Posted September 27, 2020 Author Share #7 Posted September 27, 2020 1 minute ago, roadsue said: My experience is I want one for the bathrooms on the opposite side of the house from the current water heater. 10 years ago we added kw capacity to the line that feeds out house and the breaker box thinking we’d install a hot tub. But we didn’t get the hot tub after all, so I’ve been wanting a tankless water heater. Hot tub is a lot more fun than a water heater.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoseySusan Posted September 27, 2020 Share #8 Posted September 27, 2020 The original plan was to wall in the side yard outside the master bedroom window, turn the window into a doorway, and build a hot tub retreat for two accessible only through the master bedroom. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikeguy Posted September 27, 2020 Share #9 Posted September 27, 2020 13 minutes ago, Further said: https://www.amazon.com/Rheem-RTEX-18-Chambers-Residential-Tankless/dp/B01MR7Z39V/ref=psdc_3754791_t1_B01NAUZJPE It draws a lot of power, but only while we're actually using hot water. You will need 2 separate 40 amp, 240 volt breakers for this water heater. https://images.homedepot-static.com/catalog/pdfImages/a8/a8533f9b-7fcd-4870-87de-ff1f0aec8a96.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted September 27, 2020 Share #10 Posted September 27, 2020 10 minutes ago, Further said: Hot tub is a lot more fun than a water heater.... ^this I had a deck built for a glassed in spa room and hot tub twenty years ago. I took out the bedroom window and installed a door. The outside wall I removed the siding and covered the wall with 4X8 plexiglas mirrors. The outside spa door goes out onto the pool deck. I have never regretted it although I should have used four season windows. I keep plants in the spa room over the winter. The outside door on the spa room not only gives pool access but also is a fire escape if we had a fire between the bedrooms and the front door. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Further Posted September 27, 2020 Author Share #11 Posted September 27, 2020 8 minutes ago, Bikeguy said: You will need 2 separate 40 amp, 240 volt breakers for this water heater. https://images.homedepot-static.com/catalog/pdfImages/a8/a8533f9b-7fcd-4870-87de-ff1f0aec8a96.pdf Oops I meant to quote the 13kw one. One 60 amp breaker. I have a lightly loaded 150 amp panel in the basement. It was a commercial space at one time, car repair of some sort. There is plenty of power. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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