House flooded and going to a tankless water heater

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golddigger14s

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On a WA gun forum they are having a similar discussion.

"This is exactly what I tell my customers looking to convert to tankless. Don't buy it because it's more efficient. It is more efficient, but you won't get a ROI. Ever. I don't even think it affects the resale value of a house all that much compared to a nice, new tank unit.

The "cheap" tankless NG unit that's worth a ****, like a Rinnai RL94 or a Norritz NR98, is still 60-70% more than a standard NG tank heater (which have gone up >20% this year, btw), the installation may involve costly modifications to the install location, like pulling power or upsizing the gas line, and unlike tank heaters, tankless units are not necessarily maintenance-free. You know that scale that builds up in your shower? There's a delicate, expensive radiator-like piece of hardware in that tankless unit called a heat exchanger, and it builds up in there, too. And if you don't flush it out every so often, depending on water quality, it can make the heater malfunction, and it can break off and work their way through your water line into your faucets, shower valves, and toilets and make them malfunction, too.

Don't buy a tankless unit to save money. Buy a tankless unit if you want something that takes up less space, OR because you have a need for a large capacity. Like three daughters that take 30-minute showers each, and a 72"x40" soaker tub and a wife that demands to use it. It's a luxury item, not a way to save money.

If you want to save money heating water, you're best bang-for-buck is going to be converting form a standard electric to a heat pump unit. Assuming the thing stays functioning for the full 10-year warranty, it'll pay for itself if it's in the right location in the house."
 

cowadle

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On a WA gun forum they are having a similar discussion.

"This is exactly what I tell my customers looking to convert to tankless. Don't buy it because it's more efficient. It is more efficient, but you won't get a ROI. Ever. I don't even think it affects the resale value of a house all that much compared to a nice, new tank unit.

The "cheap" tankless NG unit that's worth a ****, like a Rinnai RL94 or a Norritz NR98, is still 60-70% more than a standard NG tank heater (which have gone up >20% this year, btw), the installation may involve costly modifications to the install location, like pulling power or upsizing the gas line, and unlike tank heaters, tankless units are not necessarily maintenance-free. You know that scale that builds up in your shower? There's a delicate, expensive radiator-like piece of hardware in that tankless unit called a heat exchanger, and it builds up in there, too. And if you don't flush it out every so often, depending on water quality, it can make the heater malfunction, and it can break off and work their way through your water line into your faucets, shower valves, and toilets and make them malfunction, too.

Don't buy a tankless unit to save money. Buy a tankless unit if you want something that takes up less space, OR because you have a need for a large capacity. Like three daughters that take 30-minute showers each, and a 72"x40" soaker tub and a wife that demands to use it. It's a luxury item, not a way to save money.

If you want to save money heating water, you're best bang-for-buck is going to be converting form a standard electric to a heat pump unit. Assuming the thing stays functioning for the full 10-year warranty, it'll pay for itself if it's in the right location in the house."
just my experience. ROI is something to consider before buying a tankless i agree but in the time i have owned one ,fuel keeps getting higher and it does save considerable fuel,do your own math. i agree "don't buy a budget unit. I agree, check out any peculiar install requirements like gas supply or even faucet conversions. as far as scale??? i have had my heat exchanger out and was very surprised to find no scale what so ever. i have a spare heat exchanger just cause that is how i am but a new exchanger for the bosch 125X is aprox 300 dollars and i haven't needed it. i also keep a rebuild kit for the valve and a spare ingniter. now in my opinion if you want to take a chance and save money!!!! install an electric tank and put a blanket on it and a switch or timer so you can turn it off during the day and only heat water when you need it. probably save a bundle.
 

SlugSlinger

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During the last extreme cold spell, the local natural gas supplier, ONG, was going house to house and asking people not to use their gas for anything other than heating and asked to reduce the thermostat temperature to the low ‘60s. Several of my neighbors that have the natural gas tankless water heaters were seeing low gas pressure warnings on their water heaters and they were shutting down and not heating water.
 

oleshooter308

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Wife and I have replaced 3 water heaters over the years. That's great for being in the same home for over 30 years. This time It was just too much for me to do. It's a gas heater and had so much crap in the bottom, can't drain. Thank the Lord my wife was home when this one went. I was out of town and I called to get a buddy to come shut the water off because my wife couldn't get the tap closed at the tank. It's a 40 gallon tank and a ton of water had soaked our carpet in the hall, closet and one bedroom. The last one I put in myself and had to have some of the HVAC stuff pulled to fit the tank in. It was a 17" wide and still had to remove the door frame. Ha. No way I could manhandle another one in or carry this one out. They don't make them that small anymore (width) and I just don't have it in me to do the work myself.
Hard to find a plumber anymore that's not backed up till ......well....till they get to it. But I called one I knew and told him to put a tankless one in. Gas, venting and electricity very handy as well as the positioning of the water in/out. Made sure he picked up a good one and told him to get after it. A bit pricy buy it will good for a very long time and save money as well. It's a good thing for my wife and worth it in the long run.
He brought the unit by just now and I had taken the double door frame/doors and trim down. Though about going ahead and do the disconnect but wife said NO because she knows I'd try to move the tank (still full of water) out. Smart gal. Anyway, it should be a quick fix and one less thing for her to worry about in the future.
Plus.....I think it's cool
Yeah, if I have to replace mine again, I'm going tankless too. That last one like to did me AND my big boy in. I couldn't do that nowadays.
 

oleshooter308

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During the last extreme cold spell, the local natural gas supplier, ONG, was going house to house and asking people not to use their gas for anything other than heating and asked to reduce the thermostat temperature to the low ‘60s. Several of my neighbors that have the natural gas tankless water heaters were seeing low gas pressure warnings on their water heaters and they were shutting down and not heating water.
During that frigging 20 below mess last February, ONG came by but my whole house was frozen up anyway. Heat was all I had (cook stove and 2 catalytic wall heaters. Gas pressure got so low once that my big wall heater had a yellow flame and my CO detector kept going off. So I turned the range burners on and got a low blue flame on them. I know that's a no no but either that or freeze. Bundled up when up, and lying down, electric blanket and sweats for when the power went too. $750 plumbing bill and $200 water bill a month later and back to normal.
 

dlbleak

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We had a conventional gas water heater at the other house. The new house is tankless. The one thing I certainly don’t like is, if you are out of power, you have no hot water
 

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