Hot Water Heaters?

[lemon boy]

Anybody have really strong feelings about good or crappy on demand (no need for the continuous return type ones) water heaters?

cause...ummm yeah, our tank style is dead.

[Rideski]

I think Alta girl had a thread about it.
I like mine for the most part. Drag is having a trickle of hot water = not plausible because it is not enough flow to actuate the flame. Not sure if this happens with electric, mine is gas.

Other than that, pretty sweet.

[BLOOD SWEAT STEEL]

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ghlight=demand

(FWIW: ) Believe it or not, I've had more than a few "pro" plumbers swear to me that the Home Depot Paloma heaters actually are as good or better than anything else on the market.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...ctId=100324441

Not to mention, it's pretty easy to get %20 off at Home Depot just about all the time anyways.

[The Dad]

Drag is having a trickle of hot water = not plausible because it is not enough flow to actuate the flame.

Can't you turn it on strong to start the flame, then drop it down to a trickle?

[runethechamp]

Ha, looks like I'm picking up a lightly used Bosch heater tomorrow morning for $50. I'll let you guys know how it works when I have it installed.

[Rideski]

AD, no, it measures the flow and if not enough shuts off. Not sure if it is specific flaw in my model or not. Not sure of the rational of it, if it is on purpose. When you have it on full bore, the flame compensates, so there needs to be a measure and not sure if the low flow is just un-measurable or what. Not really the end of the world, just pointing out flaws. I would still install another if I needed a water heater.

[Jonathan S.]

Our house and two other houses in our development have them.
All three households are unanimous in hating them.
Positive:
- Saves a bit of energy (propane in our case).
- Saves space.
Negative:
- Long delay for hot water.
- Use up lots of water waiting for it to become hot.

[Spats]

Negative:
- Long delay for hot water.
- Use up lots of water waiting for it to become hot.

Isn't that because you didn't install it near the point of use? The ones I've used where the heater is near the faucet/shower get hot right away.

Based on what I've heard from people with problems like yours, you really need more than one in most good-sized houses to avoid problems like you're having. Usually one for the bathrooms and one for the kitchen.

[Jonathan S.]

That approach could help . . . but then we'd be using up valuable space in the house's living area, and also footing the cost of two units.
I suppose these things would make sense in small apartments, where:
- the lag time would be drastically reduced; and,
- a closet would be freed up that previously was almost entirely devoted to a hot water tank.

[Rideski]

heat up time on mine is exactly 30 seconds. In the Winter, that can be a bit annoying when you need to wash your hands a few time in an hour if you were cleaning something. Most of the time I don't notice. It takes some time for the hot water to get from a tank to your faucet anyway, although I know mine is a couple seconds longer. I have one central unit. I have never researched those under sink units.

[truckeelocal]

I have one central unit. I have never researched those under sink units.

We have an under sink unit. In fact it's a small, dedicated, tank of about a gallon. Couldn't live without it.

Our next central unit will be a tankless system - all bathrooms and kitchen are clustered and very short runs - maybe 30' max.

My brother-in-law has a recirculating tank system and it works worth sh%t, mostly 'cause he forgets to switch the recirculate feature on to save money.

[Buster Highmen]

I've put "Insta-Hots" in the kitchens of our last 2 houses. These fuckers generate 190 degree water and are not intended for washing stuff.

But for cooking, making coffee or tea, they kick ass and I'll always install one.

[truckeelocal]

These fuckers generate 190 degree water and are not intended for washing stuff.

Note that when installing at altitude you need to dial back the setting 'cause water boils at a lower temperature. Still way too hot to use for washing, great for tea and cooking.

[Arty50]

Insta-hots usually have a separate faucet, right?

[runethechamp]

Ha, looks like I'm picking up a lightly used Bosch heater tomorrow morning for $50. I'll let you guys know how it works when I have it installed.

As good as brand new. Installing next weekend.

[Altaholic]

As Carlin would say, "shouldn't it be called a cold water heater?"

[runethechamp]

Any good advice from plumbers here before I hook up this sweet high-capacity water heater this weekend? Got all the special areas covered on this one: water, gas, electrical (it has an electronic ignition).

[lemon boy]

Ended up with a normal tank cause it was just so much less expensive and we ran out of time for fucking plumbers to do a new one. My neighbor it turns out used to work for public service (utility) and has changed thousands of them so for a bottle of wine, a 12er of beer and 400 bucks (for the heater) we did it in about an hour.

Biggest tip, hook the old one to a hose and drain it completely first (won't completely drain till the old in/out lines are opened).

Oh and apparently scrap metal yards will pay you to dispose of the old one.

[Buster Highmen]

Insta-hots usually have a separate faucet, right?

Yup. The new one we got has hot and cold handles and an integrated filter.

[number nine]

one thing to sure of with these heaters is that you have ENUF gas supply . They have a very high demand.If you install it in a location that requires a flue the required pipe and fittings cost a small fortune.Think first born male.

[runethechamp]

Got the tankless heater put in this weekend after the old tank started leaking profusely friday afternoon. My gas line is grossly undersized for the heater, I have a dedicated 1/2 inch line that runs about 50 feet or so from the meter to the heater, and according to the UPC, I'm even pushing it with 3/4 inch pipe of that length (the heater has a capacity of 165,000 btu). But even with that shortcoming, it heats plenty hot enough for hot showers. I'll see if I can take a picture of the setup and post it sometime soon.

[runethechamp]

Time for a tankless update since we got our first full gas bill on the tankless heater today. The verdict? CHAMP!!!

The gas bill is more than cut in half now during the summer. Except for the water heater our gas goes to cooking, our dryer, warm or hot water if we use it in our washer, and if it's cold, the furnace to heat the house. I expect the dollar savings to be more when winter comes around since the old water heater (and the new tankless one) was located outside, but in terms of percent reduction in gas bill, probably a little bit less since we will use the furnace.

Picture of the install (with a couple of finishing touches needed):

[The Dad]

Since those other items are presumably staying constant, sounds like you're saving more than half your prior gas usage. That's truly impressive.

Can you have two major simultaneous draws? E.g., shower plus dishwasher or washing machine? Or is that too much to handle?

[runethechamp]

Since those other items are presumably staying constant, sounds like you're saving more than half your prior gas usage. That's truly impressive.

Can you have two major simultaneous draws? E.g., shower plus dishwasher or washing machine? Or is that too much to handle?

With our current system - no. But that's not because of the water heater. The model is supposed to be able to supply hot water to two main sources at the same time (at least the manufacturer claims that). I am restricted by an undersized gas line to the heater with 50-60 feet of 1/2 inch pipe. According to the Uniform Plumbing Code, I actually need a 1 inch pipe for a 60 foot run, but a 3/4 inch pipe is pretty close. But that really doesn't matter either, because our water pipes are all galvanized from the point where they enter the house and seem pretty restrictive already. The flow drops a lot if we try to run two water sources at the same time, so we don't want to do that anyway.

So, until I upgrade the water pipes, there's no need to upgrade the gas pipe.

[Rideski]

How do you keep the cold water intake from freezing in the Winter?