tank less water heater

[deerhunter]

i gotta replace my water heater (40 gal.)soon and wondering what people that have a tankless are experiencing with it. we only have one bathroom with kitchen sink and laundry down stairs so its not like its feeding alot.

 

[radsrh]

Love love love mine! I use it at the cabin and only run one source at a time, dishes shower etc and never had a problem. No warm up could shower within minutes of arrival, no gas use when not using hot water so no waist. Run well water and no issues heating it coming cold right from the ground. Only issues that I have heard of and this was years ago, the electric ones could not keep up heating the water.

 

[deerhunter]

i got well water and the lime build up has been taking over after a 8 year old water heater even with a topnotch softner

 

[soxfan3]

Ours is 5 years old. City water w/ softener, although I will admit it has run out of salt from time to time. It does make some noise when it first fires up, sounds like pipes banging. Installer told me it is lime build up & he flushed it with acid. Still does it. That has been my only complaint. Mine can run 2 showers at once & doesn't affect temps. I think it would be ideal for a cabin or place that did not use much hot water.

 

[goofy600]

I have a Bosch in my camp in UP so its not a daily user but I love it. It's been in sense 2004 and no problems so far.

 

[durphee]

we love ours at our cabin. it runs on propane and like mentioned before, you have hot water immediately upon arrival. Ours can run 2 showers at once without running out; and yes I tested it because I was skeptical. They are more expensive but I would say worth the cost. Ours is about 5 years old.

 

[Papa Goose]

Have a rinnai model r-53 thats been is service for almost 7yr. Got it for a new house with a jacuzzi tub. It is a nat.gas
unit with a 180,000BTU heater. Have tried to run out of hot water and two showers and dishwasher going mabey a little
pressure fluxation but plenty of hot water. A bit pricey but a replacement unit shouldnt be too bad. One thing with a lime
problem isolation valves are a must! They allow you to de-lime the unit with a circulating pump(simer) and 3-4 gal of white
vinear(5%acid). Have done mine twice. Turns pale green in min. or so and a darker green in 10 min. Hard to say how much
gas we save but with just the wife and I at home(retired) much of the day but water heater doesn't run from bfst. until
suppper unless for laundry. Unit is the size of a carry-on suitcase. Scarey thing is to look inside the case. Its like being
in a ICU unit at hospital. Nothing but wires and sensors stuck on copper pipe. You do not want to look for someone who
could actualy service the unit.
All considered my unit has worked fine and would do it again.

 

[anonomoose]

I use two of them, and they are reliable and work well. I also think that you don't need to replace them so often because there is no tank to deal with and no sacrificial rods to be disposed of....so over the long haul they should be cheaper and of course you never run out of hot water.

For those with lime issues, get some muriatic acidat at one of the box stores and dilute it and it will clean up the unit much faster and better than vinegar ever thought of doing. Just don't use a high concentration...cleans up rust stains too.

 

[soxfan3]

anonomoose - how do you pump it through? Mine has the valves & garden hose fittings installed but how do you pump it through your system? I have a small submursable pump for swimming pool cover, will that work?

 

[anonomoose]

Any little pump will work. I pull the drain plug and let it drain in a bucket. Once you get the right concentration, it cleans up fast.

Just don't sniff the stuff as it stinks pretty good. Once you get the scale cleaned out the thing works very efficiently again.

I find that mixing one part acid and 5 parts water works well for me.

 

[soxfan3]

Thanks! I'll try it sometime. Ya, I use MA in our pool to get chemical levels even, it does stink, very bad!