Living in the country

62 wood wrote: For what its worth , Energy Star says average savings around $80/year/$1700 over life of heater.

The Energy Star figures are misleading and I consider it to be marketing hype. It depends on where your hot water tank is located and if the heat loss adds to your heated space or not.

So, for you guys that have them, would you do it the same way if you had to do it over again? Do you have hard water?

Okie Boarder wrote: So, for you guys that have them, would you do it the same way if you had to do it over again? Do you have hard water?

We did replace our first tankless with another tankless. I think it is a Bradford White. The first one we had to mix cold water with the hot to achieve a non-scalding temperature. This one we just set a digital display.

And yes.. our water is very hard, with LOTS of rust. We use an Iron Guard filter system to remove it. Then to the softener.. both before the heater.

The only down side we have found is when rinsing dishes you need to throttle the water. If you turn it on and off you will get hot and cold waves. (we knew that when we purchased the first tankless). No big deal tho.

Dont want to jinx it, but have had no issues with temperature inconsistencies at all. No pressure variances, etc. We are on a well and I have my pump set a bit high. Hope I dont need to replace for quite a few years...Overall cant say I wish I had my old 50 gal tank heater back.

Todd,
how many have you replaced with tanked? / what brand tankless have you worked with? Definitely not my experience..

We actually live in a narrow area that has springs Pete,there are 3 of them on our property and we are using 2. Dad hand dug them and lined them back in the 40's. I did have the foot valve fail last year and the tank bladder fail this fall but that's just normal maintaince to us. We have the water tested thru the county every year. When a neighbor built back in 05ish it disrupted mine but it now has come back. I went to have a well put in but that was during the building boom, one guy finally said he do it he even got the permits, and never showed up! I wasn't out any money so I didn't care . Glad he didn't I hear the waters not too good.

peter1234 wrote: if i has forced hot water i would go the boilermate route and last

I agree - It's been great.

Pete its hard to tell from the pics but is that boiler not done with primary /secondary looping? and is that circ on the bottom pumping towards or away..   as far as what can go wrong not much more than what can happen to any system. catastrophic failure of any component flooding /fire drowning wet feet

Peter,
Here's a better picture that shows the primary loop.



I'm not sure what direction that pump on the bottom is pumping.

Yeah I know Pete. The average electric tankless heater is 18kw. I just don't see any $ savings if it's a straight 18kw for that 15 minute shower per person vs. an intermittent actual draw of ~27 amps on a tank jobbie. Trying to find the answer online and hadn't yet.

Todd,
Since the Kw/Btu per Lb. of water is the same between both, there isn't any savings on the actual cost of heating the water. Insulate the tank type and you won't need to put up with all the headaches of the tankless. The $$$ saved would go miles making up for the heat loss of the tank.

Pete thats some pretty nice looking work there and by the book by what i see.

Orlando76 wrote: Does anybody here have an ELECTRIC tankless whole house water heater? I keep forgetting about gas, gas is foreign here. If so, please do me a favor, take a current reading on what its drawing and is the load continuous or intermittent?

I have a electric one. Two 40 amp breakers and it is(was) close to the panel as the wires to run it are fairly large. In my case #6. I used it in my cabin/garage for a few years until the house was built. I loved the functionality and never had a bit of trouble.
I cant get the amp readings as it is no longer in use, but I would imagine if it is intermittent it is a quick cycle. It has two bowls that heat so I think it uses one until more capacity is demanded. We get very cold up here and the ground water temp was never an issue as far as getting it hot enough for household use. Down south would be a piece of cake.

I have a tanklesss I installed for my hot water in my house, I love it. It's a RHEEM 9.4 GPM, I forget the exact Model.

Thanks for reminding me it'ss due for a clean out!!


Pete, where in WI are you planning on moving?

if he does work that neat and clean i would forgive him for the rest   yes the 500" of pipe in a boiler room sheds a lot of heat.. i love working in them on days like we have been having here. did you use piss resistant slant fin baseboard behind the toilet ? it really works well in wet areas...one quick note to people in freezing areas ..just an observation i made after or during these last 2 weeks here.... If you insulate a cold water (or hot) pipe because it is in the proximity of a very cold sill or outside wall or windy spot.... think about the logic behind it the insulation will only buy you time before the pipe freezes it still absorbs the cold air   it is not a cure for freezing it will help with condensation and stop a bit of heat loss    that is all     thank you for listening

8122pbrainard wrote: fanofccfan wrote: I have a electric one. Two 40 amp breakers    It has two bowls that heat so I think it uses one until more capacity is demanded. Bill, Are the 2 beakers double pole? One for each "bowl"? If so, that would get you to the 18Kw rating Todd mentioned. If two single pole 40 amp breakers, then your's is about half the size.

Two double pole.