Tankless Water Heater Installation

Why Do You Want A Tankless Water Heater?

This is a question we are often asked and to be honest, there are a number of different reasons. Some of those reasons apply to most but not all situations. Reasons like longevity, a tankless water heater will last as long as you can obtain parts in a reasonable amount of time to fix the unit. At one time we were being told that could be 20 years or more. Twenty years later we see realistically the units will last at least 15 years as they have a 15 year warranty on the main component, the heat exchanger. They certainly may last longer, proper maintenance will help. We think a good way to look at it is anything longer than 15 years is certainly possible but it is a bonus. ​Another thing to consider is how much heat loss are you actually seeing from your tank type water heater. For instance a 1 or 2 person household is going to waste a lot more energy with a tank because it keeps the water hot even though they are not using it but maybe 1 hour per day total. Now another household with 7 people using a 40 gallon water heater is doing a pretty good job of keeping standby loss to a minimum because they will be consistently using hot water. We have seen large households that schedule showers and laundry and in that situation energy savings with a tankless would be minimum. However that same household could do away with the shower schedule, shower whenever they want and it won't cost them more in energy usage. ​Households that really come out ahead are ones with 2 hot water tanks or a single tank larger than 50 gallons. These homes were often built with a large oversized bathtub and require the second tank only when the oversized tub is used. Since both hot water tanks are probably the same age, replacing both is usually a good idea. Keeping in mind a tankless costs around 3 times the amount of a standard tank replacement, and we have replaced as many as three tanks in one home with just one tankless unit, tankless is a very obvious choice for any home with 2 hot water tanks. ​Another common situation is powervented hot water tanks. If you have one we are sorry, but for anyone not aware of what they are powervents have an exhaust motor on top of the tank that forces the exhaust through a plastic pipe to the outside. Newer powervents commonly last just over 6 years and normally no more that 8 years. They are much more expensive than a standard gas hot water tank. They only come with a 6 year manufacturer warranty. Extended warranties on these are not common and expensive when offered. If you have a powervent and plan on being in your home more than 6 years, you want a tankless water heater. ​A situation that is not common but certainly worth mentioning is a home that has an electric hot water tank but has natural gas and sometimes propane available. Electric tanks cost almost twice as much to operate but only heat about half the amount of hot water per hour as a standard natural or propane gas tank. Electric hot water tanks last longer than a standard gas tank but the energy consumption and the lack of performance of the electric hot water tank is really the issue here. ​ Now if none of those situations apply to you and you have a standard gas or electric hot water tank, the decision is going to come down to running out of hot water. If you like really long, hot showers, nothing will beat a tankless water heater. If you plan on being in your home for the foreseeable future then again you can't go wrong. If your time in the home may be limited it will certainly be less out of pocket cost to replace with a tank type water heater. Otherwise tankless is usually a better choice, but as you can now see for different reasons.