The threads on this were several years old, so I want to ask again. Does anyone have experience with the "tankless" hot water heater. Our old electric unit is starting to leak, so it won't be long until I am out shopping. We have a 50 gallon unit now that keeps up with the two of us, but is strained when the kids come home.
While we are on it, is there any merit in having heaters in a series so that one works most of the time and the other is there for company?
Our Saturn oil burning furnace serves for a hot water heating system and as the heater for on demand domestic hot water. Hot water delivery is constant with no flucuations.
I would think the tankless models will vary in delivery capacity and you would have choose the one to suit your needs.
Rather than two hot water tanks why not just go for a high efficiency larger model. Less stuff to maintain.
Egon
Egon, What a great idea. One problem is that the pipe run might be toooo long and take toooo long to get hot water and waste a lot of energy. Not everyone lives in a home approximating a spherical shape. The recirc pump just installed in the new house only uses 35 Watts and will get a timer (we usually don't use much hot water in the middle of the night) and or a thermostat (no sense pumping water even after its hot everywhere.)
[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
Pat:
Some of us live in very small houses. Not like others whom need a map to find [[ dig - dig ]] their way around. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Egon : [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Egon, I wasn't kidding... A house that approximates a sphere has potential for more efficient networking/distribution of its utilities. A house that is long and skinny or otherwise departs greatly from a sphere is less efficient in that mannar. Of course there are other considerations such as you denizens of the frozen north are aware, such things as minimizing the surface area for a given volume to better retain heat in the winter (again a sphere is the best at this.)
Those farther south than I are more interested in cooling and if trying to avoid mechanical refrigeration need to increase the surface area for a given volume.
Unfortunately I am in a mixed climate area and have to design to handle both (darn.) We have both significant heating and cooling loads. The new house looks somewhat long and narrow (ignoring the 45 degree bend.) Actually the utilities are consentrated more toward the central core so it isn't too bad. I timed the delay from turn on till hot water arrived at the master bath and it took 1 1/2 minutes to get decently hot water. This is without the recirc pump operating (and much better than my mom's "long house") prior to the recirc pump install.
About the map... a carpet installer got lost... twice... today in the new house. Maybe I should put colored lines on the floor. To go to the bath room follow the yellow line, to go to the shop follow the blue line, to go to the basement patio follow the smell of meat being cooked to perfection over a GAS GRILL.
Anyway to comment on the topic of interest... there are tradeoffs on tankless, i.e. "instant" water heaters versus the storage type. If you use very little hot water the standby losses of a storage tank are a significant percentage of the operating costs but in actual dollars (not a percentage) it isn't a big deal, especially with a well insulated tank (or add your own extra insulation.) The initial cost of the tankless is pretty high, especially if you need to be able to ever supply 3 or more uses at the same time. If your hard water plugs up the works in a tankless that is an expensive situation. Around here some folks don't get over about 3 years on a storage tank type water heater. That would be a really bad deal if you had to replace tankless ones anywhere near that often.
I could have gone tankless for the "final" heater but went with 40 gal propane instead. Its water supply is a 50 gal lifetime guarantee electric water heater without its electric elements wired up. The water in the electric is heated by a flat plate heat exchanger and has a circulatioin pump to circulate water from the hot water storage tank on the geo unit. This brings the 50 gal to about 115F and makes the gas units job easier. I would like to be able to use from the 50 gal directly to fill the jacuzzi etc but 115F is not hot enough to ward off "legionaire's" disease organisms and such. Setting your DHW to too low of a temp is inviting health problems, especially with storage tank type units.
Maps? We don't need no stinking maps... we got a good deal on small portable GPS units which we can issue at the door.
[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
a carpet installer got lost... twice...
We were right on target Gary. Being able to hide from " She Who Must Be Obeyed " should be a breeze when the little jobs turn up.
Heck - us here up north now all about heat conservation and the most efficient structure, a half sphere! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] we call them Igloos and even have a cold air trap at the entrance. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Lots of us use GPS receivers to find our way around. Pat's the only one who needs one IN THE HOUSE! [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]
It's a good thing the rooms are as large as they are, otherwise he'd have to install a differental GPS unit to tell which room he's in.
I've attached a picture of Pat trying to find his way to the toilet!
Gary
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Hey! Aren't you supposed to be working?
Sorry! Here's the picture.
Gary
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Hey! Aren't you supposed to be working?
It must be a terrible experience when Pat has an upset stomach!! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Egon
Egon, Ever see the Larson (Larsen?) cartoon of the polar bears beside the igloo with the top missing? One bear is saying to the other, " I just love these things, crunchy on the outside with soft juicy centers."
The intercom went into service yesterday and the I'm sorry dear but I didn't hear you excuse is DEAD.
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
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