Hot water tanks vs Tankless

[notlim]

Came home from holidays and it looks like my hot water tank has packed it in. The easiest thing to do is just replace the tank with the same. Mid efficiency. However, I am intrigued by a tankless system but have herd some horror stories from when they first came out.

What is the good, the bad and the ugly about them.

I am looking for real world information. Are they reliable, life span, maintenence etc. Does are hard water kill them?

Let me know

[Whipper Billy]

See Post #3 CaberTosser
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...light=tankless

[58thecat]

And #9 too....ours has given us no grief to date....we installed it for the simple reason of family...all bathroom are going, washing machine etc and you got hot water....softener is a must and then just run it...I took a look at the internals once and they were as clean as the day we got it....like right now...shower going...dishwasher and a load of laundry in the washing machine....no loss of hot water....

.

[Desert Eagle]

Here is my experience. Our water was hard, and we had a softener and iron filter installed before this unit ever had water in it. Either the filter of softener carried some media out along with the water after a regeneration cycle and started to build up on the tube internals. Upon inspection this mush have happened a few times as the flow switch started to flake out and then the heater just up and died. A good plumber friend said in his experience any out of town water the lifespan is 7-8 years on average.

If I was to install one of these units again I would put a particulate filter prior to the inlet to ensure any particulate does not enter and cause issues. You also have to do at least annual maintenance on it to ensure proper operation and scale removal.

I loved it for the endless water, but ended up replacing it with a power vent tank unit. This works very well, and really haven't had issues running out of hot water.

Best of luck in your decision!

[fordtruckin]

Parents replaced theirs in Kitscoty with a tankless. My first experience with them. yah a little more money than a tank but not paying to heat water while your not using it and having an endless supply was a winner in my books. Wife and I are looking at buying a house right now. I think the system in it is 13 years old and propane. If that ever goes I can tell you I’m replacing it with a tankless. In the end it’s 6 of one half a dozen of the other. Pick what fits your families needs best.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Desert Eagle

Here is my experience. Our water was hard, and we had a softener and iron filter installed before this unit ever had water in it. Either the filter of softener carried some media out along with the water after a regeneration cycle and started to build up on the tube internals. Upon inspection this mush have happened a few times as the flow switch started to flake out and then the heater just up and died. A good plumber friend said in his experience any out of town water the lifespan is 7-8 years on average.

If I was to install one of these units again I would put a particulate filter prior to the inlet to ensure any particulate does not enter and cause issues. You also have to do at least annual maintenance on it to ensure proper operation and scale removal.

I loved it for the endless water, but ended up replacing it with a power vent tank unit. This works very well, and really haven't had issues running out of hot water.

Best of luck in your decision!

Yes...we have iron and lots in our well water....the water comes in and goes through the iron eater, water softener treated then to the house supply be it cold or hot....I fiddled lots with our system to get to know the system but basically have it going through its cycle every night to ensure the most cleanest water possible with regards to iron....the system I have does have filters implemented at the entry to the tankless system...like I mentioned 14 years and still going....but I like to do a little work ahead of time to ensure longevity of af all my big purchases....love this system but if you do t require lots of hot water and don't want to play around a bit you can stick a standing tank in and go from there....to each their own....good luck to,the OP.

[FCLightning]

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

Parents replaced theirs in Kitscoty with a tankless. My first experience with them. yah a little more money than a tank but not paying to heat water while your not using it and having an endless supply was a winner in my books. Wife and I are looking at buying a house right now. I think the system in it is 13 years old and propane. If that ever goes I can tell you I’m replacing it with a tankless. In the end it’s 6 of one half a dozen of the other. Pick what fits your families needs best.

I have an on-demand system - some version of it for the past 30 years - and when the kids were teenagers I really doubt it saved any money at all - at least when the hot water tank runs out they are forced to quit showering.

I have hydronic heating and have never owned a standalone hot water heater, they have both been integrated with the boiler. The first unit was a coil in tank unit that held 10 gal. of hot water in a super insulated tank attached to the boiler. The current unit is a Baxi boiler with integrated hot water heating that operates more like a conventional tankless unit. The nice part of the coil in tank unit was that there was no lag time between turning on the hot water tap and when you got hot water - with the current unit there is a lag as the unit heats up, especially in the summer when the unit sits idle for extended periods of time. This can be a problem for low consumption units like the dishwasher.

As for water quality we are on well water so I installed a whole house RO system and that has served well to keep issues with the heat exchangers at bay. The first boiler failed as a complication with poly-b tubing and we are coming up 15 years on the Baxi unit now.

[250mark1]

if you need unlimited hot water they are great
you will never recoup the extra installation cost through gas savings
with my hot water tank and gas dryer i use $ 6-9 per month in natural gas
( just the cost of gas not the BS Charges )