[PoolBrews]

I had looked into this, but decided against due to several reasons:

1) In the long run, adding up all costs, it really doesn't save any appreciable amount of money.
2) The cost of the install is equal to or greater than the cost of the heater making this a losing $$ proposition. You can't do a self install if you want a warranty. Every manufacturer requires that installation be performed by a certified electrician for a valid warranty. If you install yourself, no warranty. I'm an Electrical Engineer, and this is a simple install.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by dcianciolo

Speaking of water heaters, has anyone installed a Heat Pump Water Heater? Pros / Cons?

Why buy something that almost no one else has, and that you may have trouble getting service or parts if it fails? The standard tank type water heater can usually be repaired or replaced the same day, so you will never be without hot water.

[RUCdaze]

I have to chime in with my two cents. I bought my pre-owned home here in late 2017. I already had a tankless heater. I have to let the water run for about 90 seconds before the hot water comes up. I've asked several professionals what I can do and they all told me there is a way to rig something up that would produce hot water faster, but it's expensive and probably not worth it. I live with the idea of wasting water everytime I need hot water.

[RRGuyNJ]

Ex Plumber here but I have been out of the game for a looong time. The tankless heater will cost a lot more up front and installation will cost more. Requires a descaling process preferable once a year. Not difficult but some people will hire out to have it done. My opinion the electric tankless heaters aren't as good as the gas units. They may have improved over the years.
Conventional water heater requires an anode rod replacement after several years. Quite often they never get replaced. Use a water tank blanket to conserve energy and a tank flush annually won't hurt and only requires a hose. In all honesty, I have never flushed my own tank. I know, "Bad Boy".
The rumor about taking longer to get water to the faucet in my opinion is simply the purging of the lines of cold water before you will feel the hot water at the faucet. If the bathroom is 30 ft from the heater it will take longer than if it's only 10 ft from the heater. Same difference with a tankless.
If you take hour long showers and run a tank dry, then and only then the tankless system would be a nice addition to the home.
Good luck!

[harby]

Originally Posted by HABckb

Since my Rheem water heater is approaching 10 years in age I am considering having a tankless electric water heater installed instead. I am aware of the cost for electrical hook up as well as cost of the tank but am wondering what thoughts others have in regard to this consideration. I find it a waste of money to have water being maintained at temperature in existing 40 gal tank and thought a tankless system in the long run would be more efficient as well have a longer longevity. thoughts appreciated.

Tankless water heater is very expensive plus elec. work's labor. You will have to waste a large amount of water in order to get hot water, but will just save a water heater space. I installed a small instant hot water tank under the kitchen sink to save running water (my wife is not happy of seeing water running till she gets hot water). We have a gas tankless water heater...maybe save some more than elec. one. It is now 9 years old so we r not sure if we should replace with a new tankless one or regular water heater (in order to make my wife happy if we replace with a regular one)

[UpNorth]

Originally Posted by Black Beauty

I did it to make more space in the garage

Good reason to do so. Storage space is something we don't have enough of. Tankless gas fired Rinnai on the outside; golf clubs where the tank used to be.

[maistocars]

Originally Posted by eeroger

I did some research regarding thankless, solar hybrid, and regular 50 gallon water heater. The cost benefit did not warrant the tankless heater or hybrid heater. So ... Mike Smith replaced our water heater with a new 50 gallon Rheme heater for $950 & took away the old one. We added a recirculating pump for about $450. That gives us hot water at all faucets within 4-5 seconds.

Yes, agree. The only way to get instant hot water is with a recirculating system. We also have the Mike Scott one and it is great. We had a tankless in Texas but also had the whole house recirculating system for instant hot water. The tankless by itself will NOT give you instant hot water.

[sianagers@att.net]

We have a Flo meter attached to our tank it will monitor use and shut off if it notes a flood type situation that may occur. It’s on our tankless so unsure if can be used with the standard heaters im sure it could -brilliant invention

[Villagesgal]

I switched 10 years ago when the utility company ran a special. My savings were about 30.00 a month on my gas bill. I have never had it flushed or descaled and it's never had a problem in all these years. I'd never go back to the old big hot water tank. Call your utility, gas or electric and see if they are offering any deals or rebates. I love my tankless water heater.

[merrymini]

I only hade a tankless in a new house for about 3 years but it was gas. There is a difference between gas and electric, so you would have to find out the specifics. It is my understanding that the electric are not as good as the gas. That being said, they have come a long way in the last ten years. Endless hot water. What people do not understand is that you have to run the water, tankless or not, until the hot water reaches the fixture you are at. With the tankless, you run the hot water for about 10 seconds and turn it off, this triggers the unit on and you will not have to wait so long for the hot water to come up. Somehow, no one else but me seemed to use this technique. There is also a recirculating unit that can be added. The tankless units should last about 20 years if you take care of it and no flooding!

[Bness]

Originally Posted by HABckb

Since my Rheem water heater is approaching 10 years in age I am considering having a tankless electric water heater installed instead. I am aware of the cost for electrical hook up as well as cost of the tank but am wondering what thoughts others have in regard to this consideration. I find it a waste of money to have water being maintained at temperature in existing 40 gal tank and thought a tankless system in the long run would be more efficient as well have a longer longevity. thoughts appreciated.

Tank heat pump water heaters may be a better solution. If your water heater is in the garage, how about an air conditioner in the garage that makes your hot water? Super efficient, probably doesn't require an electrician as it uses about the same power as your existing service. Also doesn't need to have a annual cleaning done like a tankless.
Oh and did I mention a cooler garage?

[ton80]

Originally Posted by sowtime444

I have an EcoSmart. It is great. Saves space and I never run out of hot water. Takes up four spaces in the electrical panel though. Be aware of that.

I believe that Sowtime has identified a key item for consideration of replacing an electric tank water heater with a tankless electric on demand water heater. So far, no other Poster has even mentioned electric power supply as a consideration. I do not believe that you can supply enough electric power to a new on demand water to supply a whole house demand just using the using the existing electric supply to the tank system.

I am not an electrical engineer, but I will try to explain in general principles.
1. A tank system has a typical recovery rate of some 20 gal per hour.
2. A single typical shower uses 1.5 gal/ minute or 90 gal/hour. Shower water is a mix of hot and cold water and depends on the supply water temperature, the desired shower water temperature, etc. For me, a mix of 50/50 seems a good mix. So 45 gph cold and 45 gph hot. Do the math and it does not look possible using only the same electric power supply that the 20 gal per hour tank heater has currently. So the power supply needs to be at least doubled for a whole house setup. My electric panel has 2 spaces for the 220/240 v circuit to the water heater. Sowtime says he needed 4 spaces, so it is nominally double. I know that there are various sizes of breakers and wires but you can check the specifics when you are considering a specific heater.

3. IMHO the quote re Rinnai on demand water heater providing hot water for 4 showers plus other users simultaneously has to be a gas fired heater not electric. I googled Rinnai and found no electric models at all.

4. The electric on demand water heaters such as ecosmart have electric power demands of 18 and 36 kw. 18 000 watts/240 volts = 75 amps required. 36 000 watts/ 240 volts =150 amps.

5. My electric power supply panel has a 200 amp breaker but needs to supply HVAC , stoves etc, when someone wants to take a shower. IMHO, the 18kw model can be possible but not the 36 kw. You still need to check the required wiring to make sure it will be adequate or need to be replaced.

6. NG or propane fired heaters are more suited to on demand systems than electric power units.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by ton80

I believe that Sowtime has identified a key item for consideration of replacing an electric tank water heater with a tankless electric on demand water heater. So far, no other Poster has even mentioned electric power supply as a consideration. I do not believe that you can supply enough electric power to a new on demand water to supply a whole house demand just using the using the existing electric supply to the tank system.

I am not an electrical engineer, but I will try to explain in general principles.
1. A tank system has a typical recovery rate of some 20 gal per hour.
2. A single typical shower uses 1.5 gal/ minute or 90 gal/hour. Shower water is a mix of hot and cold water and depends on the supply water temperature, the desired shower water temperature, etc. For me, a mix of 50/50 seems a good mix. So 45 gph cold and 45 gph hot. Do the math and it does not look possible using only the same electric power supply that the 20 gal per hour tank heater has currently. So the power supply needs to be at least doubled for a whole house setup. My electric panel has 2 spaces for the 220/240 v circuit to the water heater. Sowtime says he needed 4 spaces, so it is nominally double. I know that there are various sizes of breakers and wires but you can check the specifics when you are considering a specific heater.

3. IMHO the quote re Rinnai on demand water heater providing hot water for 4 showers plus other users simultaneously has to be a gas fired heater not electric. I googled Rinnai and found no electric models at all.

4. The electric on demand water heaters such as ecosmart have electric power demands of 18 and 36 kw. 18 000 watts/240 volts = 75 amps required. 36 000 watts/ 240 volts =150 amps.

5. My electric power supply panel has a 200 amp breaker but needs to supply HVAC , stoves etc, when someone wants to take a shower. IMHO, the 18kw model can be possible but not the 36 kw. You still need to check the required wiring to make sure it will be adequate or need to be replaced.

6. NG or propane fired heaters are more suited to on demand systems than electric power units.

Good point. I'm not an electrical engineer either, but it looks like an electric tankless water heater needs about 4 times the breaker size as a tank type water heater (30 amps vs 120 amps). It may not be possible to add a 120 amp breaker to the existing electrical panel. The panel itself may need to be upgraded to accommodate a 120 amp breaker. Maybe someone else can clarify this.

[lawgolfer]

Originally Posted by HABckb

Since my Rheem water heater is approaching 10 years in age I am considering having a tankless electric water heater installed instead. I am aware of the cost for electrical hook up as well as cost of the tank but am wondering what thoughts others have in regard to this consideration. I find it a waste of money to have water being maintained at temperature in existing 40 gal tank and thought a tankless system in the long run would be more efficient as well have a longer longevity. thoughts appreciated.

There should be no reason to replace a 10 year old water heater. Save your money and, instead, have the tank flushed and the sacrificial anode replaced and you'll get another 10 years service out of the present water heater.

Tankless water heaters are expensive. They also require yearly servicing to "descale" the tubes in which the water is heated. Although it is unlikely you will need it, should you lose your water service in a storm, you'll have 40 gal of water for emergency use if you have a regular water heater.

Many people believe that a tankless water heater will give them "instant" hot water. Not so, unless you have a tankless unit at each faucet. It will take just as long for hot water to reach the furthest faucet in your house if the tankless unit is installed at the same location as your present water heater. If you have to move the location of the tankless unit to outside your house, which you probably will, it may take even longer for hot water to reach your faucets.

If one of your goals is to have "instant" hot water, you should have the plumber who replaces the anode rod install a Watts recirculating pump at the hot water outlet of the water heater. These pumps cost $219 at Home Depot. They work in a unique manner. In addition to the pump, the kit includes a "manifold" which you install at the faucet furthest from the water heater (in some houses in TV, you will need two manifolds as the hot water line is split after entering the house, sending hot water in two directions). The manifold has internal valves that, when the hot water faucet is closed, directs the hot water into the cold water line and back to the tank. Hence when the hot water is not running, the pump is continuously pushing hot water at very low pressure throughout the house. Then, when a hot water faucet is opened, there will be hot water already at the faucet and you do not have to wait for it to travel all the way to the tank.

As the water being circulated travels from the tank, around the house, and back to the tank, it loses some of its heat. Thus, the hot water at the faucet closest to the tank will be very hot, the water at the last faucet in the circuit, not so hot. However, it only takes a few seconds for the hot water to arrive and it will be hot as the pipes in which it is flowing will already be warm.

The other downside, is that the cold water at a faucet will take some time before it is really cold. However, most everyone agrees that it is preferable to have hot water in a short time vs. always having cold water. (No one likes standing in the shower waiting for the hot water to arrive).

[lawgolfer]

Originally Posted by RUCdaze

I have to chime in with my two cents. I bought my pre-owned home here in late 2017. I already had a tankless heater. I have to let the water run for about 90 seconds before the hot water comes up. I've asked several professionals what I can do and they all told me there is a way to rig something up that would produce hot water faster, but it's expensive and probably not worth it. I live with the idea of wasting water everytime I need hot water.

There is no such thing as "instant" hot water unless you have a tankless unit at every faucet in the house (think of the small heaters some people have at the kitchen sink to fill a cup for tea or instant coffee). Wherever a whole-house tankless heater is installed, the water it heats still has to run through the pipes throughout the house to get to the faucets or showers.

If you have a whole-house tankless unit, you can rig a recirculating pump that will give you near-instant hot water throughout the house. You would connect the tankless unit to a holding tank-the best would be a small electric water heater of 10 gal. At the holding tank, you would install a Watts recirculating pump. The Watts pump would move hot water from the holding tank in a continuous loop throughout the house and, when a faucet is opened in the house, the tankless unit would kick on and replenish the water flowing from the holding tank to the faucet.

It will work, but it would be cheaper and easier to replace the tankless unit with a regular water heater and have the Watts pump added to the outlet of the water heater.