Best Whole House Gas Tankless Water Heater Reviews

Remember well-nigh it: The way nigh households in this country heat water is absurdly wasteful. We make full upward big 40- to l-gallon storage tanks, then pour energy into them 24/7, year in and twelvemonth out, to make certain we take hot water at the set up whenever we want it.

Merely often it doesn't work out that way. If a teenager takes a long shower, or a spouse settles in for a tub soak, there can be a long look for that emptied tank to reheat. Then there are the nagging worries: Is it filled with energy-robbing sediment? Will it leap a leak? Both are reasonable concerns, as tanks mostly fail in eight to 12 years.

Tankless Water Heater Installation: Is It Worth It?

These are the arguments for investing in a tankless h2o heater. Information technology generates hot water only when you need it—and for as long every bit you need it—saving 27 to 50 percent of fuel costs over tank-type heaters. (A typical gas-fired tank wastes 40 to 50 pct of the fuel it burns.)

And considering there's no tank to neglect, at that place's almost no take a chance of a catastrophic leak. What'south more than, since their introduction in the U.s.a. in the 1990s, tankless heaters have become increasingly sophisticated, with features like built-in recirculating pumps (for "instant" hot h2o), and wireless connectivity that tells you via smartphone exactly when a unit needs maintenance.

Below is our guide to tankless water heaters. In it, we'll explicate how a tankless water heater works, tell you what you demand to know before you buy one—and before the installer arrives—and let you in on the units' operating quirks, so there won't be any surprises if you get tankless.

How Does a Tankless Water Heater Work?

Illustration by Doug Adams

1. It all starts when yous plough on the hot-water tap (i).
2. A period sensor (two) detects h2o coming into the heater and sends a point to the control panel to start producing hot h2o.
3. In a gas-fired unit, the control console (iii) turns on the fan (4), which draws in outside air, opens the gas valve (five) that lets in the gas, and ignites the burner (half-dozen).
4. The heat exchanger (7) captures oestrus from the flames and transfers it to the water moving through the exchanger's tubing.
5. The mixing valve (8) tempers the superheated water exiting the exchanger.
6. If the temperature sensor (ix) detects that the h2o exceeds or falls brusk of the desired setting, the panel will adjust the gas valve, the mixing valve, and the flow-regulating water valve (10) accordingly.
7. A sealed vent (11) (or pair of vents) through a roof or exterior wall carries away exhaust gases and conveys combustion air to the burner.

Thanks to: Phillip Maxwell, Residential Product Manager, Rheem; Eric Manzano, Production Training Supervisor, Noritz; Joe Holliday Senior Director, Product and Business Evolution, Rinnai; Fred Molina, Water Heater Products Manager, Bosch Thermotechnology

What to Know Nigh Tankless Water Heaters

Courtesy of Noritz

How Much Does a Tankless Water Heater Cost?

Prices range from about $170 for minor gas-fired units to more than $2,000 for high-output heaters that tin can supply ii showers at the same fourth dimension; $1,000 is about average.

Tankless electric heaters run between $90 and $900. First-time installation costs run more than a unproblematic tank replacement. (Meet subsection beneath, entitled "Electric Tankless Water Heater Installation.")

How to Install a Tankless H2o Heater

This is definitely a chore for a pro, as it involves making leak-free water, vent, and gas connections, in the case of gas or propane units, or upgrading the wiring and circuit-breaker console, in the instance of electric units.

Tankless Water Heater Maintenance

Sign upwards to accept a pro provide annual service, including cleaning or changing water and air filters and checking the burner. In areas with difficult h2o, a vinegar flush every 500 hours keeps mineral buildup—scale—from clogging the heat exchanger. That 20-infinitesimal job can be done past either a pro or a homeowner.

How Long Do Tankless Water Heaters Concluding?

Gas-burning tankless water heaters should operate for twenty years or more than, two or 3 times longer than tank-blazon heaters. Tankless electric units have shorter life spans, on the gild of 7 to ten years.

Where Can I Purchase One?

Plumbing supply stores, big-box stores, and online retailers all carry these heaters. Or gild one through your plumber.

Pros and Cons of Tankless Water Heaters

Courtesy of Noritz

PRO: They're Compact

Newer tank-type h2o heaters take grown bigger as federal regulations now require thicker insulation to reduce standby heat loss.

So they may not be able to fit into spaces where an sometime heater of the same capacity could go. Tankless gas heaters are about the size of a suitcase and hang on the wall.

PRO: They're Safer

Dissimilar a tank-type heater, they won't spill gallons of water if they spring a leak, or harbor Legionella bacteria, or tip over in an earthquake. And because the air supply and frazzle vents are sealed, carbon monoxide can't leak into the business firm due to backdrafting.

PRO: They're Piece of cake to Winterize

Owners of vacation homes know well how long it takes to drain a water-heater tank earlier closing upwardly a business firm for the winter. With a compressor, you lot can drain a tankless heater in a few seconds; and then you just unplug it.

CON: They're Sensitive to Dull Flow

If there'south too much calibration buildup in the pipes, or faucet and showerhead aerators are clogged, or a turned-down faucet reduces h2o flow to about 0.three gpm, these units automatically shut off.

CON: The Payback Takes Awhile

Compared with a tank-type heater costing $400 or then, a $ane,000 tankless gas heater may salvage a household only about $100 per twelvemonth, depending on how efficient it is and how much hot h2o is used.

Merely because these tankless gas units terminal longer, the savings kicks in after half dozen years, about when many tanks are nearing their demise.

New Tankless H2o Heater Engineering

Courtesy of Noritz

Tankless technology is constantly improving. Here are some of the latest refinements:

Higher Efficiency

Condensing gas heaters can excerpt upwards to 96 percent of a fuel'due south heat—a 17 per centum improvement over starting time-generation tankless units—thanks to a second heat exchanger that captures much of the frazzle rut before it goes out the vent.

They're about 25 percent more expensive than noncondensing heaters, and they create an acidic condensate that has to be neutralized. If a heater isn't equipped with a congenital-in neutralizing cartridge, the installer has to add together one.

Instant Hot H2o

Tankless units take about 15 seconds to bring water up to temperature, simply you still have to wait for that hot h2o to arrive at your shower head or faucet, but as you exercise with a tank-type heater.

When the altitude betwixt heater and fixture exceeds 50 feet, look for units with a congenital-in recirculation pump, which saves water and reduces waiting time. The pump, which can be turned on past a timer, a push button, a move sensor, a smart speaker, or a smartphone (above), pushes the cold water in the pipes back through the heater.

After about a infinitesimal, the pump shuts off and you lot become hot h2o seconds after opening the tap.

Wi-Fi Compatible

Tankless units with digital connectivity let you adapt the temperature and monitor gas and hot-water usage on your telephone.

More than important, the unit can identify the source of a problem. Relay that data to your plumber and he or she can evidence up knowing exactly what needs to exist done. That characteristic also eliminates whatsoever guesswork most when it'due south fourth dimension to descale.

Tankless Water Heater Rebates: A Great Way to Save

Photo past Carl Tremblay

What Size Tankless Water Heater Do I Need?

Here'southward how the pros make sure your heater delivers enough hot water.

Information technology takes a big outburst of BTUs for a tankless heater to turn cold water into hot water in just a few seconds. But if a heater's Btu output can't keep upwardly with need, it volition cut back the catamenia, or, worse case, deliver lukewarm water.

To determine whether a heater will be able to run across a household's needs, a plumber looks at iii factors:

• The temperature of the h2o coming into the heater
• The peak demand for hot water in gallons per infinitesimal (gpm)
• The heater's efficiency, every bit indicated past its Compatible Energy Factor, institute in the production specs.

1. The first step: A pro finds out how many Btus per gallon a heater needs to raise the incoming h2o to 120 degrees (see the map in the next slide).
2. Next comes peak need, the sum of the menstruum rates for every apparatus and fixture that could be using hot h2o at the same time. (Those rates are listed in the next slide.) The full gets shaved past 20 percent, since we don't breast-stroke or launder in 120-caste water. You lot can reduce peak demand past upgrading to low-catamenia fixtures and h2o-saving appliances, or by holding off on the washing when the shower is in apply.
3. Total Btu output is calculated by plugging the Btus-per-gallon and summit-need figures into the formula. If that output falls between two models, go the i with the higher Btu rating. And if the output exceeds 198,000 Btus, the maximum for residential gas heaters, you'll need two smaller units that work in tandem.

Btus Output Guess

Don't want to do the math? Use these figures to approximate how much heater output yous'll need.

• 1 bathroom, 1–2 people: 140,000 Btus
• 2 bathrooms, 2–3 people: 190,000 Btus
• 3 bathrooms, 3–5 people: 380,000 Btus

Btus Per Gallon by Region

Fixture menses rates

• Showerhead: 1.25–ii.5 gpm
• Kitchen or bath faucet: 1.5–2.2 gpm
• Tub filler faucet: 4 gpm
• Dishwasher: i–ii.five gpm
• Washing machine: i.5–3 gpm

How to Determine gpm?

To find the actual gpm of a fixture, fourth dimension how many seconds information technology takes to fill a bucket to a i-quart marker. Dividing fifteen past that number of seconds equals gpm.

Electric Tankless H2o Heater Facts

Courtesy of Stiebel and Eltron

Homes without a gas line or propane tank can as well enjoy the advantages of on-demand hot h2o past installing tankless units powered by electricity. These units, which estrus water with thick copper rods, are quieter and about a third smaller than gas or propane tankless heaters. And because they don't demand vents, they tin can be installed almost anywhere, including nether sinks and in small closets.

One drawback to electrical units is its express output, which tops out at 36 kilowatts, or well-nigh 123,000 Btus. That may be enough to supply a whole business firm in areas with warm groundwater, simply in colder climes they're better suited to point-of-use service, where the demand for hot water doesn't get besides high. Whichever type you choose, it volition need sufficient amperage at the main console and heavy-gauge wires.

As well, electric heaters last just virtually one-half every bit long equally gas units: Typical warranties are three to five years. Once the heating elements fry, it usually costs well-nigh as much to replace the unabridged heater every bit it does to bandy in new elements.

Tankless Water Heater Installation

Analogy by Doug Adams

What y'all and your plumber need to appraise before installation day:

Gas Line

For the burner in a tankless heater to perform properly, it has to be hooked up to a gas-supply line that delivers enough volume at sufficient pressure. In many cases that ways the bore of the supply pipage has to be increased to 3⁄4 inch. And if the pressure falls short, the gas company will have to adjust the regulator on the meter.

FYI: Some tankless units, such as those made past Rheem, are able to piece of work with a standard ½-inch gas line, provided information technology isn't longer than 24 anxiety.

Venting

Noncondensing tankless gas heaters employ stainless-steel vents that can withstand high exhaust estrus. Condensing units have a libation exhaust, and utilise less expensive PVC pipes. A concentric vent, which has an exhaust pipe inside a larger air-intake pipe, simplifies installation because just ane pigsty needs to exist cutting in the wall.

FYI: Typically, vent runs have been limited to merely 10 anxiety. Simply more powerful fans, similar those in Rinnai's Sensei serial, at present permit vents to run up to 150 feet.

Water Hardness

Calibration deposits that grade in a heat exchanger (or on electric heating elements) tedious down heat transfer and constrict water menstruation. Scale won't be an issue if you already have whole-house water-softening. But if your h2o isn't being softened, and its hardness exceeds 120 milligrams per liter, and then it's worth investing in a treatment system.

FYI: A dedicated, indicate-of-use cartridge like the TAC-ler water conditioner (Stiebel Eltron) alters hardness without adding salt or other chemicals.

Outdoor Tankless Water Heater

Photo by Matt Risinger

Consider the advantages of hanging a heater outdoors, if your climate and local codes permit.

• Saves infinite: That'south one less appliance yous accept to make room for inside.
• Simple to install: The built-in exhaust vent eliminates having to cut a big pigsty (or ii) through the side of the firm.
• Like shooting fish in a barrel to service: A plumber can get to it at any time, whether you're home or not. Simply go on in mind...
• Building regulations: You may demand permission from your local building department to put it outside.
• Common cold weather: Internal heaters continue components toasty downwards to −22-degrees F, only exposed water pipes must exist insulated and wrapped in heat record that turns on automatically in freezing temperatures. Frozen pipes are less of a concern south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Tankless Water Heater Venting

Photo past Carl Tremblay

Looking for help with repairs around your home? A habitation warranty may assist. Bank check out these in-depth guides from the This Old House Reviews Team:

• Best dwelling warranty companies
• American Home Shield reviews
• AFC Home Club reviews
• Select Home Warranty reviews
• Choice Home Warranty reviews

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Source: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/plumbing/21019184/read-this-before-you-buy-a-tankless-water-heater

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