Plumbers?

[Seriak]

I was reading up on tankless heaters and I will not go that route. My parents have had one for years, but you have to turn on the water then brush your teeth , vacuum your house, take out the trash, goto work for a few hours then the hot water is finally ready. And if it wasn't quite the temperature you wanted you make an adjustment and wait for it to take affect again. Also can have issues running multiple showers / appliances at the same time without booster pumps, etc. Not for me. At least not yet.

[The Codfather]

Originally Posted by Seriak

I was reading up on tankless heaters and I will not go that route. My parents have had one for years, but you have to turn on the water then brush your teeth , vacuum your house, take out the trash, goto work for a few hours then the hot water is finally ready. And if it wasn't quite the temperature you wanted you make an adjustment and wait for it to take affect again. Also can have issues running multiple showers / appliances at the same time without booster pumps, etc. Not for me. At least not yet.

As long as they are properly sized for the family, and have an adequate gpm, the newer units actually work fine. The largest problem is maintenance, which is never done by average home owner.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by The Codfather

As long as they are properly sized for the family, and have an adequate gpm, the newer units actually work fine. The largest problem is maintenance, which is never done by average home owner.

that and putting in older homes with 1/2" lines. the lines need to be upgraded also.

Steve

[mike31154]

My folks have had a tankless on demand heater for about 3-4 years now & they really like it. No maintenance yet & no plumbing/gas line upgrade required. They're in a mobile home park in the South Okanagan, so milder weather than most places in the country. They reported a noticeable savings in the gas bill after the install. As mentioned, the unit must be properly sized. For a larger family and locations with low incoming water temperature, you might need a fairly large unit, or gang two together. They've come a long way in the last few years with this technology and depending on how much you wish to spend for options, you can go as far as having individual temperature controls at different faucets in the house. Some systems allow you to set a priority as well, so if you're having a shower & someone decides to run hot water elsewhere, you don't get a surprise. Pretty much all of them come with at least one control unit allowing you to set the water temperature without having to run into the basement or wherever your tank is located.

With respect to the maintenance issue, most of the components are repairable/replaceable, even if not as DIY. Conventional tanks have a certain life expectancy & only a few components are repairable. After that they go to the landfill. My tank is living on borrowed time & I'm fairly certain I'll be switching to on demand when the time comes. Most provinces and/or the Feds offer incentives to install the newer tankless systems.