Guest Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Our water heater is from the early 90s, and it's time to replace it before it goes bad. They aren't designed to last this long, and it's just a matter of time before the bottom rusts out and floods our basement. So we're going to replace it this year with our income tax return. Does anyone have any experience with tankless heaters? It seems like a pretty good deal - they're more expensive, but they cost less to operate and give you pretty much unlimited hot water. And since we're going to have teenagers within the next decade, it seems smart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zathras Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 I don't have any experience personally, but I found this link: https://georgebrazilplumbingelectrical.com/tankless-water-heater-what-you-need-to-know/?location=9030100&campaign=9887184700&content=494618362465&keyword=&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1KiBBhCcARIsAPWqoSpNAeFSyuGuvxDtpBRvck91QrWIXxuuskX4jwZVwE57gyNq0FRZFpUaAoDZEALw_wcB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metropolis Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Luckily our water heater was a year old when we bought it house. From what I've heard tankless systems don't offer a huge advantage over regular units. They're suppose to just longer, but not long enough to make up for the cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 10 minutes ago, Metropolis said: Luckily our water heater was a year old when we bought it house. From what I've heard tankless systems don't offer a huge advantage over regular units. They're suppose to just longer, but not long enough to make up for the cost. The main benefits I’m looking at are size and amount of hot water. We are already at a point where we run out of hot water in the middle of showers, but I don’t want to replace our tank with an even bigger one. Especially since current tanks are better insulated and therefore already bigger than what we currently have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tank Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Had one at my last place and it was amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 7 minutes ago, Tank said: Had one at my last place and it was amazing. Tell me more. Did it really provide unlimited hot water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tank Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Yes-- because it is in line it heats the water as it comes through. Water gets hot fast and stays hot forever. Both places I've had it, it was already installed, so I couldn't give you a 1 to 1 comparison of life before and after in comparison to a tank heater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metropolis Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 16 minutes ago, Fozzie said: The main benefits I’m looking at are size and amount of hot water. We are already at a point where we run out of hot water in the middle of showers, but I don’t want to replace our tank with an even bigger one. Especially since current tanks are better insulated and therefore already bigger than what we currently have. We have a 40 gallon gas unit and have never had that problem. A couple of my neighbors have thought about it, but ultimately ended up getting new tank heaters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 32 minutes ago, Metropolis said: We have a 40 gallon gas unit and have never had that problem. A couple of my neighbors have thought about it, but ultimately ended up getting new tank heaters. We have pretty limited space in our basement, and half of it is my office for the next year. So space is a huge factor, even if it’s just inches. But the fact that our heater is almost 30 years old may also contribute to running out of hot water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacen123 Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 My parents have a tankless heater and really like it. I wouldn't be able to get one here, though, because the water is so hard that it would destroy the tankless heater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Spam Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 Yeah, here in San Antonio you have to get a water filtration system so it doesn't wreck the small unit that is a tankless water heater. My ex has one installed in his studio. He's had a couple of things happen. They tend to only last about 5 years if you don't invest in a water filtration system so he's on his second one and the last one had to be replaced because it caused a small fire in his studio. I'm pretty sure the fire was caused by bad install (my ex did the work not a certified plumber but they're not millionaires). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacen123 Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 Now that I think about it, I am torn. If Tank isn't heating my water, then I'm sure it's being heated well, but, on the other hand, I am all for him doing manual labor for all of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metropolis Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 So i noticed water leaking from our hot water heater. Cleaned it up to see how much it was leaking. Not a lot. Cashed the plumber to come look at it. Button of the tank is rusting. Only fix is to get a new water heater. They would have charged $2500 for the heater she install. Told him I'd think about it. Hell no. Had to convince my wife that my son and me could replace it without boring up the house. It's a gas heater. I'll get a new one tomorrow after work and we'll put it in Tuesday morning. $800 after tax and extended warranty. Did you get the tankless put in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 9 minutes ago, Metropolis said: So i noticed water leaking from our hot water heater. Cleaned it up to see how much it was leaking. Not a lot. Cashed the plumber to come look at it. Button of the tank is rusting. Only fix is to get a new water heater. They would have charged $2500 for the heater she install. Told him I'd think about it. Hell no. Had to convince my wife that my son and me could replace it without boring up the house. It's a gas heater. I'll get a new one tomorrow after work and we'll put it in Tuesday morning. $800 after tax and extended warranty. Did you get the tankless put in? Not yet. I’ve been busy with a lot of other stuff, so something that isn’t an emergency has taken a back seat. Having said that, we all needed showers this morning so I took a cold shower to ensure everyone else had hot water. So it became a higher priority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metropolis Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 I was going to put it off for a bit. Now our hot water pressure has gone down. It could just need to be drained, but something tells me i should just get it before I HAVE to get a new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metropolis Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 Removing the old one and putting the new one in was super easy. The hard part came when we broke the return valve and had to repair that. Didn't a long time waking up and down the pipe aisle. Luckily there was a worker there who was able to tell me the difference between pvc and cpvc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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