Anyone have a good tankless water heater to recommend?

[SheltieLover]

Hi All,

Just as my Biden Bucks (borrowed term) arrived, my water heater decided to start acting up.

I am looking for a tankless, high-efficiency unit, well made, for a resonable price, and offered by a company that will honor a DIY install.

I really like the Navien, made in South Korea, but they will not honor a DIY install.

Hiring a licensed plumber in the not-so-great state of TN pretty much ensures a screwed up install.

Thank you in advance!

[kozar]

1. Check local permit requirements

If hard wired, I know from my area a DYI could cause a host of issues, such as insurance issues , resale issues among others. Just my experience so we bit the bullet and put in another conventional WH,





Koz

[SheltieLover]

9. Thanks, K!

Good idea. I don't think they much care what goes on here.

I sure wish there were a noise ordinance for vehicles!

[leftieNanner]

2. Gas or Electric?

I looked into it a while back when my water heater failed. We have gas and the plumber (I have a good one - lucky me!) said that we would have to do a major repiping job because the tankless water heaters require higher BTUs and therefore a greater diameter pipe.

So we went with a traditional water heater - couldn't afford the new pipes.

Good luck to you SheltieLover!

[SheltieLover]

10. Thank you, LeftieNanner!

I have a 1" gas pipe and electricity in place.

Really makes no sense, the very high cost of these, other than that they can charge whatever they want.

Never made sense to me, even as a child, to heat a tank of water 24/7 when it gets so little use.

I had a Navien unit all picked out, excellent reviews, until I learned that they will not back the warranty if not "professionally" installed. (Oxymoron here...)

[GPV]

3. Our Rinnai propane has been running strong for 10 years, but was plumber installed

[CurtEastPoint]

6. I have a gas Rinnai and it's going strong after 15 years. Super efficient.

Hot water galore and low gas bill.

[SheltieLover]

12. Awesome!

Thanks for answering.

I really like the Rinnai units, but they are comparatively super expensive for the high-efficiency units. :-/

[SheltieLover]

11. I really like the Rinnai units

But they are really pricey for the high-efficiency line.

Thanks!

[genxlib]

4. We also have a Rinnai

It is a gas unit. Installed by a contractor who is certified in both plumbing and gas.

In most municipalities, they aren't going to let you work with gas yourself. They will make you have a licensed person.

If it is gas, the gas company may help you pay for it. They sold me mine for about a third of what it would ordinarily cost. All I have to do is agree to buy their gas.

In my experience, electric units were really too small to effectively do a reasonable size house.

[SheltieLover]

13. Thank you!

Well, they might take issue about the gas pipe, but I had to call the utility company to have my gas turned back on after a furnace repair. The man had NO IDEA what we were talking about when we asked him to calibrate the gas flow at the meter for the furnace. So the guy comes into the house, pulls out a wrench, disconnects the incoming gas line going to the furnace, puts his thumb over then end and says, "Yeh, you got gas."

But the best part was after he put the pipes back together and the whole house was filled with natural gas and I asked him about the smell and he insisted it was "Fine. It's just from me unscrewing it to check for gas flow."

Ya, if we'd listened to him, I likely wouldn't be alive to ask about a water heater. The fitting was so loose, I could tighten it with my weak fingers.

I did call to see if there was a rebate through the utility company, but the lady said because it is a public utility, rather than a private one, they do not offer such rebates.

I don't want an electric unit. I'm hoping to find what I need in a natural gas one.

[WheelWalker]

5. EZ Tankless Deluxe propane in my 325 sq ft studio

Self-installed for shower and kitchen use in my Covid Cottage last May. Company provided timely help/support via email when needed. Reasonably priced. Very efficient. I've been quite pleased.

https://www.eztankless.com/products/-main

[SheltieLover]

14. Sounds great!

Thanks for sharing about your unit. I will certainly look into it. I'm dead set on a stainless steel heat exchanger, I'll have to take a look.

[msdogi]

7. Rinnai or Navien

we had Bosch in under house installation, had to replace first after 10 years. I had the second, about ten years old replaced to go with outdoor installation for easy access. Plumber recommended Navien, I went with Rinnai for a little less cost (5k vs 4k).
Had a Bosch nearly set my rental on fire, replaced with a different one that died after about 8 years. Went with the Navien for that replacement.
We are on propane so efficiency is important, both units are working well so far.

[SheltieLover]

15. Yikes - Bosch

I'm hunting for a natural gas unit. Glad both your Rinnai and Navien are working well for you. Maybe pricing has changed, but Navien is a lot less than Rinnai, from what I've found.

Thanks for sharing!

[hunter]

8. We have a Bosch Aquastar that's sixteen years old.

It probably didn't save us any money when we had a house full of teenagers. Unlimited hot water meant they had no incentive to get out of the shower other than people banging on the door and yelling at them.

I did have to replace the little turbo-generator a few years ago when the original began to leak.

I never worried about warranty service because I can fix most things myself.

Many gas water heaters are no longer available in California for air quality reasons.

If I was doing it again I wouldn't go tankless. Many California cities are now encouraging heat pump water heaters and discouraging all gas appliances, including stoves.

My brother recently built a guest house / granny flat on his family compound and didn't like the complexity or size of most water heating options so he just stuck a $300 on-demand electric unit in there. Those things are tiny. Since local building regulations require low flow showers and faucets anyways a 13 kilowatt unit was plenty.

I suppose if you wanted to use an on-demand electric water heater an environmentally responsible way you'd only shower when fossil fuels were not dominating the electric power mix, that is, when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining brightly. As I write this, here in California, only 22% of our electricity is coming from fossil fuels so I guess it would be a good time to take an electrically heated shower.

[SheltieLover]

16. Interesting!

Ya, California rules can be a bear for sure.

I'm not concerned about the labor portion of the warranty, which seems to be quite short on all that I've explored, but the parts can be quite expensive.

I have a ductless AC/heat pump furnace and love it. During the big cold snap (10 days below freezing), my whole electric bill was only $114 and it was never cold in here, even when the temp dropped to zero.

But it seems the heat pump water heaters are ungodly expensive.

Also, the wiring to our house from the pole is not large enough to withstand an electric unit. I know, surreal, right? I spoke to the power company about this and they feel it's just fine. (Of course!) And I heard all about how wonderful aluminum wiring is. Bletch! 1st thing we did when we bought this place was to rewire it with a nive, heavy copper wire, and rewire the ceiling fans that were all live on the outside. (Seems to be quite common in the south for some reason.)

It is really impossible to comprehend the stupidity here, overall, without experiencing it, and I most definitely do not recommend that.

Thanks!