Tankless Water Heater... - Coppell,TX

Hi there,
I've been in the retail construction industry for years, and so I've had lots and lots of experience with tankless hot water heaters both in the commercial field and residential in my own home.

I think the estimate you have is WAY high. I've never paid that much even for a commercial-grade unit. Check eBay if your local plumbing supply house is giving you a high quote. Buy the unit yourself and save the plumber's markup. Furthermore, check around locally and find several plumbers to give you installation quotes. You shouldn't need to pay more than $2K all-in. I would stick with Rinnai or Takagi and stay far, far away from Bosch (Bosch does a lot of things well, but not water heaters).

I have always been very happy with my tankless hot water heaters; I have heard of people who have had issues with them HOWEVER it is almost always because of incorrect installation. A couple of things to watch out for: read the manual and determine the correct type of exhaust. This is SO IMPORTANT! Your unit will fail if the incorrect type of exhaust pipe is installed. For instance, for a gas hot water heater, you usually need to install stainless steel exhaust pipe. A lot of plumbers try to cheap out and use galvanized or aluminum. This will ruin your hwh and void the warranty - it will cause condensation to run back into the unit's electronics and/or overheat and shut down. If you use the proper exhaust, you won't have problems.

One other thing to think about is, if you have low-flow faucets and shower heads, you will need to change them out for standard flow. Tankless heaters require a certain flow demand in order to kick in and work. If the demand is too low, they don't turn on. Also, although it sounds counter-intuitive, you will need to set the temperature pretty low - therefore a lower flow demand will cause it to work (i.e. if it's kicking out 120* water, you will only need very little hot water when you take a shower, so the heater won't turn on - however if you set it at 103*, your shower will be almost entirely hot water, so the unit will turn on... see what I mean?)

Anyway, if you follow the above suggestions, the tankless unit will be the best thing that ever happened to you. If I can be of any help or answer any installation related questions, let me know!

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We just did a remodel in our home, got a gas line (for stove, dryer and tankless water heater) - and so far so good.

As someone else mentioned, it takes MUCH less space than a traditional water heater (very small actually). Ours is outside - I do notice that when someone is using hot water it kicks off some heat (so ask about that).

When we first got it I was worried that the water wouldn't get hot enough (I like VERY hot showers). It actually does fine, but I would ask how you set the temp (if that's even possible) before you get one. I didn't think to ask that.

It truly does seem MUCH more energy efficient, so for us - so far so good!

Good luck with your decision!

My friends have one - he is a contractor - and they love it. It takes up virtually no space in the basement and the hot water is on demand.

The only downturn is that if the power goes out, it does too (I believe).

I DESPISE my tankless water heater! The ONLY plus is that once the water heats up, you can have all the hot water you want anywhere in the house. Three people can take hot showers at one time while the dishwasher is going (although it will make the water pressure go up and down). HOWEVER -and maybe some of them are better than the one that came with our house -every cent you may save you pay out on wasted water! It takes FOREVER for our water to heat up. It literally makes me sick to think about how much water we waste constantly because I'm talking about a full minute to minute and a half of running water before it even starts to feel warm. We try to catch some of it in containers or plants, but for all of the supposed "green" effects -we're wasting way too much water for it to be cost-effective or "green." And yes, we've had it checked to make sure it's operating correctly.

They save space, but that isn't an issue for us -if it is for you that may make it worth it. I really wish we had a giant water tank in our basement closet that made the water hot a few seconds after I turned it on!

We put in an electric water heater to help with space in our laundry room and electric bill. It does have it's quirks: it isn't instant as soon as you turn the faucet on, you do have to wait for the hot water to get from the heater to the faucet, and you still have to be careful how many things are on at the same time ie shower and washing mashine, but it is worth it in my opinion, since we saved space and on gas bills. ( why must the "delievery" fee = the actual cost of the gas? But that's another rant)
Part of the install included upgrading our electric box to accomodate the power it needed, but we kind of needed that anyway. I think the higher end models or gas tankless are supposedly better at the things I mentioned before, but cost twice as much.
I need more coffee to be more coherent I think, but you can contact me if you have any questions for me. We did the $4000 tankless, so I think our experiance would be similar.

My mom bought a tankless water heater when her old one died. She loves it. She lives in a small place so it takes up little room. It's just her, except when her brother stays with her and she is really glad she chose it.

Hope that helps!