Pluses and minuses of tankless water heaters
GBA Editor
| Posted in Energy Efficiency and Durability on
As we consider installing a tankless water heater to replace our 50 gallon gas tank water heater, I’m concerned with reports from many tankless users that hot water delivery is slower than a storage tank. This translates to an increase in water consumption.
When the benefits of a tankless water system were presented to us, many details of the potential problems and downside to the system were ignored. Information on the real impact of these systems is needed, including the tradeoff of increased water consumption for a potential of less gas usage.
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Replies
Fred,
Do you have a question? Or are you simply a fan of tank-type water heaters who is warning consumers away from tankless models?
Martin:
My question, before it was edited, was "Where can better data be found comparing the pros and cons of tank versus tankless?" I'm not advocating one over the other at this point, simply sharing what we are considering in our decision making process. With increasing scarcity and cost of potable water, selection of a heating system must consider water as well as gas consumption. And such data appears difficut to find. Thanks for your help.
Fred
Fred,
In case you missed these pages, here is some relevant information from the GBA site:
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/energy-solutions/storage-vs-tankless-water-heaters
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/community/forum/green-products-and-materials/15234/tankless-hot-water-heaters
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/community/forum/mechanicals/13767/how-do-i-reconcile-electric-tankless-water-heater-and-low-flow-fau
Don't forget to read comments from readers!
Martin:
Thanks for the references. I reviewed some blogs earlier today but appreciate knowing of the others. Discussion about minimum flow to trigger the tankless system raises another issue to check on if we decide on the TWH.
Fred
I have an electric tankless system in the basement.. There was always a long wait for hot water at the upstairs shower with tank or not, because of the long run. Minimum water flow is not a problem, excessive water flow, filling the tub, was a problem (heater would shut off) until I reduced the flow. No vent is why I went electric. Two people out of the house all day keeping a tank warm made no sense.