So You Want To Go Tankless?

Since about 2004 I have installed many tankless water heaters of all kinds. The technology has only gotten better with GPM output, Wi-Fi capability, instant hotwater recirculation systems, and just better energy ratings. But there are several things you want to know before considering a tankless water heater.

Am I going with natural gas, propane or electric? Do I even have an option?

This is only my opinion, of course, but I think the Gas tankless water heaters are the way to go simply because of how efficient they are. I should mention I have both installed in my home. But If you already have Natural Gas or even a Propane (LP) tank, they are a very efficient option and can handle most any high water demands with no trouble. You even have the capability of installing them in series, side by side, to provide whatever high volume is demanded. You see this mostly in commercial use or for that 11 bathroom house up on Tropical Trail. These water heaters have smart link cables that connect the brain so they all function as one water heater. RINNAI, as well as several other brands, offer “smart” systems that actually learn your hot water usage and the times of usage, and contain “comfort systems” that can provide instant hot water while maintaining a high standard of efficiency. People who care about not wasting water, which should be all of us, love this feature. Watching water go down the drain while waiting for hot water to get to your fixture is a thing of the past.

The Electric tankless water heater doesn’t quite offer all the options the gas heaters do, at this point in time anyways, but they have come a long way in the industry and have become more and more reliable and offer a good tankless option where only an electric source of energy is available. Here in the USA, anyways, they have earned a reputation of being extremely finicky and high maintenance, especially with the smaller under the counter “point of use” type. But I think that we, as plumbers, should give them a another look. The technology has definitely improved over the past decade. SHAW PLUMBING has used Stiebel Eltron, as well as Rheem with good customer feedback and a lot of success. In my experience and professional opinion, I would say you wouldn’t want to go smaller than an 18 kW for a standard two bathroom house so long as you don’t have a high volume tub filler, like you would find on a deck mount garden tub. However this requires room in your breaker panel. And for an 18 kW, for example, you will need room for two 40 Amp breakers and it will require 8AWG wire ran from the breaker panel to the heater. So this requires a licensed electrician in almost all cases to assess the panel and determine whether you’re even a candidate, especially in a condo, apartment, or townhome situation.

All in all, tankless water heaters have taken over the industry in new builds both commercial and residential. The only competition these days is the Hybrid water heaters with the heat pumps. But we will leave that for another discussion at another time.