Tankless Water Heaters

The cost of installing a tankless water heater is almost three times that of a regular conventional water heater. Considering the little annual savings on gas, it will take MORE THAN 20 YEARS to pay off this difference.

Traditional hot water tanks need almost no maintenance. The tankless ones, however, need to be maintained – at the very least – every two years. When you boil water, there is a high chance of calcium buildup. In a tankless water heating system, this happens inside the heat exchanger tubes, inhibiting water flow, dropping the water pressure and reducing system efficiency. To remove this buildup, you need to pay the technician at least $200 – once every two years – to flush out your system with some sort of an acid and using special valves and other relevant equipment.

Taking the maintenance costs into account, not only you are left with no savings but you actually have to pay from your own pocket to have your system run properly. And do keep in mind that if you do not keep your tankless water heater maintained, the tubes will eventually become clogged and not only does the water pressure drop drastically, but so does the system efficiency!!

Tankless water heaters are complex systems that use many complicated and delicate mechanical and electronic elements. As compared with storage water heaters, there is a high chance of system breakdown and obviously they cost much more to fix.

To be completely frank, if you are replacing your old storage tank with a tankless heater, you are not likely to save much in space with the way many technicians go about their installations. To make it an easy job, the installer chooses a wall very close to the location of your old tank and he will use 2 one-piece plastic pipes from the old to the new water line connection. Then he will hook up the gas line and the new wires as well as the new venting system and you are left with very little – if any, in fact – saving in space.

The supply of hot water might be endless but dealing with inconsistent water temperatures is among tankless owners’ top complaints.

Tankless water heaters do not deliver hot water instantaneously, either. It takes time to heat the water to the set point, and cold water

90% of storage water heaters work with only gas and even in case of a gas interruption, you still have access to a tank full of hot water. With tankless models, however, not only during gas interruptions but even in times of power outages, you will not have a single drop of hot water and that can be something to consider as well.

When it comes to hot water tanks, you do not need to choose a specific installation location in the basement. However, tankless units have to be installed as close to both the water and gas meter as possible as their performance greatly depends on their location.