Anyone have any experience with tankless water heaters? I'm considering the next round of home improvements and research indicates there are some real savings possibilities with this type of system. Anyone had it done? Your experience? Good? Bad?

Also interested in hearing about gas vs. electric. I'm getting mixed results on that. I can see some advantages to electric: lower cost to maintain, lower initial cost, more stable pricing vs. natural gas which may increase more rapidly in the coming years.

Thanks for any feedback.

Cheers,
Duane

Salut,

I was going to install one but then decided to wait a bit longer.  There is some savings but the initial cost is much higher.  You then have to see/calculate how long before you pay back your initial investment and then you start saving.  For me it was years for payback and unless you plan on being in the same house for a bit longer it is not worth it.

Furthermore, you have to modify your plumbing to match and maybe your electrical so it adds a few more $$ to the project.  It is the way of the future but the prices are not good enough at this time (in my opinion) that is why I decided to wait.  It is great technology but you have to do your homework i.e. how far is it from the normal usage like the kitchen etc.

I find Gas to be excellent but again more modification and since it usually mounts on a wall you need to protect your exhaust etc.  not this problem with electrical.  

I am sure I will do it one day but I considered it last year and decided to wait.

Hope this helps

Gilles

Was talking to a fellow Canadian who is in the HVAC business last week while we were vacationing. He has a tankless water heater and swears by it for the energy savings and the fact that it doesnt run out of hot water. Further, it takes up much less space.

We are having issues with our current  rental water heater and will need to put in a service call on the near future. Will be looking into the cost of tankless.

I remember reading an article in "home power" where they looked at them, they seemed to like them for the power savings.  although one of their examples had a small format standard water heater (like a small apartment size) set very low so that  there wasn't as much of a wait time for hot water.

The major thing to check is the flow capacity.  One option is to install a low capacity one under each sink of the ones that are far away from the main one.  Of course it cost more but the low flow ones are not as expensive.  This way you have instant hot water all the time and everywhere. For a shower or a washing machine the bigger ones are the way to go.

If you want to save on energy consider installing a hot water heater timer.  It will cut your water heater off during the off time (night) and then heat the water back up before usage.  This way you don't have hot water in the tank when no one is using it.  The timers are not expensive.  However, you will find some debate over this on the net. Again it is for you to do a bit of checking.

My two cents again

I had one installed about 2-3 months ago.  I am very happy with it.  It takes a couple more seconds for the hot water to arrive but nothing noticeable to me anyways.  As for the savings, I have noticed that I am paying less but I will need a couple of more bills to be able to say that it is from the on demand water heater.    

Had to get a service tech in recently to fix our tank heater. I really want a tankless but in the meantime the rental tank was repaired no charge.  Apparently the tankless unit rental is $10 more per month so we are still condsidering.

Novelty alone isnt a good reason to switch though, so I really want to know what we would save in energy. If it was a break even, we would do it. We are 3 adults and 1 kid full time, the second one part time.

Sensfreak, I am really interested to know if/what the change has been on you gas consumtion cost since the switch.

It is hard for me to say as I had it installed in the fall and I have been using the furnace and fireplace.  The heater that I have is whisper quiet unlike the fan that sat on top of the old water heater.  

I too researche dthe Gas /Oil vs electric and the  electric either tankless or tanked is less cost effective than oil/gas by a considerable amount. Even if gas or oil prices rise. Dont forget electricity is on the rise in the not too distant future. I have oil here and had the opportunity to get a free HE electric heater and passed it up.....OMHO wise decision onmy part