One of the first firm decisions I made in regard to the house was to use a tankless hot water heater. They use less energy, take up less space, provide unlimited hot water and just make a lot of sense. I have read everything I can find on the subject and know a couple who are using one and loving it.
This was all fine and dandy untill JD and I made the decision to go all electric. I barely gave any thought to how this would affect the water heater situation because I knew there were electric models available but the more I read about them the more I worried about the switch. Not to mention that both Alvin and the plumber were less than enthusiastic about the idea.
Then came Saturday and a trip to the local home show. Tankless hot water heaters were definitely the conversation piece du jour, showing up in several booths, and I thought I would finally get some straight answers. I asked an eager representative how the electric models compare to the gas ones and got a very negative response during which I glanced over his shoulder and noticed that I had asked the question at a gas company booth.
Regardless, his lengthy, passionate spill raised more doubts. The biggest being that my electrical service that is currently the normal 200 amp would have to be raised to a 400 amp to support the electrical tankless system needed for an average sized home, requiring more initial cost and raising the cost of your energy all together. Then, even after the energy upgrade the electric model would perform at a lower level, take longer to heat the water, not heat the water to as high a temperature, and affect water pressure. His advice was that if you can't go gas, don't go tankless at all.
So gas. JD and I decided against it because we heard that it can be very expensive and because we plan to install a whole house generator at the time of construction negating the need for gas during power outages. We also felt like we wanted to simplify. Now I am reconsidering. Here are the options:
- Go traditional, a 40 gallon electric tank.
- Go tankless and electric and hope for the best.
- Go gas powered tankless which would require a minimum of a two hundred gallon tank above ground or buried and use the gas solely for the purpose of heating water OR also go with a gas stove.
I am unsure. There is so much conflicting advice. For instance www.gotankless.com says:
"Electric tankless water heaters are very high power appliances. Since a tankless water heater operates entirely on demand and must do the work of a traditional water heater in a few minutes rather than throughout a whole day, the peak electrical consumption of an electric tankless water heater is relatively high (of course, they consume a lot less power overall!). Accordingly, in cold climate areas or demanding applications (high flow rate), it may be necessary for the home or business to have a 200 AMP electrical service to run an electric tankless water heater. For less demand applications or in warmer climates, only a 100, 125, or 150 AMP electrical service is usually required. This is an important consideration since not all homes and businesses have such electrical power available and upgrades can often be expensive."
You can read Newell Turner of Twilight Field Journal's positive account of his tankless heater here and an excellent, fact filled post by Ferret and Hound here. Electric tankless heaters are reviewed poorly at Amazon here and mostly positively on the gardenweb forums here.
Tomorrow, I will talk it over with Alvin. I may also call the plumber for his reasons for nay saying and talk once more to the owner of the local home store who has been selling both gas and electrical units with reportedly good feedback. I also wanted to post here hoping that some of you may have had some experience with tankless heaters. I would really appreciate any advice or opinions!
