On Jul 24, 6:11Â*pm, " wrote:
On Jul 24, 6:52�pm, wrote:





On Jul 24, 4:28�pm, BobK207 wrote:

On Jul 24, 12:57�pm, wrote:

On Jul 24, 2:58�pm, ransley wrote:

On Jul 24, 1:43�pm, Anagram wrote:

I was going to get a whole-house tankless water heater, but changed my mind
after reading various forums with lots of complaints about them.. �I like
the idea of tankless, but want to wait till we move to a better house,
where it will be easier to install one at every hot water faucet, and when
the technology might improve such that you could use any amount of hot
water from 1/10 GPM to 5 GPM, without any hot-cold sandwiches etc.

But I'm still shopping for a water heater. �I want a high efficiency, high
recovery one, but only 18 inches in diameter. �That's a lot to ask, because
it doesn't leave much room for insulation. �It would probably have to have
a special kind of insulation that provided more insulation per amount of
thickness. �I would be willing to pay about twice the price of a normal
cheap water heater. �Is there anything available that would provide what I
want?

My present water heater is 18 inches in diameter, 40 gallons, but not very
efficient. �And it's old and has a leak. �I want to hurry before the leak
becomes serious. �What would be my best bet in this situation?

True high effeciency will cost you, its called a condensing unit. Why
18", I think you will be out of luck. AO Smith is a good brand with
many different units up to maybe 85 EF. I have NG tankless and I have
yet to hear anybody here complain that actualy has one or knew a dam
about what they were talking about, complaining without knowing facts
from actual use seems to be a way people justify their present 50%
efficent tanks.- Hide quoted text -

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Given the requirements of:

fast recovery
high efficiency
small size
not cost sensitive

I'm left wondering, why not get a whole house tankless? � But there is
a lot we don't know, like what fuel options you have.

I think the OP is willing to pay double the cost of a cheap tank type
w/h......

can he get full whole house tankless for that price?

He can get a whole house tankless for $750 - $1000. �I'd say that
qualifies as a YES. �And if you factor in the elimination of standby
losses over time, it sounds like a potentially viable solution,
depending on what fuel he has available.

Honestly, a �tankless install makes me a little nervous......all that
up front cost & hassle plus heat exchanger life ???? and the distinct
possibility of an under performing system. �Maybe only in fringe use
cases, but big initial bucks �(& questionable payback) for the
occasional lukewarm shower is �something I'd like to avoid.

And I'd say you're at least as biased against them as you claim
Ransley is biased in favor of them. � At least as Ransley says, he has
one installed.

Maybe if I owned Ted Kaczynski's cabin & lived his previous life style
but I don't see tankless working for me & my life.

But we're not talking about your life style. � We're talking about
someone who:

Wants rapid recovery
High efficiency
Is willing to pay 2X the cost of a regular WH
Has a small space reqtt, etc.

You see many conventional water heaters that fit that bill?

cheers
Bob- Hide quoted text -

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If the OPs current heater is electric he will be disappointed with any
electric tankless........ nearly no one likes electric tankless.

and sure wouldnt like upgrading to 200 amp service just to heat water,
plus normal 200 amp or whatever service for everything else.

that can easily cost thousands, and even then resul;ts may be marginal
where incoming water is cold in winter, limited flow, etc.

tankless warranties are no longer than 10 years, heck you can get
regular tanks with 12 year warranties.

regular tank heaters are simple, reliable, and pretty cheap to buy.

basic install and forget till it leaks.

while tankless require knowledgable techs, cleaning heater core
removing sediment, and occasionl parts replacement.

heck even ransley talks of his personally repairing his tanless.

question, when the last time any of you serviced your regular tank
type heater, most dont even drain water occasionally out the bottom to
remove sediment.......

The condensing tank type water heaters cost about the same as a
tankless, are as or more efficent, and dont have nagging troubles like
no hot water with a faucet barely on....

ransley must have a fiancial stake in tankless heaters..........- Hide quoted text -

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Yes mr hallerb, I do have a financial stake in my tankless, it gave me
a 4 year payback over an electric tank, but I only paid under 500 and
did the instal myself. At least this time tankless isnt getting beaten
down completly improperly. But there is no tank to rust, its copper
pipe designed to last 30 years, I ve done no maintenance on mine, but
it is set up to be able to be flushed. But for a family, often a tank
is best. For total Ng efficency no tank can match tankless by at least
10%, even condensing AO Smith units, And guess what, now AO Smith make
tankless.