"Roger Shoaf" wrote in message
...

"John" wrote in message
...
"Roger Shoaf" wrote in message
...

"John" wrote in message
...
Does anyone have any knowledge of the quality of the Takagi tankless
water
heater? Are there any
major pros and cons for other brands? Thanks.

I have an AquaStar.

To install it I had to run a 3/4 inch gas line and a vent larger than
for
a
tank water heater.

Mine is a standing pilot type and it does not throttle to well if you
are
trying to take a shower while doing a load of wash or dishes.

The maintenance costs in parts is very high, I have had to repair it
three
times in 15 years.

When I moved in I went from electric hot water to the tankless gas, so
I
am
not too sure of the savings as I have nothing to compare.

I suspect if I was to do it all over again, I would go with a tank
style.
The initial cost is less and the maintenance costs are a lot less.
That
would probably buy a lot of gas.

The up side is that you never run out of hot water.

The newer fancier ones have a few more BTUs and a better throttling
sustem,
but I suspect that the initial cost and the periodic cost of parts will
be
a
lot more than the tank style.


Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube,
then
they come up with this striped stuff.

Thanks for the input. I've been delaying a tankless install because the
volume of hot water I need is only for 2 people plus the cost of propane
here in extreme north NY state is out of line with the rest of the world.
On
top of that I have a dual day/night electric rate and the current 120
gallon tank (now 31 years old and is not leaking !!) only heats at
night.The night rate is only about 5 cents total per kw. A plus for the
Takagi is it does not use a pilot light and offers an attractive
warranty.
I
would opt for the remote temp/service status sensor. Additionally I
already
have propane for my generator and I can do the install myself. I'm also
looking at solar now that there is a 30% tax credit on material and labor
with no upper dollar limit on the amount of the 2010 tax credit but I'd
probably still need a small electric backup.




I think if I were you I would opt to keep the electric hot water. You
perhaps could opt for a smaller water heater. The tankless sucks a whole
lot of gas while it is running, and your current electric rate for
nighttime
usage seems to be so cheap that you would never recover the cost of the
tankless.

You might want to consider some preventive maintenance on the 31year old
water heater. You might never need to replace it if your anode is kept in
good shape and you are able to flush the sediment from the bottom of the
tank. This web site explains how: http://waterheaterrescue.com/


--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube,
then
they come up with this striped stuff.


Thanks for all the inpt.