On Jan 31, 9:05*am, "Existential Angst" wrote:
http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/pag.../Longevity/tan...

Now, this guy sells anodes'n'**** for tanks, but I found his take
level-headed.
The raw thermodynamics of tankless -- esp. gas tankless -- puts one big
strike against tankless from the gitgo.
--
EA

It's a decent summary of the various issues involved. The
only points where I would disagree are where he claims it's
$600 for an installed tank versus $2500 for an installed
tankless and more if it's a retrofit. I can see the $2500+ for
some, maybe a lot of retrofits. But for a straight swap it
seems very high. And I would disagree that a well insulated
tank type unit's energy issue is only the pilot light and loss
through the pipes. The basic, cheap conventional that
he's comparing to has a flue that goes right up the middle
of the hot tank. A significant amount of heat is lost via
that path when the tank is just sitting there. You can
reduce that path via one of the direct vent type units,
but then those are significantly more money and like a
tankless have more install work involved for a retrofit.

I also have some doubts about the claims that manufacturers
of tankless come and go. That may be true with some, but
there are major manufacturers that have been around a long
time, including well established companies that make both
tank and tankless.