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#1
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Tankless Water Heater
I'm considering replacing a 40 gal water heater with an Rinnai tankless
heater. The Rinnai has a flow rate of 8 gpm. The shower in the master bath has a 2.5 gpm rate but there are six 2.5 gpm body shower spray heads mounted in the walls. Will the Rinnai have enough capacity to provide hot water if all heads are in use? Since this is a new house I'm not sure how well the heads worked with a 40 gal tank. Any advice/info? |
#2
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In article . com,
"bobby" wrote: I'm considering replacing a 40 gal water heater with an Rinnai tankless heater. The Rinnai has a flow rate of 8 gpm. The shower in the master bath has a 2.5 gpm rate but there are six 2.5 gpm body shower spray heads mounted in the walls. Will the Rinnai have enough capacity to provide hot water if all heads are in use? Since this is a new house I'm not sure how well the heads worked with a 40 gal tank. Any advice/info? 6 x 2.5 = 15, unless showers use a different form of math OR 2.5gpm is the MAX flow you are SOL |
#4
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We're buying this house this week so I don't know how long the
previous owner was able to run the showers. Sounds like something I should ask him the next time I see him. |
#5
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"bobby" wrote:
I'm considering replacing a 40 gal water heater with an Rinnai tankless heater. The Rinnai has a flow rate of 8 gpm. The shower in the master bath has a 2.5 gpm rate but there are six 2.5 gpm body shower spray heads mounted in the walls. Will the Rinnai have enough capacity to provide hot water if all heads are in use? Since this is a new house I'm not sure how well the heads worked with a 40 gal tank. Real unlikely. Assuming 50F cold water, 120F hot water, you're going to need 8.75gpm of hot just to get 85F water. Most folks prefer a shower closer to body temperature (say 100F), so you're going to need even more gpm out of the heater. And that assumes that you truly are getting 8gpm out of the water heater. Check the output curves -- you'll often see a marked reduction in output if the input water is particularly cold. |
#6
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On 8 Dec 2004 18:28:42 -0800, someone wrote:
Since this is a new house I'm not sure how well the heads worked with a 40 gal tank. They might work well, but certainly not for long - unless someone liked cold body sprays. Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file. |
#7
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On Wed, 8 Dec 2004 21:51:46 -0800, someone wrote:
Remember, 8gpm is the maximum hot water flow, but most people don't turn the shower up to 120 F. Let's say for simplicity that you like your shower with the knob straight up, equal proportions of hot and cold water..... It is unwaranted to equate the "knob straight up" with being equal volumes of hot and cold water. It seems unlikely that the average person would want such a lkewarm shower anyway. If the tank is at 120 degrees, and the incoming cold water is 60 degrees, equal volumes would only yield a 90 degree shower. Even 100 degrees is not usually percieved as a "hot" shower, and that would take 80 degree incoming cold water. Not many domestic hot water tanks are over 120 nor should they be for safety reasons. Neither the existing nor the proposed alternatives appear to be sufficient, but at least the existing tank can give 2 minutes of use. What is the impetus to convert to tankless anyway? -v. Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file. |
#8
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What is the impetus to convert to tankless anyway? Primary reason is to save space. This house has two 40 gal tanks, serving different parts of the house, one of which is in the master bedroom closet. |
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