I've always had a house with a gas water heater, and have always heard
how much less expensive they are to run than electric. Now I'm
house-hunting and one of the houses I like has oil forced hot air heat
(something else new to me) and an electric water heater. There is no gas
available.

I'm wondering if it would make any sense for me, as a single person, to
consider getting a tankless heater? (Having had a previous water heater
leak all over the basement, I can see a benefit to tankless, especially
since the house I looked at has the water heater on the main living level).

It's certainly not the first thing I'd consider upgrading, but I was
curious if
a) if electric hot water is really as expensive as I've always heard and
b) if there is such a thing as an oil, rather than electric, tankless
system (or would the limited amt of time it's used really make a
difference in the fuel source).
c) Would any other type of water heater be more efficient

Thanks!

On Oct 2, 10:57 am, Lee wrote:
I've always had a house with a gas water heater, and have always heard
how much less expensive they are to run than electric. Now I'm
house-hunting and one of the houses I like has oil forced hot air heat
(something else new to me) and an electric water heater. There is no gas
available.

I'm wondering if it would make any sense for me, as a single person, to
consider getting a tankless heater? (Having had a previous water heater
leak all over the basement, I can see a benefit to tankless, especially
since the house I looked at has the water heater on the main living level).

It's certainly not the first thing I'd consider upgrading, but I was
curious if
a) if electric hot water is really as expensive as I've always heard and
b) if there is such a thing as an oil, rather than electric, tankless
system (or would the limited amt of time it's used really make a
difference in the fuel source).
c) Would any other type of water heater be more efficient

Thanks!

Electricity is for most areas alot more expensive per btu than gas,
20-50-% more, an electric tankless will likely need 120a minimum and a
new service , unless you have 200a service, a propane tankless would
be cheaper to run, you would buy maybe a 100lb tank. Bosch Takagi and
Rinnai are good gas tankless units. Heating oil prices this year are
up alot, do your homework before you buy a money heating pit. Ng is
still cheapest.

On Oct 2, 2:09 pm, Meat Plow wrote:
On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:57:21 -0400, Lee wrote:
I've always had a house with a gas water heater, and have always heard
how much less expensive they are to run than electric. Now I'm
house-hunting and one of the houses I like has oil forced hot air heat
(something else new to me) and an electric water heater. There is no gas
available.

I'm wondering if it would make any sense for me, as a single person, to
consider getting a tankless heater? (Having had a previous water heater
leak all over the basement, I can see a benefit to tankless, especially
since the house I looked at has the water heater on the main living level).

It's certainly not the first thing I'd consider upgrading, but I was
curious if
a) if electric hot water is really as expensive as I've always heard and
b) if there is such a thing as an oil, rather than electric, tankless
system (or would the limited amt of time it's used really make a
difference in the fuel source).
c) Would any other type of water heater be more efficient

I don't think you'll save much seeing you'll be the only person using hot
water. Use cold water to wash your clothes. Take short, efficient showers.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Actualy a single person using tankless saves alot more than a family,
its stated so on tankless fact sheets. In constant use tanks are not
that much less efficent than tankless.

Lee wrote:
I've always had a house with a gas water heater, and have always heard
how much less expensive they are to run than electric. Now I'm
house-hunting and one of the houses I like has oil forced hot air heat
(something else new to me) and an electric water heater. There is no gas
available.

I'm wondering if it would make any sense for me, as a single person, to
consider getting a tankless heater? (Having had a previous water heater
leak all over the basement, I can see a benefit to tankless, especially
since the house I looked at has the water heater on the main living level).

It's certainly not the first thing I'd consider upgrading, but I was
curious if
a) if electric hot water is really as expensive as I've always heard and
b) if there is such a thing as an oil, rather than electric, tankless
system (or would the limited amt of time it's used really make a
difference in the fuel source).
c) Would any other type of water heater be more efficient

Thanks!

I, personally, would not want a home without natural gas. That is
beside the point. An electric water heater can have a timer attached -
if you live alone, that might be a good feature for you. If the w.h. is
old, replace it and get timer, insulation and pipe insulation.

I haven't used oil heat in eons. is this home rural? No n.g.
available, or just not hooked up?

Website with lots of info:

http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/.../mytopic=12300

Our electric utility offers reduced rate for signing onto elect.
reduction during peak hours for AC. It operates remotely, max.
reduction 2 hours, and we rarely notice. This is Florida, so it may or
may not be available where you live. Ck. with elect. co. for cost
reduction plans.

Norminn wrote:
Lee wrote:
I've always had a house with a gas water heater, and have always heard
how much less expensive they are to run than electric. Now I'm
house-hunting and one of the houses I like has oil forced hot air heat
(something else new to me) and an electric water heater. There is no
gas available.

I'm wondering if it would make any sense for me, as a single person,
to consider getting a tankless heater? (Having had a previous water
heater leak all over the basement, I can see a benefit to tankless,
especially since the house I looked at has the water heater on the
main living level).

It's certainly not the first thing I'd consider upgrading, but I was
curious if
a) if electric hot water is really as expensive as I've always heard and
b) if there is such a thing as an oil, rather than electric, tankless
system (or would the limited amt of time it's used really make a
difference in the fuel source).
c) Would any other type of water heater be more efficient

Thanks!

I, personally, would not want a home without natural gas. That is
beside the point. An electric water heater can have a timer attached -
if you live alone, that might be a good feature for you. If the w.h. is
old, replace it and get timer, insulation and pipe insulation.

I haven't used oil heat in eons. is this home rural? No n.g.
available, or just not hooked up?

Website with lots of info:

http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/.../mytopic=12300


Our electric utility offers reduced rate for signing onto elect.
reduction during peak hours for AC. It operates remotely, max.
reduction 2 hours, and we rarely notice. This is Florida, so it may or
may not be available where you live. Ck. with elect. co. for cost
reduction plans.

It's a suburban area, just a few miles from a large city. Apparently
there is natural gas in the neighborhood, up to a block or so away,
according to the home owner, but she said she was told it would be
really extensive to have it run to the house.

I'd rather have ng available (I'd love to have a gas fireplace, backup
generator etc), but I don't think the lack thereof would be a deal
breaker. OTOH, not having even considered an oil heated home before, I
am certainly open to hearing the pro's and con's. I'd always heard that
electric heat was expensive, and "thought" I'd heard once upon a time
that oil was about equivalent to ng.

We did have oil heat eons ago when I was growing up, and I remember
being "afraid" of the furnace and the giant (at least it seemed giant)
tank in our basement. Fortunately (I guess) the tank in this one house
is outside, and above ground.

Norminn wrote:
Lee wrote:
I've always had a house with a gas water heater, and have always heard
how much less expensive they are to run than electric. Now I'm
house-hunting and one of the houses I like has oil forced hot air heat
(something else new to me) and an electric water heater. There is no
gas available.

I'm wondering if it would make any sense for me, as a single person,
to consider getting a tankless heater? (Having had a previous water
heater leak all over the basement, I can see a benefit to tankless,
especially since the house I looked at has the water heater on the
main living level).

It's certainly not the first thing I'd consider upgrading, but I was
curious if
a) if electric hot water is really as expensive as I've always heard and
b) if there is such a thing as an oil, rather than electric, tankless
system (or would the limited amt of time it's used really make a
difference in the fuel source).
c) Would any other type of water heater be more efficient

Thanks!

I, personally, would not want a home without natural gas. That is
beside the point. An electric water heater can have a timer attached -
if you live alone, that might be a good feature for you. If the w.h. is
old, replace it and get timer, insulation and pipe insulation.

I haven't used oil heat in eons. is this home rural? No n.g.
available, or just not hooked up?

Website with lots of info:

http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/.../mytopic=12300


Our electric utility offers reduced rate for signing onto elect.
reduction during peak hours for AC. It operates remotely, max.
reduction 2 hours, and we rarely notice. This is Florida, so it may or
may not be available where you live. Ck. with elect. co. for cost
reduction plans.

Thanks for the info on the timer etc; that's something I never thought
of. The discussion of oil vs gas is interesting (and very relevant to me
right now) so I started a different thread about that. (Now all I have
to do is sell the inherited house that's currently on the market so that
I can seriously consider the oil house I looked at).

According to ransley :

Actualy a single person using tankless saves alot more than a family,
its stated so on tankless fact sheets. In constant use tanks are not
that much less efficent than tankless.

At least a year ago, someone in this n.g. had the opportunity to
test how much power an electric water heater uses simply to maintain
its setpoint temperature. He ran the water heater and _nothing_ else
for a month (I don't think he'd moved in yet), and if I recall
correctly, it was $3 of electricity/mo. Modern well-insulated tank.

It does not appear to make economic sense to _change_ a presently
functional good-quality electric water tank-style heater to a
tankless. Payback period would probably be decades. Picking
tankless when installing new or replacing a dead tank heater
might be a good idea.

Changing to gas, if it's available, is something a bit different ;-)
--
Chris Lewis,

Age and Treachery will Triumph over Youth and Skill
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

On 2007-10-02, Lee wrote:

Now I'm house-hunting and one of the houses I like has oil forced
hot air heat (something else new to me) and an electric water
heater. There is no gas available.

You could get an oil-fired tank water heater, although venting it may
present difficulties. Apparently there are also oil-fired tankless
water heaters, see for example http://www.toyotomiusa.com.

Cheers, Wayne

Wayne Whitney wrote:
On 2007-10-02, Lee wrote:

Now I'm house-hunting and one of the houses I like has oil forced
hot air heat (something else new to me) and an electric water
heater. There is no gas available.

You could get an oil-fired tank water heater, although venting it may
present difficulties. Apparently there are also oil-fired tankless
water heaters, see for example http://www.toyotomiusa.com.

Cheers, Wayne

Thank you. This is all helping my decision making/day dreaming.