3 ms·

I went from a traditional (tank) gas water heater to a tankless gas water heater in my townhouse. I don't have any complaints about the performance of the wate

I went from a traditional (tank) gas water heater to a tankless gas water heater in my townhouse. I don't have any complaints about the performance of the water heater itself, but the process was a pain and I have had complaints from my neighbors about the gas smell when the water heater kicks on. Your mileage will almost certainly vary, but in my case the upgrade to a tankless water heater meant that the max gas draw for my house (if the water heater, furnace, stove and gas fireplace were all firing at once) would exceed the existing gas service to my house. So I had to get the gas company out to upgrade my service, which meant having the existing utility lines located multiple times (as the first markings washed away by the time the gas company came out), and I had bits of my yard dug up, etc. I also had to have county inspection folks come visit, and coordinate that with the plumber, etc. The exhaust for my water heater is right next to the border with my neighbor's townhouse, and they've got a deck at right about that level. And it turns out when a tankless water heater kicks on, the gas comes on for a second and then it ignites, pushing a small amount of unburned gas out the exhaust. My neighbors occasionally catch a whiff of that, and I've had to have the installer visit and get on the phone with the water heater manufacturer (Rinnai) to reassure them that everything is safe and working correctly. All told, if I knew then what I know now, I would have just gotten a new tank water heater - and I'm sure the entire process would have been over and done in a day, with no damage to the lawn or skittish neighbors. The guy who installed my water heater was a nice guy but I would have been happier meeting him once rather than a half dozen times. But if you wouldn't have to have upgrade your gas service or aren't worried about the exhaust location - by all means, join me in having infinite hot water!

jhallenworld 5y ago
Interesting, some of those older tank-less systems only kicked in if the flow rate was high enough. I used to have a really old tank-less system from the 1940s, it was just a heat exchanger in my oil heating steam boiler. This was massively inefficient, but it did provide infinite hot water.. My only complaint with my new (2013) tank gas hot water, is that the tank already cracked and had to be replaced. It was not cheap: $2200. This is a rip-off, but contractors are expensive. I think the new tank-less systems are supposed to be more reliable than traditional tank heaters.
- jessaustin 5y ago
  You paid that much for a water heater and it didn't have an eight-year warranty? Locally I'm seeing $650 for gas-fired 50-gallon 12-year-warranty heaters.
  - jhallenworld 5y ago
    That sounds right for the heater, but how much installed?
    - jessaustin 5y ago
      I suppose one might pay a plumber any amount of money. Once the gas lines are in use it surely doesn't take much work to unhook one appliance and hook up a new one? I installed a new (electric) hot water heater for my brother last week, but I didn't charge him for it...

jhallenworld 5y ago

Interesting, some of those older tank-less systems only kicked in if the flow rate was high enough. I used to have a really old tank-less system from the 1940s, it was just a heat exchanger in my oil heating steam boiler. This was massively inefficient, but it did provide infinite hot water.. My only complaint with my new (2013) tank gas hot water, is that the tank already cracked and had to be replaced. It was not cheap: $2200. This is a rip-off, but contractors are expensive. I think the new tank-less systems are supposed to be more reliable than traditional tank heaters.

jessaustin 5y ago
You paid that much for a water heater and it didn't have an eight-year warranty? Locally I'm seeing $650 for gas-fired 50-gallon 12-year-warranty heaters.
- jhallenworld 5y ago
  That sounds right for the heater, but how much installed?
  - jessaustin 5y ago
    I suppose one might pay a plumber any amount of money. Once the gas lines are in use it surely doesn't take much work to unhook one appliance and hook up a new one? I installed a new (electric) hot water heater for my brother last week, but I didn't charge him for it...