3 ms·

Your spending more energy engineering that instead of just buying a tankless water heater if you care that much about it.

Scoundreller 2y ago
Depends… if you like to take your showers at peak times, the tankless might cost you more in opex (in addition to the capex). More and more “tank” water heaters are moving to heat pumps which should use less electricity overall than a tankless (if you can handle the possibility of running out of hot water).
- infecto 2y ago
  Which if you go that angle the capex on a heat pump heater regardless if hybrid or pure electric is going to negate any savings, those are typically 2-3x of a higher quality brand traditional water heater. Which full circle going back to the original discussion of turning off the heater. You probably end up close to no/low savings. I can see an argument of a smart heater being able to slightly adjust load at peak times but I engineering a heater to turn off when you are sleeping and then heating back up before use is probably going to not have much savings. Those heaters are increasingly made to edge out at maintaining the heat and take quite a few hours to heat up.
grecy 2y ago
Can you get tankless electric? I thought they were only gas
- infecto 2y ago
  They definitely exist. I never had one and my understand it was they are generally not as great as the gas equivalent. https://www.supplyhouse.com/Tankless-Water-Heaters-1060000 https://www.supplyhouse.com/Tankless-Water-Heaters-1060000
  - Symbiote 2y ago
    The cheap ones are fairly common in Britain where the user isn't choosing (student houses, cheap rentals etc). The installation cost is low, but the running cost is high. They are crap. 8kW is typical, and the pressure for a reasonable water temperature is low. I haven't knowingly used a more powerful one. I suspect that would negate the cheap installation cost, as it would need a three phase circuit.
- bokohut 2y ago
  Yes, You can buy an electric tankless but just be extremely informed of the large amperage requirement to instantly heat your selected gallons per minute flow.
- kccqzy 2y ago
  Yeah you can find them on the Home Depot site. The largest ones use 36kW which is beyond a typical residence's electrical service. It doesn't save you any money if you need to upgrade your electric service. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rheem-Performance-36-kw-Self-Modulating-7-03-GPM-Tankless-Electric-Water-Heater-RETEX-36/300800822 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rheem-Performance-36-kw-Self-Mod...

Scoundreller 2y ago

Depends… if you like to take your showers at peak times, the tankless might cost you more in opex (in addition to the capex). More and more “tank” water heaters are moving to heat pumps which should use less electricity overall than a tankless (if you can handle the possibility of running out of hot water).

infecto 2y ago
Which if you go that angle the capex on a heat pump heater regardless if hybrid or pure electric is going to negate any savings, those are typically 2-3x of a higher quality brand traditional water heater. Which full circle going back to the original discussion of turning off the heater. You probably end up close to no/low savings. I can see an argument of a smart heater being able to slightly adjust load at peak times but I engineering a heater to turn off when you are sleeping and then heating back up before use is probably going to not have much savings. Those heaters are increasingly made to edge out at maintaining the heat and take quite a few hours to heat up.

grecy 2y ago

Can you get tankless electric? I thought they were only gas

infecto 2y ago
They definitely exist. I never had one and my understand it was they are generally not as great as the gas equivalent. https://www.supplyhouse.com/Tankless-Water-Heaters-1060000 https://www.supplyhouse.com/Tankless-Water-Heaters-1060000
- Symbiote 2y ago
  The cheap ones are fairly common in Britain where the user isn't choosing (student houses, cheap rentals etc). The installation cost is low, but the running cost is high. They are crap. 8kW is typical, and the pressure for a reasonable water temperature is low. I haven't knowingly used a more powerful one. I suspect that would negate the cheap installation cost, as it would need a three phase circuit.
bokohut 2y ago
Yes, You can buy an electric tankless but just be extremely informed of the large amperage requirement to instantly heat your selected gallons per minute flow.
kccqzy 2y ago
Yeah you can find them on the Home Depot site. The largest ones use 36kW which is beyond a typical residence's electrical service. It doesn't save you any money if you need to upgrade your electric service. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rheem-Performance-36-kw-Self-Modulating-7-03-GPM-Tankless-Electric-Water-Heater-RETEX-36/300800822 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rheem-Performance-36-kw-Self-Mod...