Would you recommend a tankless propane water heater?

GRAPE-DRANK · Feb 3, 2014

I have a tankless electric, it struggles in the wintertime and takes a lot of current. It requires three 40 amp breakers.

I have a propane hater and one 125 gallon tank. It's very good heat when I fill the tank at 2.89 a gallon, no-so-much at 3.99 a gallon; which was the price Feb 1.

I want to get another 125 gallon tank and maybe a small tankless propane water heater to boost my electric one. Any thoughts?

John B. · Feb 3, 2014

I asked a friend of mine who owns a plumbing business about the tankless water heaters. She told me they don't recommend them.

Right now we have a 40 gallon propane water heater and I've made up my mind the next one will be electric with a timer.

GRAPE-DRANK · Feb 3, 2014

John,

Pros and Cons with my electric tankless

Pro - no tank to explode
Pro - 20+ year service life
Pro- very small, easy to install
Pro- not in use, uses no electricity

Con- Expensive initial investment
Con- Not quite as hot as I would like for winter use
Con- Uses current like an industrial welder
Con - takes a lot of breaker space

I would never, ever use a a conventional tank water heater ever again. I have had bad luck with them and I would not recommend one to anyone.

John Fulton · Feb 3, 2014

I have had a tankless propane water heater now for about 3 years. I love it. Absolutely no problems at all. And it had drastically reduced my electric bill. At the time I installed it there were Fed. and state tax incentives, plus industry and retail sale reductions. The $1500 tank cost me about $400. Like the installers said, "if you have water in the well and gas in your tank, you will have hot water."

John Fulton · Feb 3, 2014

It would be up to someone smarter than me to analyze the difference in BTU's created by electric tank heater vs. tankless propane. The wild card now is the recent drastic local fluctuations in propane costs. I installed mine when I installed an emergency 20k emergency generator. Also installed 2 propane space heaters, and 2 ports for gas grills, so it is hard to decipher just how much gas is utilized by the water heater. I have been lobbying my church to install tankless hear, it makes no sense to heat water in a 40 gal tank that is used only on Sunday. I think that if you purchase your propane very wisely, i.e.. on contract at reduced price, propane is much wiser way to heat water than tank-type electric.

Chris Jones · Feb 3, 2014

I researched them a few years back. What I understand is the electric tankless heaters take soo much current they might have to upgrade the power to my house especially if I want a unit big enough to handle more than one point of use at a time ability. Propane or NG would work fine but with the cost of propane today I doubt that's cheep. If you have municipal NG connections (which I don't) it might be a good buy as I think NG is still a fairly cheep energy source.

Also the tankless heaters cost more up front.

To the fellow who said putting in his gas tankless heater really cut his power bills, I'd only ask how much more he spends on gas now.

You might want to consider better insulation for the tank heater you have and perhaps a timer on that to turn it off during long periods of non-use. For instance I shower at night and use minimal hot water in the AM. I could switch my tank off after showering, dish washing, laundry in the evening. I would still have decently hot water for shaving in the AM. When I come home from work in the evening turn it on. I haven't as I have haven't taken the time yet to figure out if the reheating the tank in the evening takes less power than keeping it hot all day. Plus I want a decent payback period on the $50-$100 or so for the timer setup.

Dick2 · Feb 3, 2014

I saw them install a couple gas units on This Old House, then they stopped doing that. Now I'm hearing that even the gas units have problems, maybe after they tried to make them cheaper?

I've noticed that whenever TOH stops using a product, it probably wasn't as good as advertised.

Anyway, the industry is kind of avoiding installing any more, or so I hear.

INCase · Feb 3, 2014

Have looked into them and for us would only go with a NG unit but.. we would have to put in a new exhaust as they are high efficiency and can not be vented with any other appliance like our gas heat boiler. So that has been why i've not put one in yet. I'd like to as i can get a pretty good discount since the company i work for makes them (different division).

A KEY thing with tankless is getting one the right size for the demand. THey make a variety from a small one for a hand washing sink to ones that would handle a shower and dishwasher. I've heard the electrics are also more problematic than the gas units.

I too am feed up with POOR quality tank units and even thought about replacing the absolute Junk whirlpoolp from lowes i have that is only 4-5 years old. i'm thinking i'd better replace it before it goes completely bad.

jCarroll · Feb 3, 2014

Depends on the woman ..............
We had a house with natural gas, water heater in the basement
under the kitchen. Could get hot water at the sink with about
the first 2 gallons down the drain. Then each use of the hot
water faucet produced (at least) warm or hot water.

Now we have a country place with a deep basement, propane
tankless heater (the high end Ri... brand), and maybe 60' of pipe
from the heater to the kitchen faucet which runs through the
cool basement ceiling space.

Takes about 5-7 gallons of water for the first hot to get to the
sink. The long run cools down quicker than the old house. My
wife complains about not enough hot water - what she really
means is not hot quick enough, and the water cools too quickly.
When she runs the water to rinse a pot, the heater comes on for
8 seconds, then shuts down when the water flow stops.

My wife needs to be retrained on how to use this heater.

Wish me luck.

Dr. Walt · Feb 3, 2014

AHHH! , The joys of having a wood-burning hot water heater. A grocery bag full of wood scraps & 20 minutes later you have 40 gallons of scalding hot water. Cheap too! LOL!

D beatty · Feb 3, 2014

jCarrol have you got insulation on that pipe from heater to sink. You would be surprised how much that it helps( holds heat in pipe instead losing it to the cool basement).

RWK in WI · Feb 3, 2014

Another thing to think about.
If you have an dish washer or an automatic wash machine and it
uses warm or hot water for any of its cycles the instant hot water
heater is constantly trying to come on and shutting off each time
the washer takes some water. This is hard on the "brain" in the
water heater.
I have been told that several brands of heaters have no warranty if
they supply an automatic washer or a dishwasher.

Billy Shafer · Feb 3, 2014

Friend of mine had one installed about three years ago.It is now in the scrap pile beside the barn.

Steve@Advance · Feb 3, 2014

I asked the same basic question, about going with a tankless electric vs a standard electric tank type. The overwhelming reply was to stay away from the tankless electric. Reason being calcium problems, fluctuating temp, massive current draw.

I decided to go with a Rheem Marathon tank type heater. Made of fiberglass, lifetime tank, extra insulation for efficiency.

I just can't see a propane heater being less costly to operate, especially with the price instability right now.

If you have room, I'd vote for the fiberglass tank type. Cost twice what a steel tank does, but lasts forever, so they say...

D beatty · Feb 3, 2014

You have had problems with tank water heaters but I find ( if taken care of) tank heaters will last a long time. Built my house in 1978 and put in a 52 gallon Rheam electric water heater and it lasted 25 years. It was replaced with a 52 gallon Whirlpool stainless steel tank electric water heater and so far no problems. From what I read ( from manufactures) the life of the exchanger of a tankless gas waterheater is 20 years. I think this would vary depending on whats in your water ( iron, lime and other minerals).

mb58 · Feb 3, 2014

A freind of mine has had an LP gas tankless water heater for 9 years. No problems in all that time. Love"s it. If my big electric water heater dies I plan on replacing it with LP gas tankless.

1130Leo · Feb 3, 2014

I have a small tankless propane water heater at my
cabin, it works great for the application. I
bought a BOSCH tankless natural gas water heater
for my house, biggest piece of crap ever. A friend
of mine bought the Rinnai tankless, and he loves
it. The cheap one at the cabin is made for remote
low use cabins in alaska, the Rinnai is a much,
much better unit for every day use. I would not
even consider an electric unit.

State of Jefferson · Feb 3, 2014

I've researched them a fair amount. Put them in a few houses I built. I would recommend doing a good bit of research online before buying one. In certain circumstances they really shine. Other's, they flop. Most of the stuff I have been reading lately from the "green building" sources is not in favor of the tankless units.

Ben

RedDawg · Feb 3, 2014

Put in a Noritz NG Tankless water heater back in '07 when the wife and I did a complete main floor remodel and put in the 96 gallon jacuzzi type bathtub. The existing small 40 gallon hot water heater wasn't going to handle it. The tankless heater is still here and I love it. Wish I could say the same for the ex....

I'm doing a cabin expansion at the little farm I own and contemplating the water situation. No NG in the area. I was wondering about Tank vs Tankless and electric or propane. Good info on this thread.

jCarroll · Feb 3, 2014

As much of the pipe as I can get to has been insulated (by me). When I get a round tuit, I'll remove the ceiling panels and finish the job.

hd6gtom · Feb 3, 2014

We put 1 in our honey processing building several years ago. It is not the smallest 1 made. It will produce as much hot water as fast as you want it. It will produce enough scalding hot water to pass state cleanup inspections. When the energy efficient LP 50 gallon job goes bad in the house, I will have 1 professionally installed and professionally wired in my home.

GRAPE-DRANK · Feb 3, 2014

The electric tankless water heater I have is a Powerstar. It has a 3.7 gpm flow rate. It has good reviews. I have had it for about 5 years, no problems. I have to turn the temperature down for summertime use, but wintertime use is barely lukewarm unless I turn the water down really, really low.

It also supplies hot water to a Kenmore HE washer, no problems.

I can only use 1 outlet at a time for hot water.

I'm thinking of a small propane tankless to boost the heat in the wintertime, I'm thinking if I have them both turned low that the combination would make good hot water.

VicS · Feb 3, 2014

Probably not as cheap as yours. We have a electric heat-pump water heater. Runs for less than 1/3 of a regular electric one. GE brand. Got a 400 dollar rebate from electric company. Also got some off taxes for being energy saving.

Gambles · Feb 3, 2014

In less than 10 years, I"ve been through two of them and the one that I currently have will be needing warranty work soon.

Russ from MN · Feb 3, 2014

The life of a tankless water heater will depend on water quality, no one mentioned that. If you have a lot of minerals in your well water they will scale up. This can be flushed out with an acid solution if you are familiar with this process and have the equipment. If you have to hire someone to do it would eat up all your savings.

Would you recommend a tankless propane water heater?

Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Similar threads