I keep hearing tankless advocates talking about all the loss involved with tank-heaters. I don't believe it; in many cases it's not true.
A well insulated electric tank heater loses about .5% to 1% of its heat, per hour. So, a well insulated 40 gallon tank heater wastes about 5 gallons of hot water per day.
Average USA family uses 50 gallons of hot water daily. That results in 10% waste due to thermal loss while keeping 40 gallons hot all the time. That's not very much loss and results in a 90% efficient heater. It's also the reason why well insulated tank heaters are rated just about as high as tankless heaters when it comes to the efficiency numbers - if you read specs from unbiased sources. Tankless heaters also waste some energy - it does NOT all go to heating water. Consumer Reports did a study on tank heaters versus tankless and found no overall savings for most installations. I'll add this disclaimer - I don't tend to trust Consumer Reports without doublechecking, but I do agree with these findings.
A house with a family living in it - with one tankless heater needs something like a 3 1/2 GPM unit with a 55 degree temperature rise. That means if your cold water is normally 55 degrees F, the tankless heater will warm it up to 110 degrees (raises the temp by 55 degrees). To install, it requires a 120 amp, 220 volt circuit (more than some entire houses have). So, you've got the cost of the electrical installation, plus the $600-$700 for the new heater - about twice what a tank heater costs. I'll also add that parts for electric tank heaters are usually generic. If a part fails, like an electrode, upper or lower thermostat, I can go just about anywhere and get a new one. Not so easy with some of these tankless heaters.
As Mr. Buick-and-Deere stated earlier, there are certain type of applications - especially with long pipe runs, where a point-of-use tankless can save some money.
Another aspect of most tankless heaters that I regard as a downside is . . . they don't have thermostats. So, if you feed them with preheated water, they STILL come on and waste energy. This can be avoided by ordering "special" tankless heaters, usually made for the solar market.
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