The math of tankless water heaters

[Rideski]

What have you guys been paying to have tankless water heaters installed? I'm hearing like $2k if I have a unit and need to have it plugged into the existing has and water. Nutso.

[nickwm21]

2 plumbers + van + consumables + overhead + profit. Sure.


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[nickwm21]

2 plumbers for a day + van + consumables + overhead + profit. Sure.


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[climberevan]

2 plumbers + van + consumables + overhead + profit. Sure.


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Sounds right to me. I always recommend against tankless if my clients will listen. We've covered this before.

[Rideski]

What's harder about plugging in a tankless vs a tank?
I watched a one guy plug in a tank in about 20 minutes.

And to clarify they're saying $2k labor, with me providing the unit.

[Kenny Satch]

My new place already had a thankless system. Not really digging it because I waste far too much water getting it hot enough for a shower or washing the dishes. Great for those that like an half an hour shower of for having relations with a constant supply of hot water.
IMO wasting water is an eco-sin.

[PB]

My new place already had a thankless system. Not really digging it because I waste far too much water getting it hot enough for a shower or washing the dishes. Great for those that like an half an hour shower of for having relations with a constant supply of hot water.
IMO wasting water is an eco-sin.

Bit of a pain, but you can collect the pre-warm water for other tasks.

[KJA64]

You can put in a recirculating pump but that seems antithetical to an instant imho. The main cost I found putting in a tankless was added venting and bigger gas connect.

[Kenny Satch]

Bit of a pain, but you can collect the pre-warm water for other tasks.

You can put in a recirculating pump but that seems antithetical to an instant imho. The main cost I found putting in a tankless was added venting and bigger gas connect.

I've been told but to be honest have not gotten an estimates yet.
Thanks.

[Danno]

So, has the math changed since I started this thread 17 years ago?

Our mountain place still has the original water heater (electric) from 2007/2008, so want to change it out. The idea of tankless appeals because we're sometimes not there for a few weeks and the idea of spending money to keep heating a large tank of water seems silly.

Is electric better or worse for on-demand heaters? Does elevation play a role if there is no gas? We're at 7500'.

Anyone have insight, idea of cost, etc?

[frorider]

Here in Tahoe a complete parts & labor install on a conventional gas water heater is $2000 currently.

[frorider]

The plumber I deal with has steered me away from tankless. We don’t use much hot water.

[mcski]

^ same. I’ve considered it for our house in Tahoe but we aren’t there enough or use enough to justify it. Plus we’ve never had an issue w the pipes freezing and don’t want to upset that cart. I feel like it’s spending a boatload of money on an electric car to save a few bucks on gas

[emoji638] grand seems pricey to replace an existing h[emoji638]o heater.

[XXX-er]

This ^^ spending a lot of $$$$ to save a little $, also i have a basement suite which means 2 of everything so the the plumber guy suggested staying with gas for fast recoverey

[nickwm21]

Just unplug it when you leave


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[liv2ski]

Or turn it down

[Danno]

Just unplug it when you leave

Or turn it down

those don't work with the current heater because we sometimes have guests stay there (we don't rent it) and we need something super user friendly; don't want to have someone crawling around the tank to plug it in. Current model doesn't have an easy temp adjustment but a newer one might.

Still like the idea of on-demand but it sounds like a bad idea.

[mcski]

I used to turn our heater temp down whenever we left but finally quit when I realized it really didn’t make much if any difference

[plugboots]

We like our tankless water heater. It works fine. Takes up no space, turns on when we need it.
Our other house has a normal tank water heater, and the one bathroom at the other end of the house takes forever to get hot water, so the whole “waiting for hot water” thing depends on a lot of factors. It’s really fast with our Rinnai, and as I described, it can be really slow with our tank water heater.

[old goat]

We have a gas tankless. The biggest advantage is that we never run out of hot water. It makes a lot of sense if you get large crowds all wanting to shower. I can run the dishwasher, take a shower, and do laundry at the same time. It takes up less space in a house that's tight for storage. (To be more accurate, we have too much stuff for any house. The wife likes Costco even though there's just 2 of us.) My LEED certified architect friend (aren't they all?) doesn't think it pencils out economically, given the efficiency of current water heaters.

[climberevan]

Yep, the math hasn't changed.

[riser4]

Im not a big fan of my 10+/- yo Rinai HE gas combo boiler/on demand water heater. Its been a struggle to keep it going. And honestly, it really never did either job very well. Im not planning to get another HE unit. 90% from a modern unit will be good enough for me because when I want my house warm, I want it warm.

[Danno]

Yep, the math hasn't changed.

in my best Emily Litella voice, "nevermind".

[singlesline]

those don't work with the current heater because we sometimes have guests stay there (we don't rent it) and we need something super user friendly; don't want to have someone crawling around the tank to plug it in. Current model doesn't have an easy temp adjustment but a newer one might.

Still like the idea of on-demand but it sounds like a bad idea.

Lots of modern water heaters with smart features which usually sound stupid, but make sense for that kind of use case. Your guests don't have to do anything, you can just open the app and say "give hot water for the next week" as long as the place has a working internet connection. Probably also have some features that can let you know remotely if something seems wrong or is leaking which could be handy.

Research I did recently suggests electric on demand is mostly a no go in places where the input water is pretty cold. Gas works, but still has tradeoffs.

I'd love to reclaim the closet my water heater is in and be able to take longer showers (because the closet doesn't even fit a very big heater), but I don't have a gas line. I also have poorly planned pipes so it takes over a minute to get hot water out of the kitchen sink if I don't have the recirculation pump turned on...and my understanding is you can't use a recirc system with on demand heaters.

[plugboots]

^^^agree w/ all that.