water heater

Unknown

have installed 3 of them now and all my customers love them, up to 3 showers at once! a huge improvement on the old bosch/palomas. they do require a min. 3/4 gas line on low pressure though, which can be tough to do in an existing home (additional labour to run new gas lines)

rick_37

need water heater .have small electric .2 kids 2 adults .does anybodt have preference .electric ,gas or the instaneous water heater setup. cannotaford boiler additon for house .any suggestions. I know natural gas is not going to go down .Thanks

Brad White_40

I would go with the standard tank type gas-fired

Not terribly expensive and reasonably efficient. I would get at least a 40-gallon if not a 50, high efficiency.

One reason I do not like the "instantaneous" heaters is that they are flow-sensitive. Enough flow has to be present to start the light off and if a little less they can flash into steam just a bit, enough to startle you. Maybe that is old Paloma-Pak experience with me and controls are better, but that is my experience just the same. My step brother has a Bosch indirect and he is adding storage to it afterall. Instantaneous ones have the venting and gas supply of 2-3 tank type heaters.

Gas is not going down but then gas is what many places use to make electricity. With the national grid (proverbial or the company) you can bet that just because you are in a hydro-electric or nuclear or coal-fueled generating area, don't think for a minute that the whole energy profile won't be averaged. It will, with less expensive means subsidizing the more expensive means.

Nick L. in Vt

h2o heater

how do you heat your home now? usually most economical to use same fuel for both. unless electric, which bites

rick_37

thanks ,I heat with a hot air ,90 american standard ,I am thinking about a diret vent hot water heater ,have no chimney.

Brad White_40

You can go direct vent with a tank-type.

Some have built-in or OEM inducers. AO Smith had one years ago called the "Sidewinder". Tjernlund has after-market kits also. Personally I would go with one furnished by the manufacturer.

Larry Weingarten

How about...

...installing a GFX shower heat exchanger? If showering is a big use of hot water, it could basically double the shower time from your present heater.

Yours, Larry

JackFre

Check with your utility

Many are offering rebates for the installation of on-demand units. Gasnetworks .com has a $300 rebate, coupled with a $300 federal tax credit (as part of the energy bill). The On-demand is ideal for you and your family. You can run two showers simultaneously, as long as you, or the girls choose. When the tap is off, you consume no energy. My unit will heat 4.5gpm at a 70F rise. 3.9gpm at 80F. By way of a disclaimer, I represent Rinnai and sell a lot of these units. As to the flow rate to initiate ignition, the Rinnai requires the least of any units out there. .6gpm. I have no problem with this in my home on any faucet. Nothing will heat as much hot water for as little cost. Try foreverhotwater.com, rinnai.us, or rinnaisolutions.com. In my area I recommend the 2520FFU (R53) unit. You are correct. gas is not going to get cheaper, in the long term. Why would you want to store hot water?