Electric Buffer Tanks with Tankless Water Heaters

Marc Hoeschele

I am interested in those who have experiece using gas tankless water heaters with small electric buffer tanks to avoid the "cold water sandwich" problem in domestic hot water systems.

My specific interest is in what is happening in Californa, but I would welcome input from other parts of the country.

My specific questions:

How commonly are these installed with tankless water heaters?
How big are the electric storage tanks that are installed?
What temperature are the tanks set to?
Has this been successful in solving the problem?

Thanks.

Timco

Rinnai has diagrams on their website. a 6 gal electric WH would work fine to kill the sandwich.

Tim

Randy_30

I'm in CA and installed and sold Rinnais for years. Here is the underlying challenge with this premise. Try finding a 6 gal elec water heater with a 3/4" inlet and outlet. So what happens is that you end up having to use 1/2" which is fine if its a teeny house.
You might look for a solar drain back tank (10 gal) without HX.

Erich_3

Use a Navien Water Heater

If you use a Navien "A" model you will not have to worry about the cold water sandwich. It is designed for recirculation.

http://www.navienamerica.com/

Marc Hoeschele

Thanks for the feedback.... Any idea how common this practice is?

Home Depot Employee

Navien

Looks like most of the new Navien Website is up and running. That should help with the ?'s, manuals and consumer interest.

http://www.navienamerica.com/