Have you seen this 21st century DHW solution??

MilanD

An Ad for this popped up on my Facebook feed and got me thinking:

1. big brother is alive and well (I hang out here on the board a lot, and they hit me up with this ad)
2. I'm not sure what to think: you'd need a couple of 100A circuits in cold climates, with 24kW per unit peak demand... On the other hand, no moving parts, heating elements, stand-by losses...

Here's what they think under Q&A, one answer not being a ringing endorsement of their own product.

I have a gas water heater now. Should I replace it with the MODEL 3?

In most cases, natural gas tank water heaters are less expensive to operate than electric tank water heaters. (The exception is LP or propane, which is more expensive than electricity). Based solely on operating costs, we typically do not recommend replacing a working natural gas water heater with the MODEL 3. However, tank-type water heaters have failure modes and required maintenance that the MODEL 3 does not. These costs should be considered when replacing a failed gas tank water heater.

On the other hand, they also say this:

How does water quality play into this?

Because our Ohmic Array Technology uses advanced electronics to excite the naturally occurring minerals in the water, the conductivity of your water must be within 80 to 2000 μs. (99% of the country falls within this segment.) The only way to accurately check the conductivity of the water is to use a conductivity meter like the one shown here: http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-EC-3-Electrical-Conductivity/sim/B0038QW9AC/2

The MODEL 3 functions just as well with harder water or well water, and with our patented Ohmic Array Technology, there is never any scaling or corroding regardless of water hardness. Unlike traditional water heaters, the MODEL 3 requires no annual maintenance or de-scaling, even in hard water areas. If your water comes from a well, we recommend installing a sand filter on the main water line entering the house.

What do you all think? Looks to me like this will definitely NOT fly in CA at least due to high peak kW demand. Secondly, 6 years warranty - and then what? Is it serviceable? I'm expecting one power surge to fry the board on this thing.

At any rate, here it is:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/550514292/model-3-tankless-electric-water-heater-and-mobile

ratio

Sounds like an electrode-style water heater, a cousin to these.

I can't imagine it's scale free. Doesn't the solubility change depending on temperature? Some of the minerals have to drop out. Maybe the flow will be continuously flushing the sediment out.

But, you know, WiFi. You can change the temperature of your hot water heater from your iPhone!

MilanD

> @ratio said:
> Sounds like an electrode-style water heater, a cousin to these.I can't imagine it's scale free. Doesn't the solubility change depending on temperature? Some of the minerals have to drop out. Maybe the flow will be continuously flushing the sediment out.
>
> But, you know, WiFi. You can change the temperature of your hot water heater from your iPhone!

Yes, because I run to the basement at least 3 times a day to change the water temp.