Residential propane heater recommendation

ukrkoz

Hi all

Situation: 2 story house, built 2005, 80g water heater same year.

PROPANE as source. 1 000 g propane tank.

We have 2 showers, kitchen, dishwasher, laundry with large washer.

I shower in and out, wife spends 30 min showering.

Occasional visitors that may stay.

Water heater slowly starts producing less and less hot water. I already have temp control dial past middle setting and had to turn it up a bit more again.

Prolly matters, heater is in garage and across the entire house from the master bedroom shower. So it take time to get hot water. There's recirc pump installed on heater.

For what it is, I start looking into new heater. I'd prefer something that I can get water fast, as we waste gallons waiting for hot water to arrive.

What would be recommended as good reliable replacement option? Considering propane and current gas price at $2.39/gallon. As is, tank lasts me year plus, propane is used only for washer, kitchen/cooking, showering and back up generator.

No DIY intentions. I'll hire someone.

Thank you

leonz

You are dealing with what is called hot water recovery, perhaps you should think about adding a second hot water heater if it is a 40 gallon propane hot water heater. I wish bradford white still made their 30 gallon hot water heaters as they had the recovery speed of an 80 gallon hot water heater.

The very first thing you need to have done is have the water heater serviced if you have not had it cleaned since it was installed and then insulate the exposed hot water piping.

If the existing water heater does not have a check valve in it, it will ghost flow and lose heat so adding a check valve in the hot water line will help.

Are there any water filter's in your system? When were they changed last? Waterflow is much reduced when they become clogged.

Gas fired flash hot water heaters are very expensive and consume a great deal of fuel and are usually installed in laundromats.

If you use hot water baseboard to heat your home:

Your home heating boiler may have a domestic coil option already installed.

If the hot water heater is on the verge of failing perhaps you should look at a boiler with a domestic hot water coil if your existing boiler does not have a domestic hot water coil to make your hot water as it would eliminate the hot water heater entirely.

Jamie Hall

To add a bit to @leonz 's comment. First, you probably really need a bigger hot water heater — 80 gallons would be good. But you also very much need to look at recovery time. LP water heaters come in a range of recovery times, even for the same size tank, and you really need fast recovery

A second comment. When you do get a new hot water heater, dial it up all the way, as far as it will go. 140 is none too hot, and some will go hotter. Then add a tempering valve set at 110 (which you should have anyway). They are not expensive, and easy to plumb in. This will do two things for you. First, the hot water will be sterile. Always a plus. Second, this effectively increases the size of the tank — in fact, it would make an 80 gallon tank recover and store as well as a 120 or thereabouts.

Recirculating pumps are wonderful for that hot water right now aspect. They are energy hogs as well. However, as @leonz implied, there are gas fired point of use heaters, and they work splendidly well. They only use gas when the water is flowing — but they use a lot of it when they are running (but no more than a tank type would; the tank type is just spread out over a longer time). The biggest problem with them is that unless all your hot water requirements are in a single plumbing stack, you will need one at each point of use — and that means running gas lines around the place.

Larry Weingarten

Hi @ukrkoz, And welcome to HeatingHelp. If I were on site, I'd start be seeing if there were a functioning check valve, (preferably a spring check) in the recirc line. Water flowing backwards through this line is a common problem giving you less hot water. I'd measure the flow from the showerheads and replace them with 1.5 gpm heads if needed. There are good low flow heads available. Look for something that delivers large water droplets. If the recirc system were working correctly, it would take seconds to get hot water at the taps, which it seems is not happening. I'd be looking for a crossover in the plumbing as a contributing factor. Only after everything else was done, and you still ran out of hot water would I consider replacing the heater. What you don't want to happen is to replace the heater and still have the problem. This is why I'd look at the system first.

Yours, Larry

GW

80 gal LP water heater…hmm I thought those were 75 gal. Or do you have elec now? Anyway, that's a very large tank. Most people get by with 40 or 50.

How long you been in the home? Is this water issue getting worse? Maybe the dip tube is failing. making you think you need more capacity.

@Jamie Hall 110 is not hot enough for the sinks. In Mass it's 120 to 130 for the sinks. But yes, cranking the tank and mixing it back down will certainly add to the total capacity at the faucets.

ukrkoz

Thank you for responses

I HAVE 80 G WATER HEATER

It was serviced 2 yrs ago, water came out clean, no rust.

It works fine, just slowly producing less hot water

All I need is advice, on which heater to choose as replacement. We have many blackouts and I am not leaning towards electric. It may ovetrax my backup generator. Maybe hybrid?

Friend of mine is on propane and has on demand heater and house bigger than mine and he swears by on demand one.

My question is - do I just upgrade with similar style heater, go tankless or go hybrid? Considering blackouts about a dozen times starting next month, when fall storms start. Heavy snow, winds, etc - we have blackouts.

And what will be a good brand then?

EdTheHeaterMan

Depending on your location (if you are in the south or in the deep freeze north) you can get an on demand water heater that installs outside and place it near the master bathroom. Op north you need the indoor model and a place to install it. That will provide you with all the hot water you need for showers. If the other bathrooms and laundry and kitchen are closer to the original water heater location, then I would get a new tank type for that location. On Demand DHW with recirculation loop is not a great idea. Ad far as leaving the system as is and just replacing the 75 0r 80 gallon tank, look for one that has the largest burner you can find. An 80 gallon than with an 80,000 BTU burner will recover in about 30 to 40 minutes. That same tank with a 199,000 BTU burner will recover in less that 12 minutes.

If you tank is less than 10 years old and you are starting to see reduced capacity, look in two directions. Scale build up in the tank will reduce recovery time and cause the exhaust temperature to increase…. Less heat in tank and more heat wasted out the vent. Second direction is the actual gas input is reduced… When the last service completed, wha the gas pressure to the flame adjusted? if there is less gas going to the burner, then there is less heat to heat up the water. Increasing the pressure back to the setting before the last service may be the answer. You need combustion testing tools and gas pressure manometer to get it right.

ukrkoz

I'm in Pacific NW. Winters are rather mild, though we can get spells of real cold due to global warming. Had -11C last winter.

Currently, heater is in garage, close to kitchen and we cook a lot. And we wash dish the very moment we are done with food.

Yes, I see your point on tank being "scaled" inside. After all, it's 19 year old heater.

Anyhow. Talked to my buddy yesterday, who has tankless. He's same situation - 1 000 g propane tank, house is larger than mine by 200 sf. He told me, he didn't refill his tank in 3 years and I refill mine every year. Well, he surely doesn't cook like we do and his opinion was, it's the water heater that eats through propane as it's pretty much always on.

There's that.

Jamie Hall

On the propane use — expect it to drop some if you go tankless. DON'T expect it to drop to a third. Heating a gallon of water takes the same amount of propane whether you do it in a tankless or a tank type. No difference. What may make a difference is that you do have some losses from the tank, especially an older tank (poorer insulation) located in a garage (which is colder).