Elec H20 hte for condo

John@Reliable

What do you ues to heat condo, you may be able to add tankless heater or indirect if boiler in use now?

Paul_5

I need to replace the electric hot water heater serving my condo, 80 gal concrete lined - starting to leak - lower element disconnected. 1-1/2 bath townhouse condo w/ 2 people living there.

I'm thinking about replacing it with a tankless electric heater. Any suggestions for or against and brand suggestions.

Or should I stay with and electric tank, if yes, should i go with a new glass lined or get another concrete lined tank. I've been told I could get away with a new 60 gal tank to match the pick-up of the 17 year old existing tank.

Thanks for your input.

Paul

Dale

I would

not stray if you plan to stay electric. Get a well insulated 80, set it as low as you can stand and get a water softener if you don't already have one. If you remove the bottom element you'll know pretty quickly if a softener is needed.

Paul_5

The whole condo's electric

but its a middle unit so I only spend $12-1400.00 a year for heat, hot water, lights, dryer, room a/c's. I've looked at going with propane for heat and hot water, but the payback just isn't there.

hr

Depends on your needs

I installed a modulating electric Seisco electric instantanous a while back and was quite impressed. It requires 60 amps however. Actually 2- 30 amp 240 volt circuits. For your application this may be enough. By far more efficient than keeping 80 gallons hot all the time.

Stick with a large tank if you need a lot of hot water all at one time (dump load).

hot rod

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PJO

If you have the room...

why not put in two tanks of 40 gallons each. The initial cost is about the same, plus a little more for piping (& two more valves) it correctly (in series/parallel for redudancy if needed). You will have much better recovery, and could disconnect the bottom element in the first tank.

You could even use the first heater for a tempering tank if you're not a big user. This would bring the water closer to ambient temperature before it needs to be electrically heated. The fourty gallons in the second tank still has the same two elements as an eighty gallon tank.

You will also need more room in the breaker panel. Use "skinnies" if you can for two of the existing 110 volt breakers if possible.

Just another option. Hope this helps, and take care. PJO