Demand Water Heater

Jay_11

I am replacing my direct fired hot water heater and for spacing and other considerations am considering replacing it with a Rinnai Direct Vent Tankless Hot Water Heater. I hear the advantage to these demand water heaters is:

1) More reliability
2) Lasts longer--less corroding and no leakage issues
3) More fuel efficient (although some controversy on whther fuel savings actually materialize
4) Endless hotwater though at a constant flow rate (i.e. if more than one hot water tap is sourced the water mnay be lukewarm rather than hot.

Disadvantages
1) Much much higher startup and installation costs
2) Requires some annual maintenance
3) Less plumbers who know how to service these things.

I would appreciate hearing people views of whether these demand water heaters are good products. Thanks in advance.

Dave Yates (PAH)

they are indeed good products, but......

you've got to separate the wheat from the chaff where claims are concerned.

PART A:

#1 - how so?

#2 - maybe yes, maybe no / depends on conditions / I've got land in Florida for you

#3 - not true if you consider the many 99% efficiency storage tank water heaters now on the market

#4 - maybe - depends on flow rates AND delta-T. Lots of silly hype being foisted onto consumers in this area.

Part B (disadvantages):

#1 - maybe - all depends on the system.

#2 - even storage tank type systems SHOULD see annual maint.

#3 - That's true - for now. Consumer demand, advertising and training will change that in the next few years.

I have a video production company & smart companies are beginning to discuss training videos with us for their products. Peer-to-peer training in segments concise and short enough for a morning or evening training session on site. No need to ship the guys off to an expensive "sales pitch". Less time lost = higher bottom line.

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Jay_11

More specifically...

... I'd rather get a fuel-efficient direct fired stoage tank system but I'm told that it won't fit in the existing boiler room with the new boiler (we're replacing both the steam boiler and the hot water heater at the same time). To go with the storage tank system, I'd need to move a basement wall about 2 feet.

The storage tank hot water heater installation would cost about $1200 plus about $1000 for moving the wall. The quote I have for the Rinnai demand water heater is about $5,000. I'm trying to figure out whether the advantages of the Rinnai justify the $3000 premium. I agree with you to be skeptical of the claims about the advantages--that's why I was hoping to get some views from the group about their real world experiences with these things. Do your customers love them? Do they hate them? What's the biggest thing they complain about these things? Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks.

Mellow_2

good product

But if you want an indirect, you can run them off a steam boiler. The storage tank can be installed any place you want. I have found the indirects easy to service and clean. I would have a harder time getting parts for a direct vent tankless water heater. If you have a good installer with parts and referances,than you can repair them. Sometimes the water can be bad and collect in the coils. I can clean Indirects but not tankless coil units. I think some storage will help in times of high demand. Direct vent tankless heaters are great when you have no space to put a tank but if you have the space you might save on the install cost and eff. sould be almost the same. Will try to post pics on steam indirects soon.

Jay_11

Thanks for the idea

A couple of plumbers have suggested the indirects as an alternative, but unfortunately there's no really good place to put the storage tank either--the boiler room is too small and it's surrounded by a completely finishedfinished basement.

DaveGateway

Check other tankless models

from Takagi.

Dave Yates (PAH)

an indirect

can go anywhere you can run the piping. Remote locations aren't a problem if the mechanical room is lacking floor space.

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Jay_11

Takagi

Do you recommend the Takagi TK2?