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Hot water tank q


BuffaloBud

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  • 2 weeks later...

All I figured I would ask I was looking at switching over to a tankless water heater system. Electric (entire house is electric).

 

Does anyone have one? Is there really a savings I am going to see on my electric Bill that justifies paying 1200 to get the unit and have it installed?

 

I just can't wrap my head around it because I would think while the tanked systems draws electric to keep the tank to temp I would imagine the amount of electric to heat water on demand is more and hence offsets that.

 

I also have a Solar Water warming system installed on the house (in FL) it mainly warms my pool however when the tank fills on the water heater system it also draws from that so it is not like my water is ground water temp as it is. Also the water cycles from the tank as well through the solar system once it gets to a certain Temp.

 

Just lookin for opinions

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Use tankless but natural gas. Pros: hot water always available for all bathrooms (no issues with pressure), no water tank space required, use gas for cooktop as well (do not want electric). Cons: longer hot water delivery for remote bathrooms (can be corrected). Cannot comment on electrric cost savings but there is plenty of metrics abailable.

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IMO, stick with the traditional tank system because an electric tankless water heater pulls a crazy amount of amps. Your standard tank pulls 25-30. The basic tankless water heaters pull nearly 3-4 times that - you're right away wiring for 120 amp pull. That's why most TWH are gas. Since they pull so much, you'll probably need to invest in some electrical work prior. And you're certainly not hooking it up to a generator if the power goes out. A standard tank - it's possible.

 

Tankless water heaters require experience to install. Nearly any plumber can do a water heater. Tankless is more specialized.

 

If something goes wrong and anywhere you have heat+water+time, it will, a traditional tank heater is less expensive to fix.

 

In the absolute dire event you need water and you lack power, you have gallons of water to access with a standard tank.

Edited by dpberr
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IMO, stick with the traditional tank system because an electric tankless water heater pulls a crazy amount of amps. Your standard tank pulls 25-30. The basic tankless water heaters pull nearly 3-4 times that - you're right away wiring for 120 amp pull. That's why most TWH are gas. Since they pull so much, you'll probably need to invest in some electrical work prior. And you're certainly not hooking it up to a generator if the power goes out. A standard tank - it's possible.

 

Tankless water heaters require experience to install. Nearly any plumber can do a water heater. Tankless is more specialized.

 

If something goes wrong and anywhere you have heat+water+time, it will, a traditional tank heater is less expensive to fix.

 

In the absolute dire event you need water and you lack power, you have gallons of water to access with a standard tank.

Appreciate it yeah think I am just going to replace my Tank with one of the newer more efficient models. I just can't see the savings on an already low electric (sub $100 in FL) that I will get a Return on that investment over the life of the unit

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Appreciate it yeah think I am just going to replace my Tank with one of the newer more efficient models. I just can't see the savings on an already low electric (sub $100 in FL) that I will get a Return on that investment over the life of the unit

 

I've only seen them installed in PA (where I live) when it's 1) hooked up to relatively inexpensive natural gas and 2) there is uniquely heavy demand for water (lots of consecutive showers) that overwhelms a typical tank unit that'd be desperately trying to heat water to lukewarm temperature.

 

Heating water is an inherently inefficient process. We've just made it less inefficient as time has gone on. :D

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