Hot water heater

[RedheadErin]

My hot water heater finally bought it. We are now in the market for a new, high-efficiency one. What should I be looking for? Do you have any recommendations?

 

[sufficientforme]

In our last house once the old one died we were going to replace it with a regular water heater but add this for energy efficiency, it ended up lasting a lot longer than the home inspector said it would so we have not done it.
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...er heater&No=0&Nty=1&Ntx=mode matchallpartial
Forgot to add that this is for moderate climates not super cold, we have been told they don't work as well.
I have used hot water on demand and hated it, just not enough hot water for me but that was 5 years ago, maybe they have improved.

 

[barefootfarmer]

I think its kinda funny when folks call it a "hot water heater". Why would you need to heat up hot water? haha!!!

 

[Nifty]

Good point! Probably named by the same people that write "ATM Machine"


We were going to put in an instant hot water heater when we replaced our old tank one, but they were still just catching on in the US (they are pretty standard in lots of Europe) and the plumber was going to charge extra since he didn't know how to do it. IMO he should have offered to do it cheaper since he'd be learning something new on our dime (and possibly making mistakes).

 

[Denim Deb]

I agree. We ever need a new water heater, I want to go w/a tankless. I think it would bring our electric bill way down.

 

[lesliemorris85]

yes tankless heaters seem to be the good choice when it comes to energy saving. But I guess it also depends on where you are and the average temperatures there.

 

[Emerald]

I have tankless and we have had it for almost 10 years now(had to think on that) while it does take a bit to get used to(like not having instant hot water it takes about a minute for it to kick on) it gets hot hot hot! we had to turn ours down a bit or it could scald ya. it is a small one so no one can take showers when the washer is going but most times we don't do that anyhoo.
while my daughter still lived here it really didn't show much in the way of saving money unless you could count when we went on vacation(she would stay in there way too long cuz the water never got cold.. I guess that was her timer on when she was DONE GRR) but when she got an apartment and then married and moved our bills(natural gas is our heater and stove and furnace and fireplace) dropped dramatically! the electric dropped by $20 and the gas by almost $30! This was back in 06.
WE love our tankless heater. I'm sure it cost us this summer a bit tho. our water bed sprang a tiny little kitty cat paw hole(the stinker) and we had to drain it and search that puppy for one tiny little poke.. and we didnt' want to freeze our hinnies off filing it with the hose and filled it half way with cold and half from the hot water tap. even in summer there is such a thing as a too cold waterbed..

 

[k15n1]

A new hot water heater should get over 90 % efficiency.

I looked into the instant heaters but ended up not getting one on account of the hard water in our region.

 

[Emerald]

A new hot water heater should get over 90 % efficiency.

I looked into the instant heaters but ended up not getting one on account of the hard water in our region.

I have mega hard water and have had not one problem with the tankless heater where we were going thru a tank (even doing the proper maintenance on them as needed) every 4 to 5 years! They work different than the tanks and do not sit there and slowly fill up with sediment from the water. we did install a big sediment filter for the whole house at the same time tho. that may make a difference and if you are that worried putting a water softener only on the hot water before the tankless heater could make you feel better.
I have family that does plumbing and they drain and check it for build up every other year and so far no build up at all. I can see it running for another 10 without problem. Same family member helped us put it in and it was his first one ever so he has been super curious on how well they do and now he has been recommending them to his other customers. He did a house where instead of one huge water heater tank in basement with extra pressure tanks (to boost it to the second floor bathrooms)he recommended two of the smaller tankless units one mounted in the laundry room which also feeds the kitchen and guest bathroom and another upstairs to feed both of the upstairs bathrooms. Last I heard that customer was super pleased with how they work and his gas bill.
I got my water heater when I still was working and had the money for it-hubs was extremely upset about me buying it on sale because he had not heard of them or didn't even think it would work. I have a nice Bosch and it was on sale for $500.. the same unit now costs close to $1200-not three days later the tank in the basement sprang a leak (at Thanksgiving time too.. sheesh when it rains it pours)and he had to put it in.. we do not regret it one bit.
The worst thing about it is if hubby is dorking around in the basement he will just do something that blows out the pilot sometimes.. no clue but it is always if he has been down there moving stuff. but it is not that hard to relight as it is mounted chest high on the wall. the tanks I had to get on my hands and knees and that was a true PITA!

 

[ducks4you]

emerald, we went tankless about 7 years ago. It has advantages and disadvantages. First, they last about 10 years. Second, you get that "cold sandwich", as plumbers refer to it, so you need to run the water a couple of minutes if no one else has run hot water for anything. On the other hand, you can shower a small army, one after another, if you can afford the water bill!
They make a new version which keeps 15 gallons of hot water "at the ready", and then the unit delivers water that has just been heated.
If you have a good sized family, it's a good idea to install two of them.