OT-Tankless water heaters

[plunger]

Some of them are okay. I use them for their compact size in shopping malls. Most land up in hair salons. A small unit of 400mm x300mm can handle two hair basins. But you need three pahase and it has three settings 18,22 and 24kw. Malls have three phase, most houses in my country dont. This is a steibel eltron unit. I think they are great for their small footprint and relatively big flow rate considering the size of the unit.
In my country to heat heat water we use electric geysers .Some are boosted by law by solar or heat pumps. We have gas geysers but they are also tankless. Its amazing how different our heating methods are to the states.

[Black Forest]

We use one in a remote bathroom in our barn. It is three phase. It works great and the shower has an endless supply of hot water. It was not cheap but well worth the money.

[sarge41]

I want to thank everyone for their input. I should have mentioned that it would be electric. It would also be on the line from the household hot water heater. Yeah, I know that is not so economical, but would not be heavily loaded if someone was taking a shower. I'm wanting to be able to wash my hands without running hot water for several minutes. It sounds like some people had the same experience that I had. It also sounds like the Steibel Ultron apparently is a good one. I do appreciate everyone's opinions very much. Thanks to all.
Sarge41

[tomato coupe]

How about a small electric tank heater near the point-of-use? It would also give you instant hot water and the electrical requirements would be a lot lower.

[rdfeil]

sarge41 , if your desire is to have quick hot water for washing hands then a simple 2.5 gal point of use hot water tank is the answer. The cost involved to add the electric circuit for a tankless would pay for the small under sink unit.

[tom_d]

Thinking about installing a tankless water heater for one small bathroom. This would be for a shower and a lavatory. Does anyone have any thoughts about the wisdom of such a move. Years ago, I had a tankless water heater at this bathroom that didn't work so well. It was when they were first available. This one was made in England and came with British sized copper fittings. It didn't last very long. The electric's crapped out after about 3 months. Does anyone have recommendations as to brand or any other thoughts.
Sarge41

sarge41 , if your desire is to have quick hot water for washing hands then a simple 2.5 gal point of use hot water tank is the answer. The cost involved to add the electric circuit for a tankless would pay for the small under sink unit.

^Yes.^

I heat the house with a tankless, low mass, natural gas fired condensing boiler. The kind that vents through the wall with pvc pipe. It's probably the most efficient way to turn natural gas into a warm house. Great way to heat a house and highly recommended. The boiler has a domestic heating circuit built in. When there is a call for hot water a valve shifts and I've got instant hot water. As long as I have a supply of water, gas, and electricity you can leave the hot faucet on and it will not run out of hot water. Great all winter long. The problem is in the spring, summer, and fall. If there's been no call for heat I need to bring everything up to temperature for even the smallest amount of hot water. Granted, it only takes less than 30 seconds to do so, but if someone is cycling the hot on and off repeatedly, like when doing dishes in the kitchen, the system can get "confused" into thinking it's short cycling and shut down. That requires a trip down stairs to power the thing off, then on again. Sort of like when my old computer would freeze up. What I need to do, when budget permits, is to add those small point of use tanks under the bathroom and kitchen sinks. Realistically, there's never need for much more than a gallon at a time in the bathroom and not much more than that in the kitchen. I will leave the showers connected to the gas fired system. Maybe even go so far as to add a three way valve under the kitchen sink so that I can feed off the gas system if I ever felt the need to.

[sarge41]

sarge41 , if your desire is to have quick hot water for washing hands then a simple 2.5 gal point of use hot water tank is the answer. The cost involved to add the electric circuit for a tankless would pay for the small under sink unit.

Rdfeil: The electric circuit is already in place. It was installed back when the original tankless unit was put in. It was just disconnected when the first unit crapped out.
Sarge41

[wmgeorge]

They are NOT money savers unless you use a Lot of hot water and your bills are outrageous. Our bill for using Nat gas to heat water is $20 per month or less. We have a well insulated 40 gal tank and energy efficient burner. The flue gas helps heat the water. Why would I spend $1400 for a tank less and have to double the size of my gas piping!! Then you need to deal with the lime build up, thanks but no thanks.