We would like to install a tankless water heater but people are telling us that we will not recoop our investment. I disagree. Can anyone tell me about their experiences? Is electric or propane the better way to go?
I would like to hear from someone who is currently using one of these products. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

There are different approaches to tankless water heaters. One is to use the boiler for the furnace and run the furnace all year to produce hot water. This is not efficient especially with today's energy prices.

Another approach is an on-demand unit close to where the water is needed. These are smaller, in-line units. Your payback depends on your lifestyle, the design of the house and how much water you use.

My son is looking at switching to on-demand units. He has 3 oil fired water heaters and is only in the house on weekends and vacation. Weekends are normally 3 days. The units are spread out to provide water to the different areas of the house. When oil prices were low it made a lot of sense. Today, heating water when he is not there makes no sense. He could put in timers or Insteon switches to turn off the heaters when not needed. But, he is looking at on-demand as having a better payback for him. Your situation will probably be different.

quote:

I disagree.... Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Why do you disagree?

I think that it would be less costly to heat water on demand than to keep a tank of water hot 24/7. I am not sure how long it would take to recoop your investment.

When I bought my home I had this discussion with my home inspector.He said unless I planned to stay in my home for 20 or more years it is not worth the expense and I wouldnt see a difference.So we passed although for convinence sake I am still considering it but its something I need to do more research on

Tankless units for dishwashing need to be high output in temperature and volume, raising by 95 F the ambient temperatures from the water source in winter. Maybe someone with experience with a certain tankless unit could say if their heater fills up a dishwasher with sanitizing water at or above 140 F?
Shower temps at 105 F are more favorable for tankless setups. Tankless units need to be situated where the NI Cad element and/or the unit itself can be replaced.

I looked at a tankless when my water heater went out a couple years ago and the only ones i found were electric and had to have 220. Since I had a gas hookup. i had to opt out on that idea, but I think they would be nice.

I use a tankless water heater in our home. I installed it when I replaced the worn out tank heater. I purchased the unit on Ebay for a large savings over the store, though I am not sure that I would do that again simply because you cant see exactly what your are getting over the web.

In any event I saved around $50 the first month I had it installed on my electric bill. That is with six kids to make for a family of 8. As power prices continue to rise the savings is increasing over time. The secondary benefit has been we never run out of hot water for showers! That is huge for a large family like ours.

Some considerations I will make next time I purchase a tankless (I will purchase tankless again when this one wears out): 1) I will get the highest Gallons Per Minute rating I can afford. 2) Will my Electrical need to be upgraded to meet the demands of the unit. (I am a DIY person and the upgrades I had to do were simple, but that my not always be the case). If upgrades are needed how much will that cost. 3) Is Nat Gas an option and how much will it cost to upgrade and modify my home for the venting. (I had Nat Gas to my water heater closet and I might have gone that route but I had no easy way to vent the unit to the outside.)

We have been more than pleased with our tankless and the one unit runs our whole home. (2.5 baths, kitchen and laundry) I recommend it to anyone that is considering it. I also was able to use the space that we freed up as a nice pantry just of the kitchen.

Glad to hear you like it Lauren, I have heard they save you money.

We purchased an electric/electronic computerized tankless water heater from a company in Texas found on the net. I bought into the "so advanced" hype. Supposedly it was 3 phase which meant you could run three things at once and have enough hot water. We went tankless because we are rehabing the shell of a 1800's plank house in PA and had no heating system yet which meant if we went with a conventional tank heater we would have to empty it before the winter, which meant we couldn't go up to check on the house in the winter. The tankless heater cost alot because of it's advanced technology, and the installation cost alot, 220 and someone able to hook it up, our contractor was stumped. Well once in place it worked great for the little amount of time we used it. Eventually we did get a heating system, propane. I would say if you added up the days we used the tankless heater it would total three months, and guess what, it's not working anymore and guess what, the company is gone...no parts...no warranty...out of luck...lesson learned. We recently had our local propane company install another tankless system, one they recommend, repair, and warranty. I believe it is a rinnai, it was mentioned in the latest Green living mag. So my point is buyer beware better to go local...

Greener Dreamer...I respectfully disagree. Sounds like you bought your heater from folks who don't know their product. I put in a Stiebel Eltron Tempra 29 and was guided through the process from a no pressure, really want to sell you the correct product. Here's what I purchased from their company. Excellent service from very knowledgable folks on their products.

http://houseneeds.com/shop/HeatingProducts/WaterHeating...eleltronmainpage.htm

http://houseneeds.com/shop/HeatingProducts/WaterHeating...iebeleltronspecs.htm

This link might help you explore things further.
The Rinnai Tankless is one of the best from what I've heard and read.

Foreverhotwater.com

The tankless heater isn't on trial so to speak, but the applications are subject to scrutiny.
If you need copious amounts of very hot sanitizing 145 degree water, using a tank system (elec in this case) with an eight hour cycle shutoff at night is intelligent resourcing of energy and efficiency and supply.
Strategic placement of tank units (I have more than one) has proven a savings of water and power just like tankless, but slightly lesser initial cost.
Documenting your real costs to arrive at a comparison is very difficult I find and becomes a lot of schmutz and that applies for most every green idea we read about here on MB.
In Florida, our water lines run through the attic, preheating the water most of the time. Try that in Minnesota.

We have the gas company coming out today to install a Rinnai tankless water heater. I researched between Rinnai and Noritz but found out that the Noritz system had been recalled several times for rusting when they were installed outside.
I am not completely sure but I don't think this is the same system as water on demand that was popular in previous years.
I am positive this will save us money the only bad part is that with a gas hot water heater if the power goes out you can still take a hot shower, with this unit you cannot.