[RickFLM4]

So I took the dogs out this morning and noticed water coming from under the garage doors. Went to the garage and saw water flowing from the top of the hot water heater. I shut off power at the panel and turned off water valve to stop it. Presumably the tank is done after only 6.5 years (6 mos. after end of warranty).

I'm considering an electric tankless system to replace it. (We don't have gas service or an inground propane tank here.) I understand tankless systems are more expensive and use more electricity when in use (but only use power when in use) but also expect they have much longer lives and aren't subject to the same leaking as with a tank.

Does anyone have experience with them? Any particular brands / models liked or disliked? Any issues with them?

[Maynard]

I've heard mixed things about tankless overall - we considered going that way recently w/ natural gas, but instead replaced w/ a traditional tank style (50gal this time, and it eliminates any problems we had with insufficient supply).

Tankless has more advantage if you can run it on a more efficient fuel (IIRC, electric doesn't work as well as the gas), and if there are tax incentives/rebates for installing them - even with both it wasn't really better, just different and more complexity (things to go wrong, in my mind). If your state has a hefty rebate/incentive program it may shift the equation in their favor. Otherwise I don't think they really begin to pay for themselves for many years, and no real history to estimate repair/maintenance on tankless, so you may just be better off budgeting for a 6-year replacement on the tank.

And if you really have this in your garage you need to either have it well up in the air, or really well separated from the cars w/ a true vapor barrier. Gas fumes are heavier than air and sink to floor level, right where pilot lights live. Used to be popular 'tip' to put the old one out in the shop, so you had hot water to work with, leading to many exploded tanks (I knew of 3). Not as big an issue with modern vapor-contained cars, but still not something to bet the whole house on.

[kscarrol]

We've had a tankless sweater heater for 11 years now and love it! Endless hot water so no cold showers after the wife and kids have showered etc. They do use more fuel/power when in use but more than offset that by not having to keep 40 gallons of water at 120 degrees 24/7. We did replace the heater four years ago, not because of a failure. When you look at the specs of the heater options, make note of the hot water draw requirement. Our old heater required a gallon per minute so in the summer, when the "cold" water here in New Orleans is 80+ degrees, a warm shower would not draw enough hot water to activate the heater. We upgraded to a newer model which has a much lower threshold so issue solved. OP being in Florida might face the same issue when the weather is warm...

The old heater was a Rinnai which worked fine but when we upgraded we went with a Rheem. Been four years and running strong!

[AIRPOWER]

I have had tankless water heaters in Europe for years and absolutely love them. My house in FLA is being rebuilt due to a lightning strike and I am having 2 of them put in (one for one side of the house and one for the other). I have not had an electric tankless and have not heard great reviews on them either.

I don't have natural gas to my house like you but have a gas stove/fireplace/grill and water heaters on a big underground propane tank. Have you thought of doing that? It would be cheaper to operate and more efficient than an electric tankless.

[RickFLM4]

Thanks for the feedback. I got the tank swapped out for a new one today. I didn't go tankless on this one because it was going to take a lot longer. I would need an electrician to come out next week to re-wire to panel (more amps). Further, since our street is getting dug up and re-paved early in the week (perfect timing) it wouldn't be until late next week at the earliest, so likely more than a week without hot water in kitchen and laundry room + higher price made it tough to do right now.

However, we are getting ready to remodel our master bath where we have another tank. I'm giving serious thought to swapping that one for tankless since it is inside the house (where leaking water would be a disaster) and a planned large tub would require a tank about 2x the size of the one we have. Great tip above on "cold water" and activing heater - will need to investigate.

I'd prefer to go with gas but it is a major project to put a tank in so electric is really the only option right now. I looked into putting a tank in a while back for a standby generator and it is a big investment and invasive project with our landscaping, so unless we were looking to switch other appliances to gas + add generator + add pool heater (which is too much on top of other higher priority projects), it is difficult to justify for just the hot water heaters. If I were building from scratch or doing a major remodel I'd put the tank in without question.

[Dackelone]

You probably have hard water in your area... you might want to replace the cathode rod inside your hot water heater every few years as preventative maintenance.

https://www.familyhandyman.com/plumb...e-rod/view-all

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

You probably have hard water in your area... you might want to replace the cathode rod inside your hot water heater every few years as preventative maintenance.

https://www.familyhandyman.com/plumb...e-rod/view-all

That's an interesting read.

If we were on well water it would definitely be hard water. But we are on (supposedly pretty good) city water and have a whole home softener and whole home filter. The last tank in this location lasted 12 years and the one on the other side of the house even longer. Hard to tell what happened to this one.

I'm going to have the water softener / filter company come out and check everything + test the water to see if there is anything wrong somewhere else.

[zx10guy]

I'm deciding myself on if I should go tankless too. I'm thinking I will do it as it will eliminate the space taken up by the tanked hot water heater in the basement. Because I got the huge sunken tub in the master bath, the builder put in a 75 gallon hot water heater. I definitely feel I'm on borrowed time as the house was built in 2001 and we're coming up on 16 years.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I'm deciding myself on if I should go tankless too. I'm thinking I will do it as it will eliminate the space taken up by the tanked hot water heater in the basement. Because I got the huge sunken tub in the master bath, the builder put in a 75 gallon hot water heater. I definitely feel I'm on borrowed time as the house was built in 2001 and we're coming up on 16 years.

Probably a good idea to start researching / planning for the switch. If you wait for the existing tank to go down you might face a decision about replacing immediately with another tank or taking some time with no hot water to get the tankless (not to mention the possibility of a leaky tank in the basement). Swapping out for a new tank in one day is easy but I think the tankless takes a bit longer to get sorted, installed and functional.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Probably a good idea to start researching / planning for the switch. If you wait for the existing tank to go down you might face a decision about replacing immediately with another tank or taking some time with no hot water to get the tankless (not to mention the possibility of a leaky tank in the basement). Swapping out for a new tank in one day is easy but I think the tankless takes a bit longer to get sorted, installed and functional.

Thanks. I'll definitely have to start researching. And I know I have hard water so that adds to the borrowed time as I haven't ever replaced the cathode rod in the tank. Plus 75 gallons of water is going to be a flood despite a floor drain near the tank.

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

You probably have hard water in your area... you might want to replace the cathode rod inside your hot water heater every few years as preventative maintenance.

https://www.familyhandyman.com/plumb...e-rod/view-all

This.

[El Cheapo Loco]

Went through this a year ago and decided to stay with tank heater based on below reasons. All told a tankless will cost a few thousand more not because of the unit, but all the peripherals.

- water softener needed
- gas plumbing needs to be upgraded
- special vents need to be put in

[acdHQK713K]

Biggest issue we have is that the tankless heater is it is so far away from the dishwasher. The dishwasher fills itself with cold water when it runs and does a terrible job cleaning dishes.

Solution is to run the sink water until warm, but now the delay function on the dishwasher is useless.

A smaller inline heater under the sink would remedy this but at additional cost of course.

[kscarrol]

^ Don't disagree the above issues...

Water softener requirement is dependent on individual location and honestly this would also be a good investment for a standard tank heater if the water is that hard.

Gas is best by far so that could be a deal breaker.

The venting requirements are required for any gas water heater, not just the tankless.

Water heater location. Is the tankless heater located that much further away than the traditional tank heater? Very well could be but for us both would be located in the attic so waiting for hot water to get to the dishwasher is not an issue. We would wait for hot water with either system.

[Tarpon]

Did this upgrade myself last summer. I have a 2 bath house plus appliances and went with a Titan unit that was under $400. You'll need to run a water filter on th line thay feeds the unit or the minerals in your water can clog the screens in the unit's input line. I'm told if that happens it can damage the unit. So, with the addition of the filter and housing, pipe , fittings, upgraded breaker, upgraded wire and a quick disconnect box my total was just over $500. I did all the work myself and don't know what installation would run.

[acdHQK713K]

Originally Posted by kscarrol

^ Don't disagree the above issues...

Water softener requirement is dependent on individual location and honestly this would also be a good investment for a standard tank heater if the water is that hard.

Gas is best by far so that could be a deal breaker.

The venting requirements are required for any gas water heater, not just the tankless.

Water heater location. Is the tankless heater located that much further away than the traditional tank heater? Very well could be but for us both would be located in the attic so waiting for hot water to get to the dishwasher is not an issue. We would wait for hot water with either system.

Correct, location isn't that much different. I don't recall having this issue with a standard setup but that was a different house.

Perhaps the time to achieve hot water output is longer with a tankless heater, but I have zero proof of that.

[PA135i]

I'm on my 3rd hot water heater since 1992. When I bought this house. The original was a 40 gallon and a RUUD. Lasted 17 years and did not fail but I upgraded to a 50 gallon Bradford White in 2009. last December started leaking whcih I was surprised about since I thought it should last at least as long as the first unit.

My new one is a A.O. Smith unit and I'm guessing it's a better quality unit than the others. But needed it replaced on a Saturday so higher price and wow....... $2100.

[wdb]

We went tankless (propane) 3 years ago rather than replacing our tank unit for the 4th time. The tankless unit cost quite a bit more than a tank heater would have cost, plus installation complexities drove up the total. Since there is not a 40- or 50-gallon reservoir of heat anymore, the pipes cool off and it takes a little longer for hot water to arrive at the tap, especially those further away from the source.

Those are the downsides. The upsides: there is no such thing as "running out of hot water". We use so little gas now (we have a gas stovetop too) that the last bill was $9.95! The propane folks informed us that they won't be refilling our tank as often anymore. From all appearances this is a 'lifetime' product that can be maintained easily; I expect that this water heater will outlive me. And I'll never again go downstairs and find wet carpeting.

I can't speak to the electrics but I know enough about electricity to imagine that it would be possible to create an 'instant on' heat source for a tankless heater. I can also imagine that it would take a fairly serious wire gauge to feed it. I have a potential use for tankless electric and am curious to learn more. If you do decide to go tankless please keep us informed.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by wdb

We went tankless (propane) 3 years ago rather than replacing our tank unit for the 4th time. The tankless unit cost quite a bit more than a tank heater would have cost, plus installation complexities drove up the total. Since there is not a 40- or 50-gallon reservoir of heat anymore, the pipes cool off and it takes a little longer for hot water to arrive at the tap, especially those further away from the source.

Those are the downsides. The upsides: there is no such thing as "running out of hot water". We use so little gas now (we have a gas stovetop too) that the last bill was $9.95! The propane folks informed us that they won't be refilling our tank as often anymore. From all appearances this is a 'lifetime' product that can be maintained easily; I expect that this water heater will outlive me. And I'll never again go downstairs and find wet carpeting.

I can't speak to the electrics but I know enough about electricity to imagine that it would be possible to create an 'instant on' heat source for a tankless heater. I can also imagine that it would take a fairly serious wire gauge to feed it. I have a potential use for tankless electric and am curious to learn more. If you do decide to go tankless please keep us informed.

I will update when we decide what to do with master bath.

For your propane, is tank above or below ground? Did it come with the house or did you install it after moving in? How many gallons and do you just run stove and hot water heater off it or are there other uses? Thanks.

[wdb]

Above ground, 100 gallon I think but I'm no expert. It's not the prettiest thing to be sure, but we have a large enough plot and it's on the side where not much happens so meh. The house had propane for hot water and stovetop when we bought it. I sometimes think about having them run a line over to the outdoor grille but haven't done it yet.

We recently changed suppliers and their inspector did not think we met code, so they replaced the tank, moved it to another location, ran new piping, the whole deal, for free. (They own the tank -- we pay a few pennies more per gallon.)

Our neighbor heats the house with propane. They have a huge tank, above ground, hidden behind the garage. You have to know where to look to ever see it.

[Nate4641]

House I just moved into has one and I'm never going back. Mine is electric and we haven't noticed a huge difference in electric bill. Not having to worry about the shower going cold or endless hot baths for her is just awesome.

[eluded]

My last gas water heater did over 30 years of service. Let's take a moment......