Tankless Hot Water Heater
There is nothing worse than jumping into the shower and all the hot water is gone just as you finish soaping up. Needless to say the expletives coming from Mom and Dad as they finish their cold shower can be heard throughout the entire home. In my home the culprit for the expletives is usually me because Mom is up first, followed by two teenage daughters.
In our previous home we had a tankless gas hot water heater from Bosch Aquastar installed that I loved. No huge tank heating water 24 hours a day burning natural gas even if we were off on vacation. When you turned the hot water on the water was instantly heated from the time it left the unit till you were damn good and ready to get out of the shower. Even if your wife and five daughters had all previously showered just before you. The true benefit is that even with long showers by every person in the house we still saved a ton of cash on our gas bill every single month. We averaged about $40 bucks a month in savings.
There is only one downside to converting from the ancient technology of heating water in a forty or fifty-five gallon monster that sucks money out of your checking account every month, the start up cost. Depending on the size of your home and your hot water needs you can spend between $1000 to $1800 to convert your gas or electric water heater over to tankless hot water. With some of the higher priced units supplying six gallons per minute of hot water you get what you pay for so sizing your home to the usage is critical before you invest dollar one. The payback according to some sites is a 20% to 50% savings on your hot water utility bill every month.
If you want to explore this just a tad further then you can Google search it in the link on the sidebar by copying and pasting:
Tankless Gas Water Heater
Or
Tankless Electric Water Heater
Or
Tankless Liquid Propane Gas Water Heater
One of the other advantages to having a tankless hot water heater is the lifetime of the products is far greater than any form of tank water heater. On our Aquastar it was rated for a 25 year lifetime based on average use. On these newer units you would have to do a little research and see what they are up to now. Needless to say the payback on any of the tankless hot water heaters is probably around the three to five year range.
Just for the record, some of these units are pretty complex with the installation so you might want to contact the appropriate trade for the installation of the unit. This is not the average do it yourself project since the work involves gas pipes and electric wiring to service most of the units. Make sure you ask them if they have ever installed one before you hire them to do your install. My guesstimate to convert your home to tankless hot water included the cost of having it professionally installed.
Let me know if this post helped you out?
Happy Hot Water Showering,
Papamoka
Originally posted at Papamoka Straight Talk
December 28th, 2007 at 11:56 am
mat.. other possible solutions. Get up earlier. turn water heater down to about 130 degrees. explain to wife and children that there is an energy crisis and in many parts of the country a water shortage. put energy and water savings devises on your shower head and other water supplies throughout your home. limit showers to a couple of minutes. etc. your quick hot water devise is using our most precious energy resource, natural gas, and if you don’t believe its also running out go check the data. nothing like a good hot shower, but to just stand there till it turns cold is wasteful. want to get the juices flowing, take a brisk walk. we must adopt efficiency in all our activities and beware of the technological quick fix.
in addition to this advice, find a new place to sleep, because that hot shower you once enjoyed will be replaced by a very cold bed.
cheers
February 2nd, 2008 at 1:54 am
Hey!…I Googled for hot water heater, but found your page about Tankless Hot Water Heater…and have to say thanks. nice read.