Tankless water heater or NO?

[Greenheadless]

I think the bigger issue is if you weren’t already set up for the load requirements.

You would need to evaluate running new circuits to handle the new load requirements.

Second, you would need to make sure your current service can even handle the increased load.

The, the above is valid. Electric heating elements are the most inefficient.

[meltingfeather]

Resistive electric heat is the most power consuming, inefficient heat there is.

Gotta disagree here, and I have a couple of simple points— look at efficiency factors of gas vs. electric heaters. Also think about the fact that every kw-h converted to heat in an electric heater ends up in the water. Then go up on your roof and put your hand over the vent while your gas water heater is running.

[critter69]

Consider yourself lucky. You must have a defective electric meter. [emoji6]Resistive electric heat is the most power consuming, inefficient heat there is.

I’m not gonna say you’re wrong because you pay your bills but I do know about electricity and consumption.

Anything drawing 120 amps is going to make your electricity use skyrocket. There is nothing else in your house that will draw that much power unless both stages of an electric furnace were to come on which just doesn’t happen in Texas.


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Yea, something wrong for sure. Hope they don’t catch it and back charge him. But most likely what will happen. If they don’t catch it, he’s one lucky dude. Or the price of electricity down there is super cheap.

[critter69]

Gotta disagree here, and I have a couple of simple points— look at efficiency factors of gas vs. electric heaters. Also think about the fact that every kw-h converted to heat in an electric heater ends up in the water. Then go up on your roof and put your hand over the vent while your gas water heater is running.

Not sure about costs down there, but my xcel bill ( utility company, gas and electric, is around 300.00 a month. Less then 20.00 a month ( normally 15.00-16.00) are gas, electric makes up the majority of it. I have natural gas, water heater, gas range, natural gas grill, and gas fireplace. Gas is far cheaper here then electric. You can get gas fired water heaters in the 95% efficacy range now ( which I don’t have) so very little goes out the flue.

[xman59]

Consider yourself lucky. You must have a defective electric meter. [emoji6]Resistive electric heat is the most power consuming, inefficient heat there is.

I’m not gonna say you’re wrong because you pay your bills but I do know about electricity and consumption.

Anything drawing 120 amps is going to make your electricity use skyrocket. There is nothing else in your house that will draw that much power unless both stages of an electric furnace were to come on which just doesn’t happen in Texas.


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nothing wrong with the meter, it is the same one that was in my archery shop when i was running window unit acs,, and getting 175-200 a month bills,,

i really believe that most people who complain about the bill are running the water temp way higher than it needs to be,,, with an on demand we can change it at will with the turn of a dial,,, i lost my archery shop and home in the Harvey flood and the shop building was fine after gutting the interior,, so we turned the shop building into the house,,,, i did purposely set out to be as energy efficient as i could because of how high the old bill was when i was only heating and cooling 720 sqft,,, all the walls are double insulated the exterior metal wall and the inside house walls that are about 20" inside the sheet metal, went all led lights and mini split ac units,, 3 outside and 6 inside,, but i already knew the water heater was efficient having had it in the shop i just replaced it with a bigger one more appropriate for a house....

the on demand as most people know turns of instantly when you shut the hot water flow off,, no reason to keep heating water 30-45 min after the use is over, then periodically throughout the day ,,, go on vacation or just a 2 day trip for the weekend you tank is still keeping water hot all day and all night,, that is what is not efficient,,, your at work it comes on,, you take a shower or do dishes that tank heater element comes on right away when the water level drops in that tank just a little bit,,, i currently work in a hardware store and we sell heating elements for water tanks,, the elements are plenty cheap, but it seems like most of the elements we sell are 4500 watt,, that is a whole lot of juice !
the absolute worse thing i can say about electric tankless is that when the power goes out,,, i dont get any water not even cold since i am on a well

[Mike D]

Gotta disagree here, and I have a couple of simple points— look at efficiency factors of gas vs. electric heaters. Also think about the fact that every kw-h converted to heat in an electric heater ends up in the water. Then go up on your roof and put your hand over the vent while your gas water heater is running.

There’s now way around it. KW is KW and the higher the draw the higher the bill. I suppose if you had a super cheap kWhr rate maybe but my propane water heaters are pretty dang efficient.


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[Mike D]

nothing wrong with the meter, it is the same one that was in my archery shop when i was running window unit acs,, and getting 175-200 a month bills,,



i really believe that most people who complain about the bill are running the water temp way higher than it needs to be,,, with an on demand we can change it at will with the turn of a dial,,, i lost my archery shop and home in the Harvey flood and the shop building was fine after gutting the interior,, so we turned the shop building into the house,,,, i did purposely set out to be as energy efficient as i could because of how high the old bill was when i was only heating and cooling 720 sqft,,, all the walls are double insulated the exterior metal wall and the inside house walls that are about 20" inside the sheet metal, went all led lights and mini split ac units,, 3 outside and 6 inside,, but i already knew the water heater was efficient having had it in the shop i just replaced it with a bigger one more appropriate for a house....



the on demand as most people know turns of instantly when you shut the hot water flow off,, no reason to keep heating water 30-45 min after the use is over, then periodically throughout the day ,,, go on vacation or just a 2 day trip for the weekend you tank is still keeping water hot all day and all night,, that is what is not efficient,,, your at work it comes on,, you take a shower or do dishes that tank heater element comes on right away when the water level drops in that tank just a little bit,,, i currently work in a hardware store and we sell heating elements for water tanks,, the elements are plenty cheap, but it seems like most of the elements we sell are 4500 watt,, that is a whole lot of juice !

the absolute worse thing i can say about electric tankless is that when the power goes out,,, i dont get any water not even cold since i am on a well

You said your water heater takes (2) 60a circuits, correct?

If that’s the the case you are drawing wayyyyy more than 4500 watts. 60A x 240V = 14,400 watts and you have 2 of them.


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[xman59]

You said your water heater takes (2) 60a circuits, correct?

If that’s the the case you are drawing wayyyyy more than 4500 watts. 60A x 240V = 14,400 watts and you have 2 of them.


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i say it is 2 60amp, i guess i should actually go look in the breaker box,,, but regardless of what it is, my experience is the electric tankless heater i have used have been efficient and my electric bill low,, which is what the original post was questioning,, he was asking for input because he was thinking about going tankless,, my personal experience, is yes and electric tankless heater are not nearly as expensive as some lead others to believe,,, after 9 months my average electric bill is overall pretty darn low and has been as low as 78$ last month,,, probably far less than most people in general, my previous house was smaller, ran a 40 gal tank heater and my electric bill was running about 200 a month sometimes as much as 250,,,

if your tank heater is running 4500 watts some with 2 elements for 9000 watt output and keeping water hot when you have no need of it, that is not efficient, you are burning money with zero return while the tankless heater is using nothing , gas or electric

[Mike D]

i say it is 2 60amp, i guess i should actually go look in the breaker box,,, but regardless of what it is, my experience is the electric tankless heater i have used have been efficient and my electric bill low,, which is what the original post was questioning,, he was asking for input because he was thinking about going tankless,, my personal experience, is yes and electric tankless heater are not nearly as expensive as some lead others to believe,,, after 9 months my average electric bill is overall pretty darn low and has been as low as 78$ last month,,, probably far less than most people in general, my previous house was smaller, ran a 40 gal tank heater and my electric bill was running about 200 a month sometimes as much as 250,,,



if your tank heater is running 4500 watts some with 2 elements for 9000 watt output and keeping water hot when you have no need of it, that is not efficient, you are burning money with zero return while the tankless heater is using nothing , gas or electric

I agree that electric tanks probably aren’t as efficient but you have to use a substantial amount of water in the tank for them to come on while in use. Then they reheat the water used and shut off. After that all they do is maintain.




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[toomuchsun]

The amperage is not what will dictate the electric bill, the amount used will. High amperage is actually More Efficient in many use scenarios. Even if it takes 60 amps, the power is only flowing while using hot water! I would expect savings once set up correctly and maintained. But also verify if your panels and existing wiring to the main panel locations can even accept the needed power modifications. Homes typically have some leeway but big circuits may even need a new panel and of course will need distribution wiring to handle. Not an electrician but this is common sense. Corrections?

[DRT]

If I were to build a house I would definitely go tankless. In a older house it can be electrically challenging to do so.

Gary

[Arrowsmith]

We love our tankless. Richmond 199,000 BTU propane unit from Menards. We have it mounted in the laundry room centrally located between the the two bathrooms and the kitchen. We installed a manifold to drain and flush the unit.

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[7sdad]

We are building a new house and our son is a master plumber with his own business and he said tankless and gas is the only way to go.

[Greenheadless]

We love our tankless. Richmond 199,000 BTU propane unit from Menards. We have it mounted in the laundry room centrally located between the the two bathrooms and the kitchen. We installed a manifold to drain and flush the unit.

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Are those white PVC pipes coming out the top you vent stacks? I thought they mixed using regular PVC for vent rated PVC?

[deerplanter]

I just went thru this with my house and ended up just replacing with another tanked water heater. I just couldn't see the savings and I have never ran out of hot water in the 12 years we have lived there. Mine is a 50 gallon up in the attic, it took my 3 hours to replace by myself.