Hot water

[bobemm]

• I ran into a2andy in the hall yesterday and he said "You look perky...no, you look like you're going to kill somebody." I've been told that my moods are largely indistinguishable, but I think he was kidding. (It was the latter.)
• My water heater has forgotten how to stop heating my water. It's nearly 25 years old, so I suppose it's probably getting senile. My first instinct is to try to fix it, but really, I'm not even going to bother looking for a suitable control module. Unless - have they stayed the same for the past 25 years? Anyway, this is all very horrifying, because the basement is turning into an appliance graveyard. In fact, the old water heater that was replaced 25 years ago is still down there. You'd understand if you saw the "stairs".

  So I guess I need to figure out what kind to buy. I'm sort of wary of the tankless ones because I don't know if they last as long, and they cost more than twice as much, but they're 95% efficient as opposed to 92%. The difference seems small, but I'm sure it pleases mother nature nonetheless.

[Poll #933796]

Comments

[randomcub.livejournal.com]

If you're going to be in the house for the long haul, I would go tankless. If, however, you're not planning on staying there the rest of your life, just get a tank model with the longest warranty you can find. (The ones that come with longer warranties are built to last, according to Consumer Reports.)

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

That's another of my concerns about the tankless ones - it seems (at least from a small sample) that the warranties are shorter, which probably means something.

[randomcub.livejournal.com]

*shrug* they've had them for years and years in Europe and Asia, I believe, as well as using them in the US in high-rise buildings where a tank would not work so well. I just think they're probably newer to the US retail market.

[qmrf.livejournal.com]

I chose tankful - partially this is just because I grew up in the country, we lost power a lot during storms, and you can flush the toilet using a bucket of water drained out of the water heater. (Or, if you know there's a storm, fill the bathtub...) Though, Ypsi's power grid seems pretty reliable.

Also, a little googling suggests they have whole house tankless heaters now, meaning you don't have to have a couple of them around the house? I can't remember where your water-using appliances are, either.

So maybe I'm changing my mind to tankless. Either way, though, get one with a good warranty and as high efficiency as you can find.

Meanwhile, for the old ones, leave 'em curbside, one each week -
http://cityofypsilanti.com/services/public_works/trsh_rcyc/lgandfreon

Though I'm not sure where those go...Be nice to know the steel was recycled.

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

Something indeed seems to have happened - in the first year I was in that house, there were several power outages, one for several days. In the last year, I don't think we've had any.

These are two examples -

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=89263-1136-AE-125&lpage=none
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=89263-135-E3F50RD045CV&lpage=none

The tankless at least claims to be equivalent to a 40 gallon tankful. The current beast is 52 gallons and seems more than sufficient.

[qmrf.livejournal.com]

Well, but equivalence is difficult. You can take a shower while running the dishwasher with a tanked heater, and draw down water faster than it's being replenished - but only for a while. The tankless keeps delivering the same flow of water forever - so you can't do bursts of heavy use, but you can use it at maximum rate forever. So that's another consideration - do you often use hot water for multiple things at one?

Remember the energy efficiency income tax credits, too - $300 for a qualifying water heater. Whichever style you get, make sure it gets you the credit.

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

This is true. I generally don't use hot water for more than one thing at a time, but it's nice to have the option.

I just can't decide. Perhaps I should instead focus on creating a machine that helps decisions make themselves.

[randomcub.livejournal.com]

There's also the option of getting both-- a tank hot water heater for general use, and a small tankless that, if you ran out of hot water in the tank, would then kick in to augment.

[markormarky.livejournal.com]

none of the options in the poll felt like a response i would give, so i withheld :-)

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

O dearest Marky - what response would you give???

[markormarky.livejournal.com]

something like, "i don't know a water heater from my ass"

[peccavo.livejournal.com]

I'm think the difference in efficiency is much bigger than 3%. All reports I've read make it seem like the US is completely backwards to use tank heaters.
But because I'm in the US, I can't get a consistent story on tankless hot water heaters... or a very good variety of them. I think I've seen one or two models- and I don't know how they compare to the ones in Europe.

I say, if something must be done immediately, go for the tank heater. However, if you have a week to research it, find the best version- and maybe find someone (a handy european?) who knows a thing or two about tankless heaters, then go that route. Everything I've read about tankless heaters says their energy efficiency comes from being "on demand" because they're not keeping water hot all day long waiting for you. But the down side of this is no long hot showers.

Don't get yourself into something you don't totally feel comfortable with. Especially if there's a high probability of messing up, and resale value is an issue.

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

I guess the % efficiency thing may not be the best # to look at, cuz...percent of what??? I'm sure there's a standard, but I don't know it, and I don't know if it assumes a tank or what.

Anyway, I got a $13 replacement thermostat on the way home from work, so I have plenty of time to research and decide.

[peccavo.livejournal.com]

I'll be interested to see what you decide on. My current hot water heaters are junk, and I've been looking into tankless for some time.

[avironneur.livejournal.com]

I have a tankless here in Queerbec and haven't had any problems aside from those mentioned previously that can occur during power loss. My only complaint would be that I find a) getting the hot water going takes longer and b) the force of the hot water is lesser than that with a tanked unit but I manage to warsh ma personal bidniss and not stank regardless so I figure it all evens out and these problems could very well be the consequence of the ass backward plumbing in my building.