Anthony's Plumbing
June 20, 2019 - Thursday
TANKLESS WATER HEATER
Everyone needs a hot water heater in their home, and most businesses do, as well. When choosing what to do with your water heater, is it better to repair or maintain your existing water heater, or is it better to upgrade to a tankless water heater? Did you know that nearly 30% of the average home's energy costs relate to heating water? Switching over to a tankless water heater can reduce these costs by up to 50%. Over the course of the year, that can really add up. Besides taking up far less space, they also last twice as long as a traditional water heater, on average. The thing is, there is that initial cost to factor in, but over the course of time that you are paying off your house, you'd also being paying for improvements in the systems you rely on every day.
Let's say you decided to upgrade. If you look at Home Depot and do a search for "tankless water heater" there are 523 results, as we write this. [See Results]. The cream of the crop seems to be the Performance Platinum 11 GPM Natural Gas High Efficiency Indoor Recirculating Tankless Water Heater made by Rheem. [See it Here]. As soon as I saw the word Platinum, I figured that's like better than gold.
At 11 gallons-per-minute, this unit is for larger homes. A better rated unit, and $100 cheaper is the 9.5 GPM unit [See it Here]. And what do people say about these?
In March of this year, one man wrote: "Super easy to install. We did a self-install and then contacted a plumber to connect the gas. It truly provides hot water within 30 seconds to all locations throughout the house. It is factory set to go no higher than 120 degrees, I would prefer a little bit hotter for the showers but it will do. It is saving a ton of space from the regular 50 gallon water heater I had (that was 32 years old). And I'm sure that the ROI will be seen within 2 months in lower gas usage!!"
Another man, a do-it-yourselfer, wrote: "Unit installed by me with some additional help from wife over 2.5 days in November 2016. Self-installation not for the faint of heart, but if you're organized, methodical and experienced with plumbing and electrical work, results are impressive. I contacted gas company to have meter upgraded prior to install, as adding up max possible gas consumption with furnace and other gas appliances along with max tankless water heater gas consumption exceeded original meter capacity. I replaced 50 gallon electric water heater, which made no sense to me as electric heater was located literally next to gas pipe entry into basement. I ran new gas line from meter into house upgrading from 3/4" to 1-1/4" line, which extended to within a few inches of the tankless unit before stepping down to required 3/4" line. Unit was plumbed in copper, same as original, and I added hot water recirculating loop with 6 gallon electric water heater and Taco pump, which cut down significantly on delay for hot water to reach kitchen which is ~100 ft from tankless heater. Unit plugged into computer-type uninterruptible power supply/battery backup, which provides ability to maintain operation for 90 minutes for power outages. Overall, very pleased with operating results, plenty of hot water for 2 showers and washer running concurrently. Hardest part of install was locating exhaust/intake through wall, which required holes for 3" PVC pipe through exterior brick, which took some effort with carbide hole saw, but looks good with supplied termination kit. I used Watts valves, which will allow regular service but I have water softener and 10" whole house sediment filter before tankless heater, so hopefully calcium and sediment deposition will be minimal. A big job, but well worthwhile and I would make the same decision if I had to do it again."
Realistically, with so many options to choose from, the best thing you can do is talk to us about the plumbing services you are looking for and we'll explore your options together. We've been doing this for over twenty years throughout San Bernardino county, as well as the Los Angeles and Riverside areas, and one thing we've learned is that everyone's situation is unique. Where we at Anthony's Plumbing excel is in quickly letting you know your fastest, most affordable choices when it comes to plumbing solutions. Besides conventional water heaters and tankless water heaters, we also have a reputation for reliable, efficient, affordable drain cleaner services, 24/7 emergency plumbing services, garbage disposal installation and repair, clogged toilet repair, and slab leak detection, but we'll save those for another blog. For now, if you'd like to consider repairing or upgrading your hot water heater and need a plumber you can trust, give us a call and let's talk about your options. You can reach us anytime at 909-823-3807 and if we're out in the field just leave us a message and someone will get back to you shortly.
Thank you for dropping by and spending some time with us. Have an excellent rest of your day!
