Gas fired, on demand water heaters
buildit4you
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
Hello to all!
While I don’t post to much I do read this forum on a regular basis.
Anyway, has anyone had much experience with the gas fired, on demand home domestic water heating units ? (in place of the conventional domestic water heaters)
Thanks in advance for any replies!
Phil Powell
Havre de Grace, Maryland
Good times, riches and Son of a _itches
I’ve seen more than I can recall.
J. Buffett
Replies
Had one installed in a recent huse I built.
We were warned that it may not keep up with multiple users of hot water at the same time. (say shower and the dishwasher, or two showers at the same time ) This seems to be the case, fortunatly since it is an older couple they learned to manage the uses so they are happy. Plumbers around here aren't enthused about them because of call backs about shortage of hot water. Solution seems to be to install more than one of them.
I am not sure just how cost effective they are really. But they do provide unlimited hot water for one user.
I've put two of them in, and they work well. *
* Proper gas piping is an issue with larger units.
* Flue venting can also be an issue, especially if it is common vented with other gas appliances.
* Make sure you understand the GPM capacity of the unit in relation to the fixtures in your home. Showers (plain ones) are regulated to 2.5 GPM while tub fixtures are not. A front load wash machine may never get "hot" water with an on demand unit (or regular water heater) if there is plenty of pipe to the appliance.
* Pay attention to the flow rate temperature rise chart.
* "Professional" models allow the use of a water storage tank to address issues like filling a hot tub.
* You will not see an energy savings if you adjust your lifestyle to use the limitless hot water.