USNRET Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Meeting with designer to finalize construction plans. Due to city water main location, lot size/orientation, etc I would need to: 1) put water heater in laundry room of house 2) put water heater in detached garage; water feed line 125' from water main thru slab foundation and then to garage and then feed back to house (approx 30-45 ft garage to house) 3) install tankless system in laundry room If tankless, looking at Rinnai KB3237FFUD (RU98i) Thoughts? Suggestions? 2 story home, 3 1/2 bath two small kids (showers at same time, use, etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 When our hot water tank went Kaput I considered a tankless solution. Then the more reviews I read and the more I talked to contractors the more troublesome they appeared to me. That was a few years ago, maybe better now. As always place the HW tank or tankless system as close to end use as possible. I'm guessing that would be your laundry room? My hotwater tank in near my kitchen. I think near the master bath would be better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 This subject has been discussed here before, if one can search it out... Do you have gas, or electricity, and do you have power outages? I have a gas HWH, which stays on in outages (which we have around here). Hot water is good to have in extended outages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhoak Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 When my 20+ year old 40 gallon water heater took a dump a couple of years ago I did a LOT of research in to replacing it with a tankless unit. In new construction or a major remodel tankless water heaters are usually a good choice. They tend to be a lot more energy efficient than traditional water heaters. Gas fired ones are the better cost wise if you have that option available. I don't have gas available to me here so I've never really done a cost analysis for my house. Where they fall flat is as a "retrofit". For electric units the cost of upgrading the electric service generally costs more than many years worth of power savings. The electric ones draw a butt load of current and require some really big wiring to feed them. Much bigger wiring than a traditional water heater. I really didn't have the option (or the $$) of rewiring my house to accommodate a tankless heater. I installed a new 50 gallon water heater and called it a day. Back when I was working for my Dad (a General Contractor) we built several houses that had gas fired "point of use" tankless water heaters. The one house that comes to mind had 4 of them. A kitchen and 3 bathrooms. Reports from the owner were that they were wonderful. Instant hot water and low energy costs. To my mind tankless water heaters just make a lot of sense. It seems kind of dumb to me to spend money to maintain a big tank of water hot even though it's not being used. I wish I had the option and the coin to convert. If it's something you're seriously considering I can hook you up with my brother. He makes his living doing energy research for the University of Florida and is really good about telling someone what makes sense and what doesn't energy wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet_Hollow Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 http://www.chilipepperapp.com/ Bought one for my parents as a Christmas gift 5 years ago. Works fantastic on long pipe runs that are prone to cooling off between uses...if you end up with having to park the water heater in the detached garage in this case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USNRET Posted August 29, 2012 Author Share Posted August 29, 2012 Thanks for the input guys, I'll seach the forum as well. It would be natural gas fired. I happen to have a co-worker that does ALL of the Energy Star Certifications in this county, he is anal about energy use and is guiding me here but I wanted outside opinions from those that have actually lived with these things. He sees several options but needs to see 'semi- final' design first. Since this home will have a foam sealed attic space (we are going max energy savings without going 'tree hugger') he is leaning towards the gas fired tankless mounted in the attic. He says no way would he suggest this mount solution without the foam sealed attic space. Now how to incorporate that IB woofer thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 ...long pipe runs are prone to cooling off between uses ...You're probably considering it, but I suggest using pipe insulation on all the pipes you can. Keeping water hotter longer is much more pleasant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Walter White swears by his Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRFL Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Back in 1996, I replaced two small electric water heaters with a "instantaneous" variable temperature Australian AQUA MAX 24 litre per minute with a max temp of 75 degrees centigrade..Gas fired. If it ever fails I will get another. It can deliver non stop hot water all day that you can drink as it's heated inside a stainless steel heat exchanger. It has a powered flue and is extremely cost effective as it only heats the water to the temperature you select on demand. For showers just select the temperature and don't mix cold water in at the shower so as a result the pipe work is not unnecessarily heated to a higher temperature between the water heater and the shower saving energy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Now how to incorporate that IB woofer thing... [Y] It would be SO easy during new construction as opposed to a retrofit like I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Richard Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I know several people who have replaced their tank type hot water heaters with tankless models and they all love them. The weak point seems to be the flow switch that controls the burner/heater. After 10 years or so that part may need maintenance. They aren't too hard to replace. Make sure that piece is easily accessible if you install a tankless heater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 This thread is about a week old but here is my $0.02 When my HWH went out about 10 years ago, tankless were harder to get and it would have required modification to the vent system we have. The mount would be in the garage and only about 40 feet on the longest run to 2 baths and the kitchen. When this tank goes south, I really want to retrofit a tankless esp now that it is only the wife and myself at home and our heat needs are fairly low yet we are paying to keep 40 gallons of water hot all the time. We are Propane so it is a little harder to find a unit but not much. YMMV! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkytype Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 We installed a Rinnai propane unit when we built our home five years ago. It is in the laundry room above the washer & dryer and central to all hot water runs. It has performed flawlessly. However, while you can have "endless hot water", be sure when you turn on the hot water tap that the water flow is enough to trigger the unit into operation. Otherwise, you'll get a cold slug of water when you least expect it! To determine which model to choose, be sure to check the flow curves on the web site. The colder your incoming water is, the lower the hot water flow rate will be. In the winter, our incoming water temperature runs about 55-60 degrees and with the 7.5 gal/minute model, we have plenty of hot water. Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Regretfully I don't have the time right now to go into this in detail. They aren't as good as advertised in a number of ways. I much prefer condensing boilers with hot water storage to tankless boilers. The amount of heat loss from a hot water tank is miniscule compared to the lower overall efficiency of the tankless units. Here in cold country, the heat loss off the tank is just helping to heat the house anyway. If any boiler requires a metal pipe (or masonry chimney) for venting, rather than plastic pipe, there is a reason why. Heat is going up the vent and outside at a rate much higher than the manufacturers would like you to know about. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 I'm wondering what the eficiency difference is between heating well water (55 F) and city water? JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USNRET Posted September 21, 2012 Author Share Posted September 21, 2012 I'm wondering what the eficiency difference is between heating well water (55 F) and city water? JJK Several temp rise and GPM requirement calcualtors on line Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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