Is it better to buy a tankless hot water heater if you have gas?

Similar questions: buy tankless hot water heater gas.

The two places tankless water heaters gain an advantage is in high usage applications, and occasional usage applications. The weakness of the tankless water heater is that even though it only fires while the hot water is in use; it has to have a bigger burner to heat the water as fast as it is used. One tankless, properly sized, can replace multiple tanks, which improves overall efficiency in a high volume application, but for moderate use, a tank can still compete for efficiency.

With the 8 people you mention in your other question, you might be in the high usage classification.

From what I understand, it's more a matter of personal taste (and usage pattern) than anything else. You will pay a little more if you have the pilot light on all the time (but it uses a *tiny* amount of gas, so we aren't talking huge dollars here). But the benefit is that you have 40-50 gallons of hot water literally at your request any time, day or night.

Of course, the downside is that once you empty the tank, you have to wait 30 minutes for it to reheat. Tankless heaters actually *do* have a tank, but the tanks are only a couple of gallons large. The real problem with these is that if you are using the water at a faster rate than it can heat the water, you end up with luke warm water.

Not good if you like strong hot showers. But of course, the flip side is some energy saving. But again, it comes back to your personal habits.Do you like long hot showers?

Get a real water heater.

The tankless water heaters heat the water you need, when you need it. Turning any water source into hot water on demand. You are not limited by the amount held in the "old" regular water heater.

Tankless water heaters supply endless hot water. When you do not need hot water the unit shuts down, saving you money, the "old" water heater is always heating to water in storage. The tankless heats water as you need it.

The tankless also lasts about 20 years. I woiuld say yes get the tankless you will be glad you did .

Tankless heaters use a HUGE gas flame to heat the water in real-time. You'll need a big chimmney or vent pipe to carry off the exhaust. They're also a bit hazardous if the water supply slows down a lot, like when somebody flushes a downstairs toilet.

The heater keeps putting the same amount of heat into less and less water, so the temperature can zoom.

Tankless water heaters are up to 98% efficient. Your tank water heater, at best, is only 40% efficient. It also acts as a huge radiator losing heat when it is idle.

This is do to the stack design of the heater itself. So, you actually lose some of that 40% efficiency. Hands down, a tankless water heater is going to save you money on gas.

Now for the down side. First of all, as others have stated, tankless water heaters have a much bigger burner than tank type heaters. This doesn't mean they use more gas to heat the same amount of water, quite the contrary actually, BUT it does mean you need a MUCH larger gas line installed to feed them.

If you are close to your gas meeter - YEAH! If not, you will need to install a large gas line to feed the puppy. Also!

Because they are much more efficient, flue gases will condense in your flue stack SO...... it has to be made of stainless steel or it will rot out. Stainless steel stack is expensive. All in all though a tankless is the way to go.

We are the only country where tank type heaters are still the norm. You can also have multiple tankless heaters at POINT OF USE, i.e. They are close to where you use them (right by your bathroom).

Meaning more savings in fuel and much faster hot water! .

WHat size tankless do you think I would need. There r 8 people in house, 2 washers, 2 showers, and one dishwasher. RedheadShawna 11 months ago .

All good advice given. Another consideration for a tankless heater is the distance the water travels in the pipe from the tank to the user. We screwed up in not installing one for that reason.

Takes a long time to get hot water, then after use, the water in the line cools.2nd in a large family one solution I saw that is never discussed: Instead of one 50 gal tank, use two 25 gal tanks in series. While using a lot with several family members, the second tank feeds hot water into the first tank, and the cold water goes in the first tank. Just sayin'.. ..

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If you have a tankless hot water heater, what has been your experience --positive and negative. Thanks.

I have a gas furnace and gas hot water heater that feed into my chimney. No fireplace! Do I still clean my chimney?

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