G Mann <g2ma...@gmail.com> writes: > IMHO I will never again buy a tank type water heater. I now own tankless > water heaters and am very satisfied. I NEVER run out of hot water, my > operation costs are way down and the amount of space required for the > heater is not much larger than a desk top computer.
I installed a natural gas tankless heater (Bosch AquaStar) at our first house (close to 10 years ago now) and overall it was great. I don't know from experience but I think today's heaters work even better. They are not without their quirks, at least ours wasn't. They are sensitive to the incoming water temperature. Our tap water in the summer can be almost 80 degrees right out of the tap, in the wintertime it can get down below 50 degrees. If the heater doesn't compensate for incoming water temperature (ours did not) you have to adjust it seasonally. Also, low-flow usage could be a problem. Below a certain flow rate, the burner shuts off. So even though water is flowing from the hot water tap, it might be cold. Newer tankless heaters may handle this better. We moved, and our current house has a standard tank-type heater. We also got a front-loading high-efficiency clothes washer (LG) and that is where the other potential issue comes in. When the washer fills, it doesn't just open the water valve, fill, and close the valve. It fills in a series of short cycles. Water is on for five seconds, then off. The on, then off. Repeat until it decides it has enough. With a tankless heater, I don't think the water would ever really get hot since the burner would be shutting off only moments after it ignited. So if you have appliances that use water in pulses, tankless may not be a good choice. Allan -- 1983 300D 1979 300SD _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
