I agree with Gail that there are factors besides energy use and upfront costs.
I also appreciate this discussion because I can't make it to the workshop and I am considering putting in a tankless WH. I already have a pretty efficient domestic hot water system (indirect coil off a Munchkin boiler used for baseboard heat). It never runs out, with 4 apartments (and 4 baths, 4 kitchens). BUT my apartment used to be the summer kitchen, and it is a wing over an unheated crawl space and waiting for HOT water wastes a lot of water. And my well ran dry last month for the first time EVER While there may have been a minor fixable cause, I worry in general about aquifers receiving less recharge from rainfall and snow melt due to changed weather patterns (caused by global warming). So water conservation is another factor, and one that may well become more important in the near future. I think putting a tankless in "the West Wing" won't save much energy over the current arrangement, and I'm sure it won't save me much--if any--money (in terms of paying for itself), but I know it will save me a lot of water. If I can afford one in the first place. Margaret On Nov 18, 2008, at 7:44 AM, Gail Blake wrote: > At 10:23 PM 11/17/2008, you wrote: > >> ... The higher the number of people in your home (and presumably >> the more people are using up the hot water), the less the on-demand >> heater will save you because you aren't keeping water hot 24/7 for >> only an occasional use. > > We have found that another plus to our on-demand water heater is that > we can have more people using hot water and not run out. We recently > more than doubled the number of people in our house and yet don't > have to be strategic about showers and dish washing as we would with > a tank water heater. Any appliance purchase is a multuidimensional > decision and this definitely pushes the on-demand into the "worth it" > column. Energy use and up-front cost are only two of the parameters. > > Gail > > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County > area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
