We are going to need our ancient water heater replaced soon. We have been considering the tankless ones. I understand you get instant hot water only when you need it.
Are these worth the extra money or are we better off with a new regular one.
Thanks.

The more I study tankless hot water heaters, the more I think they are a nifty idea that doesn't work. Instant hot water? If you instal a tankless heater where your old one was, you will wait just as long for the cold water in the pipe to run down the drain as you do now, before you have a drop of hot water. The costs that give for wasted stand by hot water exceed our gas bill in the summer that includes a hefty minimum charge just for being connected, and the gas used by the dryer, hot water we use, plus stand by. I think they must use figures for the uninsulated ones I haven't see since the 50's. As for saving enough space to tuck near where you use it, the clearances needed are huge. I can't fit one in my crawl space where I already have a 105,000 BTU gas furnace.

If you have or will have teenagers that come out of the shower looking like wrinkled prunes because they stayed in until the hot water ran out, I hate to think what your bill will be.

Using the search feature, https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showth...light=tankless, https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showth...light=tankless.

Starting with a new house, a number of small, electric point of use heaters might make sense.

I would study tankless heaters very carefully before buying one. Compare the hype to what ever numbers you can come up with. Also look at electric thermal storage. Even at today's interest rates and ever increasing utilities, you might do better to put the difference in price in the bank.

By the way, the cheap, no name brand heater I have now is over 20 years old. I do drain some water out the bottom now and then, mostly when I need some in the garage where it is.

Maybe more info coming soon. My daughter's hot water tank just died. Against my advice, they had picked up a tankless one and will have it installed tomorrow.

Actually, I do have teenagers & they stay in the shower long enough already. :)
I do think you're right about how hard it will be to make up the extra cost of installation & the unit itself. One guy quoted $1200 for the unit & installation. I'll be checking back to see how it goes for your daughter.
Thanks for the quick reply.

I love my tankless water heater.

I have a Bosch that is electronic ignition (no standing pilot). I installed it only for the busiest bathroom and although the hot water isn't instant it is within 30 seconds where before it took much longer. It is small and it was easy to install.

The biggest benefit is that I have 3 kids and a wife who all love long showers. In the past the first one in usually took most of the hot water even though I have a large water heater.

Which is more energy efficient a tankless or storage water heater?

RJS did you notice that this post has been dead for 3 years? Tankless

Yes, they are worth every penny you spend. Period.

Do your research. Consider size of your house, number of bathrooms and number of people living in the house when selecting your tankless heater. Buy heater accordingly.

There are many different brands and models on market, like: Bosh, Noritz, Rinnai, Takagi, Bradford White, Rheem - just to mention few. From our experience installing tankless heaters for the last 8 years, we came to conclusion that Rinnai is the best heater on market. Read about Rinnai at Rinnai. America's Leading Tankless Water Heaters: Energy Saving, Forever Hotwater. Bosh had the poorest performance.

Please, don't confuse "instant" hot water with "continuous" hot water. Tankless heaters are continuous hot water heaters, not instant. In fact, you will have to wait for hot water same long time as with conventional heater .

Conventional W/H will be reheating tank full of water 24/7/365.
Tankless heater will activate only when it detects water flow.
Tankless heater is more energy efficient.