I need hot water in my detached garage. It now has a cold-only utility sink, waster direct from well, plus separate 200 amp breaker box with plenty of room. Occasional use of hot water will be to wash equipment used for honey processing. Don't want a hot water tank. Confused about range of point of use units available. How to choose?

Water from well, not "waster."

How much hot water do think you will be using? You can get really small water heaters, like 2gallon or five gallong. These only require 120v and don't take up much room. Tankless water heaters are still a bit pricey vs standard tank heaters. If you definitely want a tankless, and plan on using quite a bit of hot water, I would suggest looking into gas tankless over electric tankless if you have access to gas in garage. One other thing to take into consideration is the qaulity of your water. If the water quality is poor, then you would need to treat or filter the water for use with a tankless heater, as they tend to plug up with bad water.

MGD is right about price and water quality being issues. Tankless heaters are very efficient but not necessarily economical. If I am not mistaken you will only need hot water afew times per year,right? If so I'd go with a small electric water heater, not tankless, and leave it off most of the year when you are not cleaning the hives or frames. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/a...heaters-ov.htm

Do you have gas in your garage ?

No gas at my place, well water is good. Small tank sounds like a good idea. Didn't know they made them that small. Thanks for the tips.

They also sell Electric Flow-Through hot water heaters in several sizes. No tank. Water heats up on demand. It is a small, clean unit. Like this one: Stiebel Eltron Tempra 24 Electric Tankless Water Heater

Used a 2.5 gal water heater in a remote location off well water. 1500 watt aprox 12 amp,heated to 140 deg
In 10 minutes. Perfect for that occasional bird bath needed after cutting trees in san jacinto mtns
Used less energy than the wife's hair dryer.thanks
Rojo