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Author:
BREPLUMR (IN)
Brother Plumbres,
I am Intrested in a tankless heater for my house. Currently I have a circa 1985 Rudd 40 with a cnventional vent. I am the only one who lives here. one shower at 5am and one in the eve. I live in chicagoland we can get some cold temps here all though we havent yet this season. Will a tankless sufice for my needs. Most of my suppliers are scared of the tankless. I installed one in the early part of my carear around 92/93. Also installed one about two years ago allthough i advised against it the homeowner insisted upon the unit. Non the less they ended up with a 75 gal high recovery after seeing the Bosch would not cut it. I have 3 bathrooms laundry and kitchen. Ao smith Has the highest GPM/Temp rise unit that I can find in the large tank type manufactures. What do you think?
Dont get In over your Head Hire A LICENSED Plumber Instead!!
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Author:
hj (AZ)
If you install a unit that will supply 3 gpm at your coldest incoming water temperature, then it will suit your needs. The number of people is not a factor unless they all use hot water at the same time.
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Author:
jamiedolan (WI)
I have a nearly identical situation as BREPLUMR is in. I am in a 2.5 bath, +kitch & laund house. I am up about 200 miles north of the chigaco land area in neenah wisconsin. I am the only one her most of the time.
I was looking at the tankless for 2 reason, 1. to keep hot water comming if I want a long shower or bath, and 2. to save energy.
My real question, are there are realiable stats on the energy use (or savings) of these new tankless units vs the old water heaters? I have seen some stuff, but it varries a lot in what the energy stuff says and it seems like there is not energy star info available for most of the tankless..
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Author:
daniel b (NC)
once you go tankless you never go back.I love my Takagi.They will size one for you to fit your needs.I would guess on tk-1 for the 3 baths.
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Author:
jjbex (IL)
Crawford Supply is Mokena and Kankakee. They stock Noritz. I highly reccomend them. If you achieve energy savings, great, the Federal Gov't thinks you will, as you will get a tax credit for installing one. The best thing is the space savings and never running out of hot water.
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"You can't get there from here"
Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe
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Author:
BREPLUMR (IN)
jjbex where do you live?
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Author:
jjbex (IL)
Gardner.
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"You can't get there from here"
Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe
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Author:
Scott D. Plumber (VA)
BRE,
Yes they will work. I'm a Noritz/Rinnai fan.
Bosch is not on the level of the professional grade units.
Number of fixtures expected to run (Maximum hot water load) is how to size them. Not people. Size it for the home. I use number of showers with each shower needed 2GPM HOT water.
As for energy savings and "Energy Star", There are NO Energy Star ratings for water heaters. The Energy Star people have not written the parameters.
As for energy usage, about the best thing we have to go on is the DOE Energy Guide Stickers on the units. You will not see a large savings over a 40 gallon unit unless you compare an electric tank to a gas tankless. (Then it's a lot!) If you compare a large gas tank heater to a tankless it is also a pretty big savings.
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Edited 1 times.
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Author:
scottdenny (CA)
In a retro situation there are two things to take into consideration. A new gas line and a Catagory III flue will add considerably to the cost of installation. You may not see a break even point for the extra money expended for a tankless installation for quite a while. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but you should pencil everything out before you make the change. If you do, Takagi, Noritz and Rennai are all top notch.
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Author:
jjbex (IL)
I had to install a flue kit for a BigBox unit installed by a pipefitter. He told the homeowner, his niece, that she didn't need that stainless steel vent kit. He used galvanised flue pipe. I got the call to do it right. The vent kit and extra parts cost over 500 dollars. I installed a Noritz and the vent parts needed was about 40 bucks. Go Noritz.
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"You can't get there from here"
Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe
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Author:
martin c
I had a Tagaki installed and I will ask my supplier to replace it with a conventional tank.
The 3 second delay before it fires up means my dishwasher runs cool in the first wash and cold for the remainder because it consumes asmall quantity of water and does not get fresh hot water.
The same goes for my laundy machine.
I hand wash some dishes. Once again the 3-second delay means I have cool water unless I do not place the stopper to begin. I could change my 50 years of habits.
But, when I rinse with a dribble of water, it becomes cold because the pressure is not sufficient to trigger the heat.
It also takes 30 seconds for the second person taking a shower because the water cools in the pipes, then the 3 seconds of cold water, then another 5-10 seconds of warming water before it gets hot. Don't stand in the water while you wait.
I think this tank wasa big mistake.
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