What is a good situation to use a tankless water heater?

We’ve been exploring a thankless solution, but the company that quited us said it isn’t a good idea in our area because the ground freezes in the winter. We don’t live in a super cold area, but it does snow a few times a year and it can get into the single digits of degrees Fahrenheit.

Brkdncr ,

Why do you want tankless? If it’s not for space and “endless” hot water, then tankless may not be right for you.

Consider a heat pump tanked water heater if you’re looking for efficiency improvements.

Policeshootout ,

I live in Canada where it often gets below -20c in the winter. I have a cheap electric water heater (eco smart) and it does our house of two people fine. It’s a little slow to fill our tub, though. Cold weather has nothing to do with tankless vs storage water heaters. The company we hire to do our plumbing and HVAC installs in new homes we build often recommends Navien gas water heaters. They work great at high flow rates but require direct ventilation of the combustion gas. The last two homes I built used Navien tankless heaters and the home owners are extremely happy with them. Talk to a different installer in your area. HVAC contractors are probably to be the most knowledgeable.

themeltingclock ,

In that case, I would assume they’re talking about how cold the incoming water would be.

I used a tankless in a zone five area where our incoming water in the winter was often below 60 degrees. You’ll have to compare the charts of input temp and output GPH to determine how it would work for your specific use case.

I used an indoor mounted one, but there are tankless models intended for places like CA and AZ where they can be mounted outside.

We liked the endless hot water - we only had one bath and three people, so we offer were bumping against the 60 gallons of our old tank model.

Thorosofbeer OP ,

Our biggest issue is that we have a huge hot water heater that takes up a whole closet. We like to down size. An indoor one would be fine. What are zones?

arditty ,

That’s why we installed a tankless unit, it freed up an entire utility closet because we were able to tuck it in to a pretty small space while still respecting the required clearances. The only downside we’ve had was initial cost, and the yearly flushing process, which really isn’t bad if you install the correct valves from the beginning. Takes about 30 min. a year, which is worth it for endless hot water. Our gas bill has also been lower too.

talentedkiwi ,

I’m assuming they’re referring to hardiness zones

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