Water Heater Hell

Tankless Water Heaters have become sort of in vogue lately. And, with the price of gas lately, saving energy is a HUGE benefit to any homeowner.  And I'm not sure if you've had the joy of seeing the aftermath of a ruptured water heater, but, let me tell you the feeling is, well, like the credit card commercial says: "Priceless". Only, in reality, it's not priceless. It has a VERY distinct value. Depending on what's just been lost due to mold, mildew and just plain water damage it can become costly very quickly.

Has your water heater tank started to leak? Or begun to look a little "loveless"? Or rusty? Maybe your hoping to jump on the tankless bandwagon early, but, aren't quite sure what it involves.Well then, glad we've met! I'm going to share with you some quick tips about my new water heater that I learned during my online search and then purchase from an online auction site.


Commercials and ads about the Rinnai or Bosch or Titan systems seem to be all over various radio shows lately or maybe you possibly have seen an add in some publication that has created questions in your mind such as: "Could these water heaters really be that good?" or "How tough are they to install?" Well, let's get into my personal experience and see how many questions we can answer along the way.

Going Tankless in Public

I live in a home in New Hampshire looking for ways to save energy with my hot water tanks high on my list. To be honest with you there were two 15 gal. electric hot water tanks in the basement and they weren't exactly fresh out of the box. They were rusty, dingy, dust coated electric water heaters that looked like I would be doing cpr on soon. Next to trying to burn WATER in my car I had to do something.

I had already been visiting websites previously for info about the Titans and Rinnais for several months and was intrigued by how they worked. And this was before the hype started. Not much bigger than a phonebook. Maybe two inches thick. Nothing fancy looking about them at all. Kinda spartan looking actually. I visited several websites looking for info so that I could compare the different makes/models that I was able to find by searching Google.

Pondering Water Heater Questions

I was researching info about the following:
*How size unit did I need?
*How big WAS a tankless water heater anyway?
*Would it really save me money?
*How much were they? (This is where the online auction came in handy)
*Were there any special tools or technology required to install it?
*Were there any other issues that might come up that I should know about?
*What kind of plumbing/elec. hookups did they require?
*Did it work with the PEX tubing I had already installed?

Here's some of what I discovered:
1) I needed a unit big enough to supply me with hot water for at least one shower and sink running at the same time. 
2) An electrician should wire it in (it needed a special breaker and wiring) and a plumber should install it. Have any friends that are electricians or plumbers? This might be a good time to barter!
3) The temperature of the water coming into my house is COLD, but, I didn't realize this mattered until I was researching. But it made sense because the tankless water heater would require more power to heat colder water.
4) I found I could get a good deal out on eBay and bought a Titan N120. My dad has since also purchased a Titan N160 also from eBay.
5) The size of the unit was about the size of a telephone book.
6) I'm the hit of all the block parties when I talk about them!
7) A large portion of my cellar (basement) has been reclaimed.
8) I saw a HUGE drop in my electric bill!
9) And heck YEAH it worked well with my PEX!!

Next up is replacing my leaky faucets.
I'll write again next time about more of the particulars about hooking it up and show some photos.
But for now regarding MY tankless heater: I love it! It's one of the best decisions I've made in a very long time and one which I would do again without hesitation.
This is tankless Ray signing off!