Tank-less Water Heater

**Civil_War_Buff** · 11-15-2012, 12:22 PM

We have a tank-less water heater in our home and we love it, now Atwood has introduced one for RV's with no modification. I just wish the price was a little more manageable.

http://www.rvupgradestore.com/Search...wood+on-demand

scrubjaysnest · 11-15-2012, 01:31 PM

I have to agree, the ones we have looked at run about $100 so the attwood looks pricey

**wbmiller3** · 11-15-2012, 05:58 PM

I wanted to put one of these in our house but with the low price of natural gas the payback time was near infinite.

**Kwantau** · 11-15-2012, 06:17 PM

We have had one in the house for about 6 years and after tracking usage for about 2 years I estimated about a 33% gas savings in BTUs used and that is besides the other conveniences that the tankless gives you.

11-16-2012, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wbmiller3

I wanted to put one of these in our house but with the low price of natural gas the payback time was near infinite.

They make gas versions too.

**Civil_War_Buff** · 11-16-2012, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rio Dan

They make gas versions too.

Yeah, ours is gas and the first month after having it installed we saved almost 50% on our NG useage. We have had one for about 11 years now, the first one was smaller and when I added the 3rd bathroom I went to bigger unit with a higher load capacity (2 showers at once +) and it has a small interior tank so the hot water arrives a little faster. I have the unit on a recirculation pump, but our shower times are so sporadic that it isn't a lot of help at this point.

**wbmiller3** · 11-16-2012, 02:32 PM

When your gas bill is $25 a month cutting it in half still doesn't make for a quick payoff.

rvcycleguy · 11-16-2012, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wbmiller3

When your gas bill is $25 a month cutting it in half still doesn't make for a quick payoff.

I was about to say the same thing. Mine avg's less than $20 per month so a tankless system would take me longer than the life of my home or me whichever comes first.

11-16-2012, 04:45 PM

Furthermore, the larger tankless models require a heavy electric draw to kick on and a good sized gas line as well. I looked at putting one in and would have had to do a number of upgrades even though my house is only about 20 years old.
My gas bill is about $20 except n winter, and even a contractor said not worth the hassle.
Neat concept for an RV though.

**Civil_War_Buff** · 11-19-2012, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moaboy

Furthermore, the larger tankless models require a heavy electric draw to kick on and a good sized gas line as well. I looked at putting one in and would have had to do a number of upgrades even though my house is only about 20 years old.
My gas bill is about $20 except n winter, and even a contractor said not worth the hassle.
Neat concept for an RV though.

I agree about the gas line, I have a 1" line going to the heater. My gas bill was much, much higher, we are tiered here so the more you use, the more you pay. I saw savings in excess of $100 the first month. There are 7 people in our house and teh 3 bathrooms, plus laundry and dishwasher. It adds up quickly.

When they first put it in, it would run for 10 seconds or so and then shut off, we finally narrowed it down to the earthquake shut-off, the demand was so great instantly that the shut off thought the line was broken.

The cost is only around 2X a quality tank style, so pay off is about 5-7 years with the gas savings.