Own a tankless water heater? Take our survey

Consumer Reports is currently testing tankless water heaters for a report in our October 2008 issue, and we’d like to hear about consumers' experiences with tankless water heaters. If you have installed a tankless water heater at your home, please take our survey.

Thanks in advance, and look for our report in the October issue. Please note that we value your privacy and will keep all of your information confidential. (Read our privacy policy here.)

Comments

[Sean Donovan]

Have had a Rinnai R53-I for 2 years now. Excellent Unit with no problems. If I had a complaint, it would be when using it with my front loading washing machine. The washer cycles the water on and off when it is filling. The Rinnai goes into an evacuation cycle when the water flow stops and before it is finished the washer begins using the water again so the water heater cannot keep up. This problem can be fix by running a return line from a distant fixture and a circulation pump with a timer to keep the water heater running.

[greg kittelson]

i bought a propane heater for my mountain cabin & it's the best thing since pressed ham. it was a little pricey to install, but in the long run it saves propane & is good for the earth.

[David Grinkis]

have had a tankless coil in my house since built in 1969. It was replaced after 26 years. A new boiler was installed 4 years ago which also has a tankless coil hot water in it. Positive: you can take a shower all day long and not run out of hot water.Negative: it doesn't have enough capacity for a hot bath and sometimes a shower may not be HOT!

[Ryan Fletcher]

I installed a Bosch 80 amp electric model four months ago and am very happy with it. I put up a site so folks could see how easy it is to install and give them the information I had a hard time finding for myself.

[Valerie Bullard]

We installed a tankless water heater thinking to save money and always have hot water. Hated it from the start. I like very hot showers and this seemed not to be an option. If you turned up the thermostat the water would change from freezing to scorching and back all during the shower. If you set the thermostat to keep it from doing that the temperature would be way too cool to enjoy.
Someone recently suggested that we needed a much larger unit to avoid that, We just bought another normal hot water heater and it's great.

[bob anderson]

Yes to the tankless system -- we all need to get rid of those wasteful 80 gallon dinosaurs. And please CR start researching and running articles about solar, wind and more sustainability!

[r parker]

A tankless water heater may be the most regrettable and problem-ridden purchase I've ever made. Immediately after it was installed in my older home in 2004, the heater would shut off and require resetting right in the middle of a shower. This happened dozens of times.
Several repairs have been needed, and on two separate occasions I've had to go without hot water for days and days while I waited for parts to be shipped.
Eventually I threw in the towel (ha-ha) and repiped my whole house on the suggestion of my plumber. This very expensive correction wrecked the tile in both bathrooms, but did improve the performance of the water heater. I still sometimes have the water temperature fluctuate or go cold in the midst of my shower, and the water wasted down the drain while it heats up again can't be helping the environment.
I've found it difficult to communicate with the company, because their technical help desk only wants to talk to professionals. I've found it difficult to find professionals who are experienced working with this type of product. This product seems to have very special requirements in order to work correctly; consumers should research and consider this very carefully before purchase.

[Linda]

I would like you to find out if there is a small unit that i can put in my bathroom that would handle both a sink and the shower and tub. My conventional Hot water heater does fine with the sinks and tubs close by, but our bathroom is about 50 feet from the tank and it takes almost 5 gallons of water to run b4 it gets hot. I know there are units out there that you can put under the sink and hopfully you will investigate these as well.
Thanks, Linda

[E Thomsen]

I just installed a Bosch Model AE125 purchased from Ace Hardware. All went well until we turned on the water and water sprayed out of the heater over all of the electrical parts. We returned it and the Ace hardware guys noted that it had been improperly tested before being shipped to us. I have a hard time believing this is a real Bosch product. The plastic tube that connects the flow interface to the heating elements (prevents a ground connection I assume) was completely loose. This didn't happen in shipping. It arrived this way. This cost me hundreds of dollars in labor. Why? These have been used in Europe for Decades. Can we please have those Real European products shipped over here!

[E.Garcia]

Well, I was seriously considering a Tank less but there seems to be more expensive flaws than positive attributes. Thanks for all of your comments. It really helped!

[debra penn]

We recently purchased a Stiebel Eltron Tempra 24 for an older Florida home which required some upgrading of our breaker panel and only minor plumbing modifications.I can tell you from experience, that inconsistent or "weak" water flow/pressure WILL adversely affect the performance of any tankless unit. We did raise the pressure of our water pump (we have a well) in order to correct this problem. So far, so good. My sister, Washington state, purchased a tankless unit 20 years ago. Said it paid for itself the first couple of years and has had no problems.

[Stan Gurka]

We were really excited about a tankless system but are apprehensive about all of the problems and will probably go with a traditional inefficient but reliable tank system.

[Alex]

Well after getting a 825.00 oil bill for 162gal The oil burner is going to the curb. At this rate it will cost me $1600-2000 a mos for oil during the winter.. I'm going to install 2propane commercial units (maybe piggybacked).I was looking at The Rheem and Takagi Units. They will run my hole house which incldes 3 baths and 3 zones of hydronic baseboard heat.Any suggestions or ideas? Wish me luck.

[Nick Hayer]

We are in Scotland on vacation to attend my oldest son's graduation from U of Edinburgh. The 'flat' we have rented has an electric hot water shower. It is a DC Dimplex AX3. No idea about reliability and cost effectiveness but for functionality it fits the bill perfectly.

I came here to ConsumerReports for some buying advice..

[Michael]

I had a Takagi-K3 installed in a three family home back in Febuary '08. I never even told the tenants I was installing the unit. To this day no one has had a complaint. I haven't seen much of a difference in my gas bill (due to this years rate being higher than lasts). However I know it could be a lot worse. My only regret is I didn't do it sooner.

[Christine]

My new Paloma tankless hot water heater ($1000) has a valve triggered by water pressure that starts the heater. I cannot add a trickle of hot water to anything, from a shower to water for the goldfish tank. A trickle will not start the heater. In fact, my dishwasher does not draw enough water pressure to start the heater. The manufacturer tells me that I have to run another hot water faucet in the house to keep up the pressure through the heater when I want to run a trickle. I also have trouble with the heater quitting when it gets too hot and recycling from hot to cold. Back to my dishwasher, the maximum temp on the GAS tankless heater that I have is 120 degrees - not high enough for a dishwasher. I'd rather have a tank and put a timer on its thermostat so it cools down during the day and starts up about the time I get home.

[grace bernard]

I am considering installing a tankless water heater; paloma model#426-588 or the Rinnai R-75. I have 2 1/2 bathrooms. Has anyone installed any of these units, and what has been your experience? Please advice.

[Cecile]

We bought a tankless water heater from Ace hardware. It is a Powerstar. We had to add a new breaker for this unit. It is terrible. It will trip when the water has run for less than 20 or more seconds. We have to go upstairs switch the breaker, then come back downstairs, crawl under the kitchen cabinet, press the switch, then go back upstairs and flip the breaker again. It is never predictable as to how much hot water we will have. It is a 2 gallon water heater. We are ready to pull it out but do not know what to replace it with if at all. Any suggestions with help. If any one knows of a good and reliable brand for a small space under the sink please share. The Powerstar cost about $150.00. Thanks

[Todd]

I just built a new home and installed two Rinnai R75 units in tandem to feed the entire house, which includes 2 regular bathrooms, and a master bath with a large jacuzzi tub and 5 gpm shower head. I would highly recommend the Rinnai, as it is one of the only units on the market that will not fluctuate temperatures on you. If the demand for water is to high, it will simply slow down volume until sufficient temperature is reached. The main thing to remember in tankles heaters is GPM. You must have your heater properly sized to your wants and needs. nothing against the retail home stores and local hardware stores, but they simply do not have the experience and expertise to properly size the units for the consumer's needs. This seems to be the main reason people have a negative experience with them. Unlike a conventional hot water heater where you are looking at amount of water stored and recovery rate, in a tankless unit you need to look at how many GPM do I need heated at the one time, what rise in temperature is needed, and how far away from the unit is my fixtures. It takes planning and thought, but if you do it right, you can't go wrong! hope this helps

[Joe V.]

I installed a Bosch Aquastar 125B that burns natural gas. I have had it two years and it already paid for itself.

What I like about the unit: Installation was easy. The unit is small, lightweight and constructed well of high quality materials. Can be mounted on a wall to free up valuable space. You have an endless supply of hot water. I am able to run my washer and shower at the same time with no problems. My natural gas usage is less than 2/3 of what it was with the tank water heater. Saves money. Has a very small pilot that can be turned off if you go on vacation or whatever and can be easily re-ignited with the press of a button.

What I don't like about the unit: Requires a 5" vent pipe. Unable to run a trickle of warm water.

While the initial investment seems high, the unit has paid for itself. The good points such as energy savings and money savings definitely outweigh any negative aspects of the water heater. I hope that this information is helpful for anyone who may be considering the purchase of such a water heater.

[JD]

We just came back from living in China for 2 years where almost all new residential construction (i.e., last 10 years of construction) uses tankless. They are extremely effective, and unlike what I'm seeing in the U.S., they are just as cheap as tank systems. We were very pleased with our tankless systems (instant, endless hot water in a compact space). However, it appears to be one of those areas where the economies of scale in the U.S. (e.g., the U.S. demand) have not caught up to make this ecoomical (i.e., based on purchase price alone, tanks seam cheaper than tankless here). Thus, it appears to be one of those areas where I think the U.S. lags. If U.S. demand picks up, the prices on these should drop like a rock, as they are already being mass produced in the 10's of millions overseas.

[Shawna Knight]

We just installed a Monitor Tankless Water Heater and so far so good. It takes a little while for hot water to get to the bathroom even thought the unit is in the next room. I've started washing my hands in cold water as I'm annoyed by hearing the unit fire up when I turn on the tap and it remains on for a few seconds after I've turned off the tap and I still haven't felt hot water. I was able to turn up the temperature by 10 degrees as the factory set temp of 125f wasn't hot enough for me. I love the space saving as well as the fact that I'm not keeping a resivoir of water hot all day when I use so little hot water.

[Pat Hefling]

Purchased a Bosch 2400E natural gas tankless heater to replace a 40 gallon NG heater. Costs of heater was about $900, plus a $731 bill to plumber to re-plumb for the installation. It provides enough hot water, and have seen a savings of about $30 per month. Downsides: Must have continous flow to maintain hot water. Off/On rinsing intersperses cold water. Wife hates it. Trick learned is to brush teeth before shower with the hot water running, then turn on shower, before shutting off sink water. This will maintain the flow of hot water.

[Andrew]

I recently bought a vacation home in the mountains, and it came with a Takagi tankless water heater. The unit (and the house) is only 3 years old and it has had no problems. For a second home, going tankless is certainly better than keeping a tank hot or having to re-warm it every time you visit. However, the drawback to tankless is that it produces hot water only when water demand reaches a pre-determined threshold (about .75 gal/min. of flow) When the water flow falls below this threshold, the heater shuts off. This occurs with dishwashing and laundry washing machines, and can produce uneven (or no) hot water during their cycles. It also means that I sometimes have to wait 30 seconds for hot water at the kitchen sink...and I'm reluctant to turn the hot water off because I'll have to wait again.

I've been told by several "experts" that the solution is a recirculating pump, but I'm reluctant to make that additional investment given my limited use of the home.

[Steve]

I just learned about a recirculating hot water appliance brand: "Chilipepper Hot Water Demand System pump" www.chilipperapp.com, which appears to be simpler, lower in operating cost, and can be installed diy. Has anyone checked this product? It operated by push-button Remote control, and is not "on" continually.