Tankless water heaters, which brand?

[747mopar]

Most on this forum probably know I'm in the middle of building my new garage and want it fully functional which means hot water. Since I'm mostly only in there on the weekends I can't see putting a hot water tank in and know nothing about tankless heaters so I'm looking for advice on brands. The only thing it will supply is the sink so I probably only need a 30 amp jobbie.

Reading up on them they say one of the big pitfalls is lack of long standing producers leaving many units unserviceable. That combined with the fact that there's a lot more to them to go wrong instead of just an insulated, tank, element and thermostat.

Any suggestions. I've already pulled a 6 gauge feed for it just need to nail down the brand.

 

[moparnutcase]

Most of the tankless in my parts happen to be gas. The last electric one I wired required 3 40 amp 240 volt circuits. That was a couple of years ago so not sure if they have changed a lot. Personally I would just use a standard tank.

 

[mccoymail]

Likewise on the standard tank.

 

[bm02tj]

Just use the small electric 120 volt 5 gal heaters they use in offices for washrooms

 

[Superb Bee]

Bosch mini tank is your best bet for garage for washing hands. They have 2.4 4 6 and 7 ga , amazon sells them, ariston sells the same tank also, just buy the size you want and pick the best price, they give them 40 different model numbers, gl is ariston for example gl4 is a 4 gallon and es is bosch ie es4. I have one that is 5 years old no issues, makes hot water, plugs in to 120 and doesnt leak...

PS I didnt even use a faucet, I have mine mounted on the wall with a spout on the hot out and a spout on the cold, I have a hose with tee on it teeing them together and a bucket underneath, lol.. VERY high tech...

 

[Glenwood]

One thing to note is that while these tankless heaters are great little units, they do not like well water. The heat exchangers don't seem to last very long. So if you're on a well, check that the warranty doesn't have some fine print about the water source.

 

[moparnation74]

My house has 2 hot water heaters. One is a standard and the other is tankless. My tankless is a Rheem gas unit and I got it installed about 4 years ago and have had no problems. I flush the coil every year with vinegar to eliminate build up on the coils...takes over an hour and is easy to do..

I would never eliminate a standard water heater if you have gas and a single unit...remember no power no hot water...Every tankless, gas or not has to have a power source......

 

[Car Nut]

Buy one made with stainless steel, they are known to rust out.

 

[mopar 3 B]

If you get plenty of sun light consider a solar unit.

 

[brian6pac]

I have a Rheem elec unit and with the price of gas now I wish I had a gas unit. I has been flawless so far only uses elec when you turn on the hot water.

 

[Superb Bee]

I found the unit I mentioned on amazon
https://www.amazon.com/BOSCH-4-Gall...d=1485150895&sr=8-1&keywords=gl4+water+heater

all have the same recovery rate, just different storage amounts, I wouldnt want to spend a ton of money on garage hot water. You can put a switch on it and turn it on when you are in the garage, with the recovery rate and the small tank it shouldnt take more than 20 minutes to get hot water, maybe put the switch next to the light switch so you can make the choice wether you will need hot water or not.
I always figured it took me at least an hour to dirty my hands, lol.

 

[dual fours]

Find out from the Manufactures if the Warranty is still valid if the product is bought on line. I do think to protect a warranty it may need to be descaled every year like mentioned above by moparnation74.

 

[R/T]

Tank less electricals could harbour Legionaire Disease. I would suggest a small 10 or 15 gallon unit , like the ones the big yatchs use.

 

[Superb Bee]

Tank less electricals could harbour Legionaire Disease. I would suggest a small 10 or 15 gallon unit , like the ones the big yatchs use.

a little legionella never hurt no body, uh except them poor nice people of the american legion in Philly that one time, lol..

seriously it can grow in water stored at certain temps, in sealed tanks, and if you happen to breath in the water (like in a shower) you can get sick, this is true, I personally don't know anyone personally that it has happened to, but I hear it all the time so it must me a real thing, and the desease has a pretty serious mortality rate, like 20 percent infected die!!!


I believe you need to store water over 140 to kill the bacteria and under 58.. I actually think it is more likely transmitted through air conditioning systems, thats hwere the bacteria likes to grow, and it is easily made air borne.

 

[747mopar]

I found the unit I mentioned on amazon
https://www.amazon.com/BOSCH-4-Gall...d=1485150895&sr=8-1&keywords=gl4+water+heater

all have the same recovery rate, just different storage amounts, I wouldnt want to spend a ton of money on garage hot water. You can put a switch on it and turn it on when you are in the garage, with the recovery rate and the small tank it shouldnt take more than 20 minutes to get hot water, maybe put the switch next to the light switch so you can make the choice wether you will need hot water or not.
I always figured it took me at least an hour to dirty my hands, lol.

You know that isn't a bad idea at all, I like the tried and true tank heater and hadn't really thought much about just turning it off. You can also buy timing relays that operpate on 110V and have a 30 amp rating, set if for Friday afternoon threw Sunday and forget it. I believe the last time I looked they ran about $100. Something to think about.

Also I have Spring water so that could play a factor with the tankless?

Thanks for the link, I know what your talking about.... was just looking at one on my last Lowes visit.

 

[747mopar]

a little legionella never hurt no body, uh except them poor nice people of the american legion in Philly that one time, lol..

seriously it can grow in water stored at certain temps, in sealed tanks, and if you happen to breath in the water (like in a shower) you can get sick, this is true, I personally don't know anyone personally that it has happened to, but I hear it all the time so it must me a real thing, and the desease has a pretty serious mortality rate, like 20 percent infected die!!!


I believe you need to store water over 140 to kill the bacteria and under 58.. I actually think it is more likely transmitted through air conditioning systems, thats hwere the bacteria likes to grow, and it is easily made air borne.

Why is this the first time I've heard of this desease? Does it thrive in all geological areas? I'll have to research this but thanks for bringing it to my attention.... better clean my A.C. units!

 

[747mopar]

I appreciate the input, the whole descaling and not liking well (spring) water combined with a different approach to wiring the tank heater has me thinking twice about tankless. Think I'll just buy a small tank heater and run it off of a timer.

 

[1969CoronetR/T]

hot water heaters

Why do you heat your hot water before it gets into the tank? hahaha I kid I kid.

 

[Glenwood]

I appreciate the input, the whole descaling and not liking well (spring) water combined with a different approach to wiring the tank heater has me thinking twice about tankless. Think I'll just buy a small tank heater and run it off of a timer.

Solar hot water works exceptionally well as an alternative during the warmer months.

 

[Superb Bee]

Why is this the first time I've heard of this desease? Does it thrive in all geological areas? I'll have to research this but thanks for bringing it to my attention.... better clean my A.C. units!

LOL, it is common, I seen a test in a video where they grew in in a car heater box in a few hours to deadly levels, simply buy keeping the engine cool and running the a/c with a faulty heater valve, so they used a diesel car I think it was a VW, and they ran a bit of heat through the coil as the ac pumped and blew air into the passenger compartment, obviously they did it with instruments to keep the temperature correct, but it worked, and they grew the bacteria to deadly levels in a form easily aspirated...

I can probably find the video it was actually a mopar video, lol showing the dangers of dual zone climate controls, Its an old recording but I guess they figured it out, the video was showing the bacteria could grow in a heater box, and a dual zone heat/cool heaterbox could easily make the bacteria.. which in theory I guess makes sense, but they must have figured it out because a lot of cars have multi zone systems, my wifes car will blow hot or cold in 4 spots in her car, so you can have 2 hot and 2 cold or 3 hot and 1 cold...