Correct Installation makes the difference

 

Because tankless water heaters are sophisticated appliances the more critical is their correct installation. They should be installed by licensed, factory certified and experienced professionals. By far the most installed type of tankless water heater is the one powered by natural gas. Electric models are not very economical because of mostly higher electric rates and potentially higher installation cost. Electric tankless water heaters usually have a high electric power demand and may need supply circuits of 100 A or more amperes. This would require an upgrade to the existing electric system of the house that can be costly. Smaller electric tankless water heaters can be easily used in point of use locations, for example for the kitchen sink. They require much less power and are very useful.

 

The most important factor is the location where the tankless water heater is going to be installed. It is crucial to be close to the gas meter and the gas line to be properly sized so it is able to supply the volume of gas needed. Utility gas meters can also be restrictive and not able to supply enough gas. This is usually not a problem, most utility companies can exchange the meter to a larger unit free of charge. Since the tankless water heater modulates its burners it adjusts the gas flow to the burner for desired temperature.

 

Problems usually occur when the unit needs to supply greater amount of hot water and is not able to receive enough gas volume for the burners. The gas supply and volume is very important to have a trouble free operation. It is not that tankless water heaters use more gas; they use more of it when heating the water instantaneously versus the tank water heater that slowly heats the water. The energy it takes to heat water to a certain temperature is the same. It is important how efficiently that energy is used. A professional installation also tries to minimize the pipe length from the tankless water heater to the next bathroom. This reduces the amount of cold water that is flushed before the hot water reaches the faucet.

There are some pump products on the market that continuously circulate hot water in the pipes so that hot water is immediately available when you open the hot water faucet. These pumps are very wasteful of energy because in most homes the hot water pipes are not insulated and made of copper. Copper is a very good heat conductor so all the hot water in the pipes are constantly radiating heat to the surrounding and cooling off quickly. It works sort of like the radiator or the heater in a car. Hot water is pumped through it to cool. These pumps and the associated valves use the cold water pipes for the circulation of water, so the cold water in the pipes become warm as well.

This company http://www.chilipepperapp.com/ has come up with an innovative solution. A tankless water heater pump or better a recirculating pump that is electronically controlled and turned on when needed. Tankless pumps like these add additional Convenience and prevent waste of water. The cooled off water in the hot water pipe is returned to the cold water pipes instead of being drained.

 

Because of its compact size the tankless water heater can be installed almost anywhere and not necessarily where the old water heater was. It is also important to make sure the water pipes can carry the volume of water. The tankless water heater of course regulates the flow but having not the capacity means the heater can’t run at full capacity when needed. This means that multiple showers may not have enough hot water at the same time. One thing that tankless water heaters require is a minimum flow of water to start heating the water. That is usually around 0.5 gallons per minute. This is not a problem except when you want hot water at or below that flow rate. A very low flow rate causes the tankless water heater either not to come on at all or to come on and turn off again quickly. This can also happen with newer one handle shower faucets. Here the water mixture for hot and cold water is preset and the volume is increased or decreased. The mixture ratio of cold and hot water is set according to the storage tank water heater temperature which is higher than the tankless water heater.

 

Here you have potentially a situation that there won’t be enough flow of hot water to keep the unit on and the water coming out of the shower won’t be hot enough. It is easy to fix and adjust the mixture ratio of the valve to match the tankless water heater temperature. This situation of course is not directly related to the tankless water heater but it affects the operation of it. A professional experienced with tankless water heaters will know about this and other little things that make the difference.

 

Tankless Water Heater  Saves Energy, Money, Space

 Endless Clean Hot Water