tankless-heater
22 Feb

Home Sense: Should You Think Tankless?

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 They are trendy, efficient and compact, but will they add value if you’re listing your home for sale? Does it make sense to install one if you’re not looking to sell?

The tankless water heater has been standard in Europe since WWII, but in North America they only make up 5% of water heater sales, according to the spokesman for tankless maker Rannai Canada.

While many home improvements return your investment cost with an increase in sale value, the cost of a tankless heater generally will not, although, it does add to the home’s appeal. It is a little thing that can make a big difference to buyers when choosing between two similar homes.

A tankless system will cost double or triple what a tank heater costs to purchase and install. They range from $300-400 for a basic model to more than $3,000 for a high-output model, including installation. No matter the model, installing tankless heaters are not for do-it-yourselfers! While they are about the same size as an electrical panel box, they must be mounted on a safe, non-combustible wall, and also require the expertise of a technician who can do the plumbing, electrical, and possibly gas-line work.

 If using a gas-powered version, the tankless heater will require a different method of venting through a sidewall, as well as a larger gas line. Water piping will need to be reconfigured, and an electrical receptacle may need to be added.

Where a tank heater uses a slow-and-steady approach to generating a supply of hot water, the tankless heater is either all on or all off. This accounts for their environmentally friendly footprint, but those bursts of heat will require 160,000 BTU of power (versus 40,000 BTU for the same output tank heater), a level many homes cannot handle. Be sure to compare your home’s available power to the needs of the new unit or it will not be able to heat effectively and will send warm water to your taps.

In the past, the tankless heater earned high marks for being more efficient than 40-60 gallon tank heaters. Today, non-compressor style tankless heaters are 80-85% efficient, however, tank heaters have made great progress and can be up to 95% efficient.

A study conducted by the Center for Energy and Environment found that most tankless heaters will fall apart from old age before the owner can save enough money to justify the cost of purchase and installation. They also discovered that tankless heaters will be up to 9-17% less efficient than the ratings, due to the temperature of incoming water and the amount of water flowing through them. If you are wanting to install one, make sure you have compared your cost-to-energy-savings and are installing a tankless heater for its performance and compact size, not its efficiency and return on investment.

The type of water being piped into your home is another factor to take into consideration. Hard water can break down a unit well before its warranty ends, requiring another investment in service fees to re-install a new one. If you constantly struggle with hard water, the tankless heater may not be a good match for your home.

While these concerns may have you running to buy a standard hot water tank heater, there are some situations where a tankless heater can pay off.

Thanks to their compact size, tankless heaters are a blessing for smaller homes. If you are selling a smaller home, apartment, condominium, or town house and the hot water tank takes up space that could be utilized for storage, a washer or dryer, or workspace, the tankless heater can open up 12 to 16 square feet of space.

If you are listing a larger home, where some of the bathrooms are so far from the water heater that it requires several minutes for hot water reach the faucets, a small tankless heater can be installed right under the sink to save on waiting time during daily routines. This adds user appeal as well as savings, since you’re not paying to drain off water that has become cold in the pipe, and then paying again to heat that water in a tank, only to lose the heat as water flows to the tap (hot water pipes should always be insulated for an inexpensive and very green home improvement!).

If you are using a lot of water on a regular basis to fill a large soaker tub, for example, the efficiency of the tankless heater will also pay off more quickly. The tankless heater can constantly produce hot water and does not require time to heat up a new supply. In tests, tankless heaters are most efficient when at least 64 gallons of water are drawn through them each day. But a typical household will use 41 gallons.

Better efficiency and greener homes are always ideal, but if you are looking to sell your home, the costs will likely not outweigh the value. If you’re planning to stay put for a while, you will have to weigh the pros and cons of your situation to see whether whether a tankless water heater makes sense for you.

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