We are in the market for a new water heater. I have read about these, but I don't know anyone who has one. I'm wondering if they are "worth" the extra money, and how hard they are to install into an existing house (as opposed to new construction).

Any comments y'all have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
suesue

My dh works in the plumbing industry and I remember him commenting to me before that he wasn't impressed with them. I can't recall the reasons why though and he's not in the house right now for me to ask him. I'll try to remember to ask him for more info and post again.

I guess one thing on how difficult the installation would be is where is the current water heater located? Is it in a crawl space under the house, in the garage, in a tight corner of a small utility room, etc.?

I don't know where you are located in the U.S. but a new federal tax credit started at the beginning of this year for solar water heating (new systems being installed). There are some threads here in the utilities forum with the details.

might be good to check consumer guide -- find the index, and look up the stuff at the library. I remember This Old House (who could spend money like water it seemed to me) saying that they were a savings, and they called it point of use hot water. They have them in Europe. It uses less nat gas than a tank.

BUT I don't know how hot the water is, and in Europe the appliances often have a little water heater built into washers and dishwashers to raise the water temp when hotter water is needed.

Ok, I got the scoop from dh.

He does not like the electric ones. He said you have to have just the right breakers or when it kicks on to heat the water you will encounter problems (such as lights dimming all in your house, etc.). He said in his experience electric are fine if they are done along with a newly constructed house, but most older existing homes don't have the right/adequate breakers.

He loves the gas tankless. He said they are extremely energy efficient.

He said the best place to install them is in the garage or outside.

Gripey put one at our carwash (gas) and it works great and has saved us a lot of money over the old style. I want to put one in our house when our current one gives up the ghost (from the sounds of it, might not be long).

This is good to know - we are going to be installing one next month. We are remodeling our bathroom and chose to go tankless to save money in long run (well, we are selling, but we hope that will up our asking price since the next owner will save money lol) but mostly because of space - we have such a small house that that extra space will be helpful. We are going with a gas one.

I have heard that the gas line might need to be increased as some gas lines provide too little gas for it to run properly. Maybe check that out before you buy the tank. Once the tank is installed, most people absolutely love it.