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[Shop-talk] Whole house tankless heater experience. Was: tankless/instan

To: Shop Talk <shop-talk@autox.team.net>
Subject: [Shop-talk] Whole house tankless heater experience. Was: tankless/instant water heater
From: Jim Stone <1789alpine@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2022 21:30:11 -0500
Delivered-to: mharc@autox.team.net
Delivered-to: shop-talk@autox.team.net
References: <1UbickM8cG.1ScZN3OsJa4.ref@johns-desktop> <1UbickM8cG.1ScZN3OsJa4@johns-desktop> <16F494C6-A6A2-4743-9A1C-8996238C89B2@gmail.com> <2a3ddeec-3023-c6eb-a802-785e5c62f899@sackheads.org>
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I held off answering Jimmie=E2=80=99s question below until the original =
topic seemed to have played out.  With that now apparently done, here is =
my experience with full house tankless heaters.

I have two tankless heaters, one in my garage - which has a small living =
area adjacent to it and two bedrooms and a bathroom above it - and one =
in my house.  Both are propane fired, as I live in a fairly rural area =
and natural gas isn=E2=80=99t available here. The garage unit is a =
combination DHW and hydronic heating unit (I have heated floors in the =
shop and downstairs living area) made by a company called Laars.  =
https://www.laars.com <https://www.laars.com/>. I have no complaints =
with that unit and love having heated floors in the garage.  (I ran the =
lines before the concrete was poured.)

My house is a very small (780 sq ft) ranch house and has a Rheem =
tankless unit (RTGH-900VLP-2) that was installed when the house was =
completely rebuilt (as in, new house built on the original foundation) =
three years ago. The shower is no more than 15ft from the heater, yet it =
takes several minutes to get hot water to the shower.  It was =
instantaneous when we had a conventional tank unit, but my community =
requires new construction to meet specific energy efficiency standards =
that required us to use a tankless unit.  I complained about the heat =
when the unit was new and an inspection revealed a faulty mixing valve, =
which was replaced under warranty.  I was still unhappy and Rheem told =
me how to bypass the preset maximum temperature of 120=C2=BA and it is =
better with the unit set to 130=C2=BA or 140=C2=BA, but I have a hard =
time believing that should be necessary.  As I said, it took a separate =
small electric unit to be able to get fast heat to the kitchen and there =
is maybe 40=E2=80=99 of insulated PEX pipe between the heater and the =
sink. (The temp in the basement is generally around 60=C2=BA.)

The Rheem unit was recommended by my plumber and is highly rated, so =
maybe my unit is just a lemon.  But, I spoke with a plumber before =
installing the 7.5 gallon unit for the sink and he told me he installs a =
lot of small =E2=80=98point of use=E2=80=99 tanked units in house with =
tankless heaters, so my complaint can=E2=80=99t be unique to my heater.  =
Overall, I like the fact that my house is very energy efficient, but I =
really miss the days when I could hop in the shower immediately and not =
have to worry about waiting for the water to warm up.=20

Jim

> On Jan 25, 2022, at 11:14 AM, Jimmie Mayfield =
<mayfield+shoptalk@sackheads.org> wrote:
>=20
> On 1/25/22 09:40, Jim Stone wrote:
>> I got tired of waiting for hot water in my kitchen (my =
dissatisfaction with my Rheem tankless water heater is a subject for a =
different day)
>=20
>=20
> I'm curious...what bad experiences did you have with your tankless =
heater?
>=20
>=20
> _______________________________________________
>=20
> Shop-talk@autox.team.net
> Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
> Suggested annual donation  $12.96
> Archive: http://www.team.net/pipermail/shop-talk =
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>=20
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>=20


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<html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Dutf-8"></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; =
-webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=3D"">I =
held off answering Jimmie=E2=80=99s question below until the original =
topic seemed to have played out. &nbsp;With that now apparently done, =
here is my experience with full house tankless heaters.<br class=3D""><br =
class=3D"">I have two tankless heaters, one in my garage - which has a =
small living area adjacent to it and two bedrooms and a bathroom above =
it - and one in my house. &nbsp;Both are propane fired, as I live in a =
fairly rural area and natural gas isn=E2=80=99t available here. The =
garage unit is a combination DHW and hydronic heating unit (I have =
heated floors in the shop and downstairs living area) made by a company =
called Laars. &nbsp;<a href=3D"https://www.laars.com"; =
class=3D"">https://www.laars.com</a>. I have no complaints with that =
unit and love having heated floors in the garage. &nbsp;(I ran the lines =
before the concrete was poured.)<br class=3D""><br class=3D"">My house =
is a very small (780 sq ft) ranch house and has a Rheem tankless unit =
(RTGH-900VLP-2) that was installed when the house was completely =
rebuilt&nbsp;(as in, new house built on the original =
foundation)&nbsp;three years ago. The shower is no more than 15ft from =
the heater, yet it takes several minutes to get hot water to the shower. =
&nbsp;It was instantaneous when we had a conventional tank unit, but my =
community requires new construction to meet specific energy efficiency =
standards that required us to use a tankless unit. &nbsp;I complained =
about the heat when the unit was new and an inspection revealed a faulty =
mixing valve, which was replaced under warranty. &nbsp;I was still =
unhappy and Rheem told me how to bypass the preset maximum temperature =
of 120=C2=BA and it is better with the unit set to 130=C2=BA or 140=C2=BA,=
 but I have a hard time believing that should be necessary. &nbsp;As I =
said, it took a separate small electric unit to be able to get fast heat =
to the kitchen and there is maybe 40=E2=80=99 of insulated PEX pipe =
between the heater and the sink. (The temp in the basement is generally =
around 60=C2=BA.)<br class=3D""><br class=3D"">The Rheem unit was =
recommended by my plumber and is highly rated, so maybe my unit is just =
a lemon. &nbsp;But, I spoke with a plumber before installing the 7.5 =
gallon unit for the sink and he told me he installs a lot of small =
=E2=80=98point of use=E2=80=99 tanked units in house with tankless =
heaters, so my complaint can=E2=80=99t be unique to my heater. =
&nbsp;Overall, I like the fact that my house is very energy efficient, =
but I really miss the days when I could hop in the shower immediately =
and not have to worry about waiting for the water to warm up.&nbsp;<br =
class=3D""><br class=3D"">Jim<div class=3D""><br =
class=3D""><div><blockquote type=3D"cite" class=3D""><div class=3D"">On =
Jan 25, 2022, at 11:14 AM, Jimmie Mayfield &lt;<a =
href=3D"mailto:mayfield+shoptalk@sackheads.org"; =
class=3D"">mayfield+shoptalk@sackheads.org</a>&gt; wrote:</div><br =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=3D""><div class=3D"">On =
1/25/22 09:40, Jim Stone wrote:<br class=3D""><blockquote type=3D"cite" =
class=3D"">I got tired of waiting for hot water in my kitchen (my =
dissatisfaction with my Rheem tankless water heater is a subject for a =
different day)<br class=3D""></blockquote><br class=3D""><br =
class=3D"">I'm curious...what bad experiences did you have with your =
tankless heater?<br class=3D""><br class=3D""><br =
class=3D"">_______________________________________________<br =
class=3D""><br class=3D""><a href=3D"mailto:Shop-talk@autox.team.net"; =
class=3D"">Shop-talk@autox.team.net</a><br class=3D"">Donate: =
&nbsp;$12.96<br class=3D"">Archive: =
http://www.team.net/pipermail/shop-talk http://autox.team.net/archive<br =
class=3D""><br class=3D"">Unsubscribe/Manage: =
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/1789alpine@gmail.com<br =
class=3D""><br class=3D""></div></div></blockquote></div><br =
class=3D""></div></body></html>=

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