UPDATE Hot water heater

Furhunter

Furhunter

New member
Yup
After 8 years my gas hot water heater took a big'ol dump on me today. Just as I was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel(money wise) turns out it was the headlight of the oncoming train!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I called a local Plumbing Contractor, which I have known personaly for years, 650 for a new one installed!! Tankless was 1500 installed, I really wanted the later as the soaring cost of Natural Gas, but 1500 was a little more than I could swallow. Called another friend, he said goto Home depot, they got the tankless ones!! So off I go

Does any one out there have a Bosch Aqua Star, its a tankless on-demand HWH, The output is a little low, as in you can shower but dont do dishes or laundry at the same time. I think max output was 2gpm @ 140 deg. Endless supply!Being a single guy and my son is with me only 3 days a week, and the only time I really use alot of hot water is to shower with, I decided to try one out, $489 Home Depot, but $475 Lowes out the door, they matched HD price and gave me another 10% off /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif (saved alot of money=bullets and powder!)got another friend to help me plumb it in tomarrow, needs a seperate flue pipe, but will have it all togather for less than $650 and save money on gas to boot!! I will let you all know how well it works.
 
Last edited:
A couple nice things about the on-demand water heaters is they take up less space than a typical water heater, and if it does break down the road, it can typically be repaired rather than replaced.

Oh, and the savings on gas/electricity by not having to heat water through the middle of the day or night when it's not needed is nice too.
 
Your just about the perfect customer, a 1.5 person family, for a Tankless and though it's output is a little lower than some heaters, it sounds like it will work for you. The only problem I see is that if and when you sell your home to a larger family they'll need install a larger heater of some sort.

The largest cost associated with water heaters is the amount of water you use, the other losses such as pilot lights or heat lost out of the side of the tank are minimal and the last can be controled by adding an extra insulation blanket if needed. Now a days it hard to find a showerhead that isn't rated for Low Flow,
 
Furhunter do you have a well or are you on city(town) water? The reason that I ask is that in my area tankless never works for very long with well water. To many impurities in the well water. It would be nice to find one that works on a well.
 
Well its in,

Bocsh tankless system from Lowes 474.74
misc parts from Lowes 76.23
misc. parts from Home Depot 75.73

Free labor from a friend= priceless!!
as he needs a little wiring done in his shop!
total tankless cost 626.70, less than the cost of a new water heater from the contractor!!

Bigdog2
Could be a selling bonus. I can see your point though.

The shower is almost as hot as it used to be, I still have to cool it down a little. Volume in the shower is better than it used to be, as the old connections, off the tank where almost closed up!! you could get a pencil thru it!! but thats about it. I am going to start to wash clothes in cold water!! save use of gas there. My dishwasher runs only at night while I am sleeping, so I dont have to listen to it. Cool part is, endless supply, and when your done it shuts down instantly, and no extra gas used for recovery time!! You cant however run a sink and the shower at the same time, but 2 sinks are no problem, I think it will save some money! will find out next month. I bought the small model as it was the only one either places stocked 114,000 btu. They do make a larger model but would have had to special order, keep that in mind if your considering something like this! clean looking on the wall too. Its 18 wide x 30 Tall and around 12 deep!
tankless.jpg
 
Hard water is rough on most anything it passes through. Makes for all kinds of nice deposits and such that are easily seen on nozzles and shower heads. Easiest solution is a water softner, which will take care of most of the problems for non-drinking water.
 
You guys may want to consider a Marathon electric water heater. I put one in and our light bill dropped $20 a month.
 
greg223

I have a Marathon 105 gallon. They are pretty nice. Plastic tank so there is no corrosion. Insulated to heck and is supposed to retain 95% of the heat. It is hooked up a majic box that limits the electric use to non-peak periods, I don't understand how that works but it is supposed to save me money. It is big enought that even when the majic box has it shut down we still have more than enough hot water. IT only cost me $50 from my electric company and the electric company paid to have it installed. Plus it has a lifetime warantee.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top