TromboneAl
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Click on an image for more info. Cost is not an issue. That's right I said that.
Which Mini-Tank Water Heater to Choose?
- Thread starter TromboneAl
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Texas Proud
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I have not heard of any of these brands, so cannot recommend any....
I would look at reviews and warranty to make my choice...
I would look at reviews and warranty to make my choice...
Ticker
Recycles dryer sheets
I have a Marathon electric, costs a lot extra, but efficiency is way over the top.
you can get them from home depot as well as other places.
you can get them from home depot as well as other places.
ERD50
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
The specs on the tankless are meaningless - 0 gallons/minute? You have that now! So hard to compare.
I'd go for the simplicity of a tank, and choose the one with the highest temperature set-point and wattage. Then, I'd add a mixer valve to mix the incoming hot with the tank output. I saw some mixer valves around $50 online.
Say you need 120F max at the faucet, and can set the heater for 160F and incoming water is 60F at first, the tanks will only need to supply 60% of the water initially, and less as the main supply warms up, effectively increasing the capacity of the tank. Measure how much draw you need, you might get away with a smaller tank?
Another advantage of the mixer - you can turn the faucet to full hot and 100% of the draw will be from the hot line, warming that line sooner. W/O the mixer, as soon as you temper the faucet with cold, you lessen the draw on the hot.
The mixer valve will also level out the hot-cold-hot that you might still get as that tank gets cold water drawn into it. A gallon of 60F mixed with 130F in the tank will drop it a lot, I can't imagine these small tanks are able to stratify the hot/cold as well as a standard large, tall heater.
-ERD50
I'd go for the simplicity of a tank, and choose the one with the highest temperature set-point and wattage. Then, I'd add a mixer valve to mix the incoming hot with the tank output. I saw some mixer valves around $50 online.
Say you need 120F max at the faucet, and can set the heater for 160F and incoming water is 60F at first, the tanks will only need to supply 60% of the water initially, and less as the main supply warms up, effectively increasing the capacity of the tank. Measure how much draw you need, you might get away with a smaller tank?
Another advantage of the mixer - you can turn the faucet to full hot and 100% of the draw will be from the hot line, warming that line sooner. W/O the mixer, as soon as you temper the faucet with cold, you lessen the draw on the hot.
The mixer valve will also level out the hot-cold-hot that you might still get as that tank gets cold water drawn into it. A gallon of 60F mixed with 130F in the tank will drop it a lot, I can't imagine these small tanks are able to stratify the hot/cold as well as a standard large, tall heater.
-ERD50
ERD50
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Really? What does 'way over the top' mean for efficiency? How many $ is 'a lot extra'?
Electric water heaters all have efficiencies that are very close to each other, just due to the nature of how they work (resistive heating elements immersed in water are near 100% efficient). The amount of insulation will make a small difference. Until you go to a heat-pump model.
I'd be very interested to see your calculations that the efficiency will save you money, or even much energy.
The OP's main water heater is propane, which will cost less than electricity in his area.
-ERD50
