Tankless Water Heaters

[TromboneAl]

Today I'm getting an estimate for the installation of a tankless water heater. From my research, I calculate that we can save $300 per year with one of these. Propane costs $2.40 per gallon here right now, and I can save more if I can make it through the winter on one tank, avoiding fillups when the price is high.

Here's info on tankless water heaters from Dept. of Energy

I'll keep you posted.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

See the '55 or better' thread for some info on the tankless units.

The savings really depends on your usage, but I would think that $300 a year would be pretty amazing. I was looking at it saving about that over a 10-15 year period.

My current gas hot water heater only costs me about $70-100 a year complete...

 

[TromboneAl]

You may be right Th, I might be too optimistic.  But here's what I'm basing it on:

The Energy sticker on my current water heater says it will cost $681/year to operate based on a propane cost of $2.40 per gallon.  From another source on tank water heaters I get a figure of $740/year.  Also, my current water heater is 9 years old, and efficiency drops as they get older (with sediment buildup) so it may cost more.

So I assume my current cost is somewhere between $681 and $740/year.

In Bosch's literature the estimated yearly cost for a tankless water heater, adjusted for my propane cost, comes to $460 per year.

We have low flow shower heads, and once our daughter leaves for college, we won't use a lot of hot water.  

So, even assuming some exaggeration in Bosch's literature, I still hope to save at least $200/year, and maybe as much as $280.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Holy COW I had no idea propane was so much more expensive than natural gas!!!

 

[TromboneAl]

Propane is delivered in trucks to a tank -- part of the reason it's so expensive. The prices fluctuate wildly, and it's more expensive out here in the boonies (30 miles north of Eureka, CA) as is gasoline.

The installation estimate came in at $1569, and I think I'll go with it.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Glad I didnt buy that 10 acre property with the big propane tank I was looking at 2 years ago then. I figured it to be similar in cost to natural gas. Although I did note the last time I filled my BBQ gas bottles that the price seemed a lot higher than last year.

So you're a few hundred miles north of me and a little west and north of jarhead.

Whats life like up in that part of CA? Real estate as nutty as it is down here?

 

[TromboneAl]

Pretty quiet here. Moved here from Bay Area in 1999. Yes, I think real estate is hot here, but I haven't really been paying attention. There's an unopposable expansion from the cities as the population rises, but we're probably 10 years away from traffic jams (hopefully).

 

[tozz]

If you live in the nothern climes and have a boiler rather than a furnace, an indirect hot water heater is generally even cheaper than a tankless over the long run.

You also have the benefit of not having to worry about marginal water pressure, though I understand the newer tankless units are better in that regard.