The battle is over! Tankless water heaters are here to stay. They are conclusively more efficient than their tank-style counterparts. Tankless or on-demand water heaters use less energy, take up less valuable space in your home, and can be vented directly to an outside wall. Look for tankless water heaters to be the industry standard in all new construction in the next five to seven years.
There are some people who say tankless water heaters don’t work, they’re probably just a fad, or they had one and hated it. In this article we’re going to discuss how you can get the most from your decision to switch to a tankless water heater.
Tankless water heaters have been used around the world for many years. Conventional tank water heaters are only being used in North America. Many of the technologies and philosophies that we view as “green” or “earth friendly” are not new at all. Here in the U.S. we have been blessed with an abundance of natural resources and only recently started changing how we use them. Tankless water heaters, fuel-efficient cars, low-flush toilets, low-flow faucets, and energy-efficient lighting are just a few of the many technologies we have imported from around the world to help conserve our increasingly expensive natural resources.
With conventional gas or electric water-heating systems, water is heated 24 hours a day, every day, for the life of the heater. With all types of gas heat on-demand systems, energy is only consumed when you need hot water. Our new evolving interest in conserving natural resources, while also conserving limited financial resources, has made room in the market for new technologies. Right now having a tankless water heater is considered a plus for home resale.
Let’s look at five proactive steps you can take to insure you have a positive transition to a tankless water heater in your home:
1. Educate yourself: Use the internet and do some research. Look at the different models and manufactures. Learn about this technology and how it works. And most importantly remember that all the manufactures want you to buy their unit. They will tout the attributes of their unit and the failings of their competitors. Read all the information and seek to understand, not decide. The internet is a great resource, but not the only one. And let’s be realistic; you can’t look the internet in the face and tell it how your family uses hot water.
2. Shop around: Visit a few places and go more than once, keeping in mind that you are not shopping for a specific heater or a particular price. You are shopping for an expert. Only a few retailers have really embraced tankless water heaters, and you are not always going to run in to the resident expert. Don’t be afraid come back later to talk to someone else. In short, shop until you find your expert.
3. Buy local: I know that sounds corny and a little self-serving but there’s more to it than that. Tankless water heaters are new to our market, not everyone sells them, not everyone has parts for them, the warranty claims process is not very mature, and many contractors will simply not install heaters procured outside the local distribution network. In most cases your connection to the manufacturer is through your place of purchase. Saving a few bucks and buying off the internet may seem like a good idea in the beginning, but, in a case where there are complications, having no hot water for a week while you wait for your internet dealer to process your claim and re-ship your order will make you rethink the value of your savings.
4. Think twice before doing it yourself: Once a home has been built or retrofitted to effectively utilize a tankless water heater, doing a remove and replace as a DIYer will be no more difficult than it is now to replace a tank style heater. The question you must ask yourself is this: Do I have the tools, the diagnostic equipment, and the expertise to install and retrofit my existing mechanical system (gas supply, combustion air supply, exhaust venting, etc.)? If you have the support of a company that will help you step by step, then do it. But if there’s any hesitation, hire a licensed contractor.
5. Find a licensed contractor who is certified to install tankless water heaters. Most of the manufacturers of tankless water heaters host frequent seminars and training sessions for installers. In many cases your tankless water heater will need to be installed by a “factory certified” installer to validate the warranty. When shopping for a contractor to install your new heater you will not only need to do all the things normally recommended when hiring a contractor but you will also need to make sure your contractor is certified to install your tankless water heater.
Most customer complaints regarding tankless water heaters stem from substandard installations. Most of those come specifically from inadequate fuel supplies. By following these simple steps you can make sure that one of those complaints is not yours.
