Water Heater

[NAMASafetyDirector]

I am looking at replacing my electric water heater in my 1500 sq. ft. home and would appreciate some advice on what some of my options are as far as the most efficient and money saving route to go. Thanks in advace!

[Outfitter17]

I would go with and on demand hot water heater, they are alittle more up front but they pay for themselves in no time.

[Roofer]

I don't know which is better, but I have an offpeak water heater and I get a deduction on my electric bill for it.

The on demand ones like already mentioned seem to be the cat's meow right now, but not sure if you come out ahead or not money wise. I have never priced them.

[BoxMN]

Roofer, how many people in your household, and do you ever run out of hot water, like if you have guests? I will have to decide on 100 gallon off peak, or 50 gallon regular. We won't have many people using it, as usually just two of us, so the off peak might be good choice. Thanks.

[dakotakid31]

The tank-less are not a little more they are ALOT more and it would take you a long time to make it pay for itself. your size home just replace with the same you have-every thing is there. Tank less you need high pressure,enuff BTU capacity from your meter to supply all gas appliances,furnace,fireplaces if you have them and the 198000 the tank-less needs. Alittle re-water piping,getting a 3 in vent out the side of your house and all the gas work that "could be needed" i think you can see just the labor charge would be up there besides the unit costing way more than a tank style. Way more hipe than they are worth.

[Farmboy1]

I had looked into putting a tankless in a place I am working on right now. The tankless is not a bad option for a new application, however retrofiting can be costly. The reason I say this is you will need larger gas lines, venting out the side of the house (if possible), and the space to do this. The cost of the unit will be about double, and then the install costs push it outside of most peoples range.

I decided to go with a new power vent gas fired unit. It has a fast refresh with the power vent, and gas is normally faster reheat. The power vent will cost more then a similar replacement of the electric unit you have.

The cheapest option will be to replace what you have and not worry about it.

You may want to look into rebates, tax and city, for going with a more energy efficient unit. They may help offset costs with a on demand unit.

[backlash 1]

Off peak electric is by far the most effecient. 100 or 120 gal with a mixing valve and you should never run run out under normal conditions.

I would not recomend a power vent gas water heater to anyone, (well, maybe to someone I did'nt like ) The maintenance problems with them are unbeliveable.

On demand heaters are a joke. Payback is waaaay down the road, and i'm sure there will be maintenance issues as well.

Overall, go electric, no question.

[Roofer]

Mine is 1995 model Marathon 100 gallon. Never ran out of hot water except once when a heating coil went out. That I figured is from the well water here. The replacement was cheap, but yes it did break down on me once. There are only two of us living here, but the guy who lived here before me had a family of four. He had it installed because he had one in his previous house and they really liked it.

Electric is our cheapest source of heat right now. Getting a discount every month for off peak is nice also. It does have it's own meter though. I'm not sure what the costs are for hookup of the system, but it is rather simple being it is electric.

[papabear]

i hear tsnkless do not work in Mn ground water is too cold to get up to temp. check the web sited they have a map that shows where they work

[fishandshroom]

The on demands are becoming common in Fargo ND. The gas one are expensive to put in and not simple to maintain. But ultimately cost effective.

[DrJ]

I have 2 80 gallon water heaters on off peak since 1990. It's never cost more than $6.00 per month. 4 people and a whirlpool bath and we've never run out of hot water. Back then the Electric company gave us the heaters for free, but we had to pay $50.00 for the extra meter.Check and see what kind of deal your electric company has now. Off peak has been good to us. DrJ.

[Redlantern]

Another problem with tankless heaters is that you realy can't install a recirculating line and have the tankless heater not run all the time.