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FPD. I you're not wanting to shell out that much money and you want something with the most efficiency in a high use area like the bathroom where you shower and/or laundry room, it might to worth looking into small low cost units that can be installed near the use site. You can even buy one that installs under a sink in it's cabinet.
Of course a whole home unit might suit your purpose better, but it's never a bad idea to weigh your options.
I have natural gas, so to use a small electric somewhere doesn't work for me. Don't have an exotic situation. There is no reason a tankless wouldn't work. The issue is price, but then, the "kicks to price" ratio.
FPD. the best small tankless heaters operate on gas. So it would just be a matter of running a bit of piping. An advantage is hot water would be instantaneous, no waiting for the unheated water to clear the lines.
You could actually keep a regular tank type for some uses while adding 2 or 3 inexpensive small tankless units in high use areas. Again, I'm not concluding which options would be best for your situation, just making the point that there are other options than whole home units.
Of course venting has to be considered with gas, unlike large units they can be vented horizontally with small vent fans and exit through walls or a crawl space, but that means extra labor. with lower temp areas like sinks electric might be the better option.
I do HVAC and have dabbled in water heaters. Navien is what I would prefer and to me is best bang for your buck. Also, if at all possible I would put it inside. If outside you need to put heat tape on the lines, but even then they short out in a few years then lines bust.
In this lull, I'll say what I did. I installed an internal natural gas Navien tankless water heater (condensing) with a dedicated recirculation line. Navien NPE-240A 199,000 BTU. Have had it for 2+ months and so far - very happy.
I did some (optional) preliminary work, basically prepping for the tankless with respect to the recirculation line, and re-routed the one side of the hot water circuit to be more "elegant" (18 years ago I provided a new hot water line to the kitchen - wasn't happy with the delay in getting hot water there - by snaking it around my furnace. The new way eliminated that and put the hot water supply under the stairs. Much cleaner look, aka, elegant.) I also had the prep plumber rework the tank water heater hot and cold water lines so that the disconnect would be clean and quick, and the stubs (just in case) are short and symmetrical.
I had carefully reviewed the Rennai and was just short of ordering that brand, but with this and that involving contractors, I remembered recommendations here ^^^ about the Navien and decided on the Navien. The clincher was that the Naven has a dedicated recirculation inlet, whereas the Rennai requires a (term?) loop joining the recirc line with the cold water inlet. The Rennai way didn't make sense.
My situation was that the starting hot water service was nearly a full loop as originally designed, so fashioning a recirc line for the tankless wasn't a big stretch.
I have it set for the default 120F, and haven't had the need to look at the manual. I recently reviewed a YouTube video on the recirc settings just to see if all is hunky-dory. It is.
One thing I would do differently is to make sure the shower hot water lines are ahead of a washing machine line. This is how it was originally, but I didn't see that. Yes, I learned this from experience. My wife started the washer while I was in the guest shower. (The master shower is not an issue.) I had a brief dip in the temp. Not long enough or cold enough to re-route the guest shower HW line - about 5 feet, but lots of water lines in a small area - but just giving a heads-up. The hack for this is to run some hot water from my utility sink which is on the same circuit as the washer. That would be enough to avoid the temp dip. For example, you have a guest and need to do wash. Run some utility sink HW, then the guest will likely not have a "what is that?" moment.
Thanks for all the help. Oh, I think an external is best suited in lower FLA and perhaps south Texas and low points west.
I've had this brand in two different houses. I just moved in August, and my new home doesn't have these. It's probably the next item going in.
Instant hot water in any faucet in the house, and we host OOT family for special events, and I never have to worry about it. If budget isn't an issue, highly recommend.
I did plumbing warranty work for a couple of years. Call me old fashioned but I'm fan of a normal tank water heater. Really depends on size of house. How many things you run at same time. And pipe sizes under and throughout the house that matters the most when considering what type of water heater is the most efficient and affordable for you. Tankless does work great when they work. I hated having to go to a tankless call vs a tank. Normal water heater is really simple easy to fix repair vs a tankless. Pros and cons for each but like said before depends on your house and your hot water uses
My situation was that I had a large tank WH for almost 20 years. The warranties on tank units are usually 8 years or less, so I figured I was using "house money" for the extra cost of a tankless. (See what I did there?) I also didn't like the quotes for the tank units and, big thing, I wanted a little sizzle for the money.
The big surprise is how effortless (knock wood) the tankless has been. The interwebs is full of horror stories and cautions, but haven't seen them (yet, knock wood). Had luck in finding a good contractor, and that he was in fact good - never know for sure. He had put n many units - was an approved contractor for Rennai and Navien - but had no experience with a dedicated return line nor anti-scale water treatment - I wanted these. But went well. He read up on these and talked with Navien to confirm, so all is jake.
I made a full effort to explore a replacement tank at first. Wanted this done in conjunction with other work. Shortening the story, was not happy with the bids or contractors. The Costco quote (designated contractor) for an AO Smith unit was high.
As to cost, the labor was about equal to the cost of the unit (prices online), and it turns out, was the lowest of the several quotes I got.
I can help you make a decision if needed. I own a plumbing company in Athens. I am a level 3 Rinnai and Navien installer. I don’t think I can advertise here, but you can google my last name followed by Athens, Ga. I’ll be happy to answer questions via email.
Chris Summers
I have had 2 different houses in the last 8 years and both have had Rinnai tankless water heaters. I have never had an issue with mine and both were mounted on the outside. I will never have another house with a tank in it. I had 2 houses before the last 2 that both had tanks that burst and caused water damage in the house. It was a fight with insurance to get it repaired. Tankless is the way to go and I know 3 plumbers personally who love Rinnai.