TANKLESS WATERHEATERS

Hi 2oldman, I did a search here on the site, and nothing came up about tankless waterheaters. I typed the words TANKLESS WATERHEATERS in the search box, nothing. What did you enter in the search box? I never seem to have any luck searching for stuff. Have you any hints on how to search on the site.
Thianks
Bill

woodworker414 wrote:
Hi 2oldman, I did a search here on the site, and nothing came up about tankless waterheaters. I typed the words TANKLESS WATERHEATERS in the search box, nothing. What did you enter in the search box? I never seem to have any luck searching for stuff. Have you any hints on how to search on the site.
Thianks
Bill

You would have got better results if you looked for tankless water heaters instead of tankless waterheaters. ;)

I would not go with a tankless, unless you are ALWAYS using full hook ups with your own drain.

Tankless heaters do not do well with low flow. If you are boondocking and using trickles of water to wash, it will never work well. You are much better off with a good direct spark, tank style heater that also has an electric element. The propane will heat fast and the electric will maintain. I just installed an electric upgrade into my DS heater and highly recommend it to anyone who is running a propane only setup.

Jose

I have a Girard tankless in my camper.. Used it for a couple of years now.. don't hate it.. but almost. I have learned to use it, but it's a pain in the a$$. Too hot or too cold. I have read all the directions.. called Girard and tried all their suggestions. It still sucks. You shouldn't have to jump through so many hoops.. just to take a nice shower.

As mentioned.. I have learned to use it well enough to take showers. I mostly always camp by myself, so no big deal. But I would never let a child take a shower in my camper... they would probably scald themselves.

Been thinking about replacing it with a regular gas/electric tanked water heater.. but since its only me.. I'll probably just save my money and live with it.

My opinion: If you have the choice upfront.. stay away from a tankless water heater.

Tankless heater will likely also require spark ignition, so that doesn't necessarily get you past the wiring reliability problems. Although I did use a tankless heater about 40 years ago that still had a pilot rather than spark.

My experience with the type (gas only, so far) is that there is not much flexibility in heat output, so you need to match the flow with the burner capacity. Too much water flowing (or too cold coming in) and it is not hot enough. Too little flow, and they can get to scalding temperatures very quickly. One that I've used actually produced steam from time to time before cutting out the flame on the safety.