Gdetrailer wrote:
Sounds awful lot like a commercial for the company in question..
Personally, I looked at the idea of a tankless water heater.. Until a did some homework.. They simply do not "save" energy, in fact to get enough heat into the water they use a considerably LARGER, HIGHER BTU BURNER.
Temp control is a major complaint, they only can heat the water so far above the incoming water temp and water flow will change the amount DRASTICALLY.
Requires a MINIMUM WATER FLOW which typically is .5-1.5 gallons per minute just to turn on the burner.. This means you will use a lot of water in the process.
Something else you forget to mention in your commercial is tankless water heaters PLUG UP from mineral build up.. That means if you are not on city water (which is highly filtered and softened) you WILL be spending a lot of time CLEANING the tankless heater pipes..
So far, I have no problems getting a 15 minute shower without the need to turn the water on/off with a 6 gallon conventional water heater. Could even take that to 20 minutes if I wanted to..
The "trick", set the water so the shower head gives off a nice "pattern".. When done right you are mixing a lot of cold water with a little hot water (RV water heaters tend to output very high water temps, on the order of 130-135 degree) which allows you to use 1 gallon of hot for 2 or 3 gallons of cold. The result is a 10-15 minute shower if you use no more than 1 gallon of water per minute.
Unfortunately your assumptions are hampered by your lack of experience with this kind of water heater.
These "on demand" both electric and propane water heaters are used all over the world, Japan, All over Asia and Africa and in many cases in Europe too. They WORK and work well.
I have used them for years in my houses overseas. They provide very hot continuous water for as long as you like. And they most certainly save energy. Our storage type are the most wasteful type of water heater.
This is an obvious improvement for RV's Where storing water just adds weight and I dont have to listen to the hot water heater burner come on 4 times a night. It also gives a more residential type shower experience.
I will eventually install one of these but I will wait until the price comes down. (you can buy a very good residential model in SE Asia made by Sony or Panasonic for about $200 or less all electronically controlled.)
It is encouraging for me to see these now coming to the USA at Home Depot and Lowes But they are priced in the Robber Baron stratosphere. Sooner or later the RV version will come down in price too.
