Tankless water heaters are great, don’t get me wrong. They provide nearly limitless amounts of hot water and can lower your gas bill significantly by not heating and re-heating stored water. Even though they sound great, they’re not optimal for every situation. Tankless water heaters have become a “buzz” in the plumbing world and dare I say it, a new fad. Don’t blindly convert your conventional tank-style water heater to a tankless without considering the other available options. There are lots of choices when it comes to high efficiency water heaters and the list is growing almost daily.
Here’s a couple of high recovery/efficiency gas water heaters that are currently available, I’ll write more about each one in the next few days.
A.O. Smith Vertex Gas Water Heater
Bradford White GX1-55 Gas Water Heater
Don’t fret if you’re not in the market for a gas water heater. Electric tankless water heaters have been available for a long time but are very impractical for most retrofit applications due to the enormous current draw and need for 3 dedicated 220v breakers. Often, the typical residential home doesn’t have room on the panel for the needed upgrade. Heat pump water heaters are now making a big impact in the water heater market. I’ll go over them later…