Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Tanked vs. Tankless water heaters.

I am building a lake cabin in the corner of my lake barn. We are to the point of making a decision on water heaters. My thought process is tankless is the way to go. I figure if I make it to the lake all 52 weekends of a year, it equates out to only 3 months worth of days. Why heat water constantly for 12 months for only three months of benefit?

The other option would be to go with old school and turn off the breaker at leaving time. Not sure of the recovery rate and expense of this procedure though.

Size of the project is a shower, 2 vanity type sinks, dishwasher, and kitchen sink. We are toying with the idea of installing a second outdoor shower since it is at the lake. Only one of the water products will be over 10 feet from the water heater.

Anyway, I am looking for comments based on personal experience. Economics, maintenance, user friendliness, etc.

Appreciate any and all advice.

I'm moving to tankless water heater for house at the ranch. There's no need to heat water when you're not there.

Went with a Rennai two years ago. I like it a lot.

I'd go tankless without a 2d thought. A gas fired one would be more efficient than electric, but for occasional use like that, electric would be fine if you have the power capacity. They pull a lot of juice.

Did you have to install a water softener for it?

We went this route, too. VERY glad we did. I would not go back to a tank type. We are on a well and do not use a water softener.

Ed

Recently I read a bunch of reviews on tankless heaters. The main complaint was that they didn't get hot water any faster than with a tank heater. The idiots don't seem to realize that if the heater is 30' from the shower, there's still 30' of cold water in the pipe that needs to be pushed out before you get the hot water. It doesn't matter how the water is heated.

We went with a gas tankless when we rebuilt after a tornado years ago, and I love it! In this area water heaters don't last long, due to the tanks rusting out - especially if they are not in the house and have some exposure to "outside" conditions as in a garage or other outbuilding. The only problem we've had is the thermostat quit a few months ago, but the repair guy just disconnected it, said the unit would control itself at 120 F, which was where we kept it set, anyway. He was supposed to come back the next week with a new thermostat, never did, and it works so well without one I haven't called about it. Furnishes hot water to the whole house, including clothes and dish washer, with no problems. If I was using one at a cabin, I'd go with electric, and may do that in my travel trailer that stays in the woods. No gas service out there, irregular use, and the propane tank heater is a pain to mess with.

Several years ago my wife and I spent about a month in Germany and learned that everybody there had tankless electric heaters at all their faucets. All their electric systems are 220 and hot water is there as soon as you turn a faucet on. Nobody ever runs out of hot water regardless of how many are using it!

We tried the electric tankless before we ripped them out and replaced them with propane.
Whole-house electric is VERY expensive to run, the water temps fluctuate unless you spend the money to put in a system to blend cold and hot continuously, and you need the electric capacity to run them, which can mean a whole new supply, including swapping out the pole mounted transformer for a larger unit.

I would never recommend putting in electric tankless.

Ed

They are a bear on power. We had a tough time getting the KW load calculations where they needed to be with electric tankless installed on the ships.

With new Construction and a vacation home, Tankless likely makes the most sense.

Stick with a name brand, Longevity will greatly depend on quality of incoming water.

See above.

Exactly why the moniker "instantaneous" water heater needs to be eliminated.

So you pay to heat the water, then pay again to cool it so you can use it?

We went with an Eternal brand heater a year ago. It's a sort of hybrid because it has a 2.5 gallon tank that it keeps hot. That prevents any "lag" in heating water when a faucet is turned on (except for pipe lag). It's gas and it costs us under a hundred bucks a year to run. Fabulous.

We installed a softener at the same time because both fit in the space that the old tank-style heater took up. We wanted the softener; the tankless heater doesn't require it.

Edit to add: An Eternal is WAY too much heater for a cabin, but if you're looking at a home unit, I recommend it.

we used a bousch in our off the grid log house ,propane fired as were the lights, fridge,
stove, well heater. never had a problem with it .

norm

Thanks to all who have responded so far. Your advice is about the same as my research.

For a bit more information on the project. We have 200 amp power service. We do NOT have nat gas or propane at the moment. Nat gas is not an option at all. Propane would require setting a tank and plumbing in.

My greatest concern is how user friendly it will be. I don't want to invest money in something that will require some sort of special plumber to maintain. I feel I am fairly mechanically minded but, obviously some tasks in life are over the pay grade of an occasional handiman.

How's my favorite writer doing today?

tankless heaters don't require water softeners, Storage tank Heaters don't require water softners either,

If you want to accumulate 30 grains per gallon of Calcium and Magnesium in your system, it's cool, Plumbers love job security. I'm available most weekends.....

With that setup, I think a smaller tank unit is probably best. Turn it off (pull the main breaker) between visits.

I is super-fine, Ken. Go Pack!