Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Tankless Water Heater

And why do you think a make up air exhaust system was needed? DA

Add me to the list of people with a tankless and love it. Gas ones are great, but avoid electric ones due to the extremely high current use. The "time delay" will be the same whether tank or tankless - it depends only on distance from heater to faucet.

Ours is in the furnace room and taking out the old tank gave us enough room to install the tankless one and a water softener. Win Win.

I like my tank, but I’m old fashioned

Depending on what size gas line you have now, It will likely need to be upgraded,

But, generally not a big deal.

It is a sealed firebox moron. Maybe if you actually owned and used one you would know that and that they work just fine with a well.

Many of the posts apply to all water heaters, not just tankless. Any heater or pipe can freeze if it gets cold. Distance from the heater is an entirely separate issue.

About that 80 gal of stored water in a tank...how do you get it out of the tank when the power's out and the pressure tank is empty? Suggestions?

Open the drain valve?

There are also point of use heaters, smaller less lost heat.

Some do, some don't. Well water processed through a softener is not raw well water.

In a retrofit, where your old electric hot water heater was may preclude being able to run a vent, in our case would go through the middle of an upstairs bathroom. Outside wall cures all that.

Unless you open and flush it regularly, which few do, drain valves are famous for leaking once opened. They get sediment in them.

Mounting the tankless water heater outside is a VERY BAD idea. Son had one, in Alabama, and it would freeze up in winter at 25* temperatures. In attic is OK, IF you have a catch pan underneath it, and drain to outside in case of a leak.

The 75 gallons is NEEDED for your Aquatherm system. It is very efficient and very cost effective. The water heater provides enough hot water to heat your home on one cycle without even coming on. If it is in good shape I would leave it alone. It is about 90% efficient to operate on heating.

Now, IF you use a tankless heater, you will have to install two of them. One for your heating system if you keep it, and one for your hot water. Both very efficient and cost effective, but more expensive than a traditional water heater. You can install two standard 40 gallon water heaters, one for the heat and one for the hot water. Valve them so you can rotate them for the heating part. I had a friend do this because you can always find a 40 gallon at Lowes or Home Depot if one goes out and change it out your self. Use all flexible connectors when installing.

I worked for a gas company for 40 years. I know what I am talking about.

Attic is not the first choice without a good pan underneath. However, an attic water heater in summer hardly ever runs as the attic gets hot, thus using some passive solar assist in summer.

Email me if you have more questions.

Don't know what your house looks like, but relocating water heaters can be a hassle. Gas is better for power outages. On the Aquasystem, you can have an external plug attachment to operate the fan motor and water pump on 110 volts from a generator and have central heating in a winter power outage.

You can also go to a high efficient gas furnace and a tankless heater in your attic. This is easier sometimes because an HVAC man can't work on plumbing unless he has a plumbing license and vice versa. I had an Aquatherm system in my house that lasted 30 years. I just changed it out and had to use both a plumber and a Heat/AC man to put in a standard 40 gallon tank and a gas furnace, which I had them have a bypass for the main power to run off a generator in case of power outage. I simply flip a switch and plug in an extension cord to operate with power off. If power comes back on, I unplug the generator and flip the switch back on manually. I have hot water and heat in a power outage. I have a 10,000 watt tri fuel generator than can run on gasoline, propane, or natural gas. Cost about $2,000 and is portable.

The home was built in '98, 3100sqft. The HVAC is original. Water heater is 18 years old, to me a disaster waiting to happen. There are pans and drains both on the water heater and AquaTherm unit. The house has two split units, separate furnaces and A/C compressors. One unit running the main floor, the Aquatherm and smaller AC compressor run the second story. The AC units are 10 SEER... Not sure about the gas line size, looked normal to me. 5/8" perhaps? From the home inspection all are working, but old and on their last legs. Inefficient as Bleep as well I am sure. Well pressure was good, filling tub, shower on, and kitchen sink wide open. Planning on replacing everything with new more efficient units. One unit perhaps could run it all but then I would be looking at Duct work. I would like to get the water heater out of the attic. Three man doors into the attic, and the units are at the peak, so access and working room is not an issue. After closing I will talk with some HVAC folks and see what they say as to cost etc.

If you go the Tank route put a pump on it to circulate the hot water and it will be almost instant. They have a timer on them to run only when busy time of the day also if thats what you want. They have to have an outlet to plug into though and a recirc line

I have a Rinnai natural gas tankless mounted inside and I have well water.
Run a cartridge filter in a clear housing on the inlet line. Also look into an item called Clear Wave and hook it up on your inlet also. It works great.
This setup is one of the best things I have done in my home.

I have a tankless heater on one side of the house (tank on the other) and it is mounted in the outside wall. Never froze during Snowmageddan last week. It is mounted on the south wall and gets sun this time of year from the instant the sun rises until the instant it sets.

I have 2 on my house...one has the recirculate feature....set how you want...have well water works fine...mounted inside vent out wall....cant figure out why someone would mount outside unless there is never a chance of freezing....bob

Tank for me.

I've seen several water heaters in the attics of homes. They do not leak all at once. It starts as a drip. Just check it occasionally. If you see signs of drips, find out where they are coming from and repair it. In 40 years I have never seen a "massive" leak. If you cut the water off to remove the old water heater, drain it first. A simple garden hose attached to the drain should drain it. Sometimes the drain valve will stop up, but it is usually rust and something sharp can loosen it up.

To make a water heater last a LIFETIME. Drain it every year and flush. Then every 5 years when it is turned off and being drained, replace the anode which is on top at a nut you unscrew. The anode attracts any millivolts of electricity which is what causes a water heater to corrode. The anode is usually a magnesium rod that is sacrificed to keep the other piping from corroding. Keeping it flushed and having a fresh anode in it can make it last a very long time. Mine lasted 20 years and I didn't flush it every year like I should have.

I had a tankless put in my garage two years ago. Very happy with it so far.