Thank you for the kind comments! Birds quickly learn to recognize when predators are in "hunting mode" or not, sometimes reminding me of Wile E. Coyote vs sheepdog cartoons where the sheepdog and coyote punch into work, greet each other, have coffee, then at the whistle start harassing each other. I've seen a Sharp-shinned Hawk waking up at dawn in the top of a tree next to Northern Flickers, bluebirds, etc. They'd all stretch and preen within a few feet of each other, then the hawk would fly off. After about 30 minutes when the other birds had begun feeding the hawk would come back, skimming low over the field, then go into pursuit of some terrified flicker. Wow..love the Sharpie photo

Okay, I may have been way off with my thinking that this was a sharp-shinned hawk. I have had adults in my yard before and I assumed that this was a juvenile. However, this could be a common nighthawk which we have around here. I live in Saskatchewan, Canada and the whip-poor-will is not common in my area. My book says they are more common in southwestern Sask. and I am east central Sask. Can anyone identify this bird for sue?

My setup is really new, but I think the others might be right. I chose NOT to get the machine with heating because my instantaneous water heater has a remote as an option. That would allow me to bump up the water heater temperature temporarily (and thus more safely, to my mind). It costs about the same as the difference in prices between the heat/no heat washers, so I figured I could add that and have that bump-up ability for more than just the washer... *However*, the washer works quite differently from a top loader. (I knew that! That's why I chose a FL. But I didn't know about *this* difference.) When you start a load, it adds a bit of water and tosses a little and adds a little water and repeats until it decides there's enough water. It's not like a TL at all where the water simply runs until it reaches the "right" level. It seems to be based on weight. Mine's an LG (wm2140c, I think), but I'm guessing other new machines are similar.

fxdbdennis makes some good points; However, if money is limited, two tankless units would be expensive. I think the important thing is to understand what the goal is. For some people, unlimited hot water is the priority and they are willing to pay for expensive tankless unit(s)to get it. Some even add a recirculating pump that makes the hot water to the faucet almost instantaneous at the cost of significant standby losses. Other people are interested in energy savings (even if it doesn't make financial sense). Still others want a system that is economical over the life of the system -- be that tank or tankless. What I understand from windyhill_gardener is that they are looking for a way to not vent through the chimney-- something that can be accomplished with a powervent tank unit or a tankless unit. I also hear that they want to lower their utility bill, again something they could do with either type of unit-- with a small advantage to the tankless unit. I also got the sense that budget is somewhat of an issue since they have not replaced their old 80% or less furnace yet and that this is an older home where running a new gas supply is not likely. I am also guessing that they don't have major hot water uses (jacuzzi tub) since they have an existing 40 gal tank. If my assumptions are correct, my advice would be to go with the 50 gal powervent unit and put any additional money towards the furnace. This would provide a significant quantity of reliable hot water at a good efficiency while keeping installation costs reasonable and allowing for the elimination of the chimney. It's hard to justify spending an additional $1,000 -$1500 for a single tankless unit in order to save $50 a year on the gas bill when the furnace needs to be replaced. With all of that said, I want to be clear that I am not negative on tankless units. For some applications they are a good choice.