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| We need to replace our water heater. As a quick background, we have a two-story 3000 sq. ft. house (3 bathrooms) that is serviced by one 50-gallon water heater. The wonderful builder of our house decided to put the tank in the attic above the second floor on the west side of the house. Our master bedroom is on the first floor on the east side of the house. I don’t think the water heater could be any further from our bedroom and yes it takes a couple of minutes to get hot water in our bathroom.
I have received some bids on both tank and tankless water heaters and I am trying to decide what I want to do. I am leaning towards tankless because we have 2 pre-teen children and I anticipate my hot water usage to be on the rise in the coming years. We should be getting back some bids on a couple of tankless water heaters. I am looking at the Rinnai tankless water heater (R75LSiN) and it seems to rate well on the internet, but I understand that the hot water will have to still travel the distance to my bathroom. I asked about hooking up a recirculation pump to it and the installer said that would nullify the warranty, so that is not an option. He also mentioned that he installs the Navien tankless water heater which has a built in recirculating pump, which would solve our delay in getting hot water, but I have not been able to find much information on the Navien in terms of review. Sorry for the long post, but I am looking for opinions on tankless water heaters in general and specifically any feedback on Rinnai and Navien . It seems like the Navien would fit our needs the best, but I am willing to wait for hot water with the Rinnai if it is far superior. Thanks. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by jakethewonderdog (My Page) on Mon, May 24, 10 at 10:58
| Hi, I am a proponent of tankless heaters. That said, you may want to consider some things first: One of the "features" of a tank water heater is that it limits the amount of time teens spend in the shower... a feature that will go away if you go tankless. Rinnai has a good reputation. Navien is a company that I would like to see do well, but they've had some teething problems (circuit boards, sensors, etc). Instead of a circ pump, consider a small electric tank under your master bath sink that was hooked in series to the main heater. That would give you immediate hot water for hand washing and such. If you go tankless, try to locate it as close as possible to the points of use. Also insulate the hot water pipes. |
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- Posted by rsbm_rhino (My Page) on Mon, May 24, 10 at 23:59
| jakethewonderdog, thank you for your response. I agree with the ability to limit teens shower length with a tank water heater, but as the only male in the house, I know who will probably get the short end of that deal! LOL! On the Navien, I have read about the "teething problems", but that seems to be on the CR model. I am hoping to hear if anyone has any experience with the new NR series. I should get the bid for both hopefully by tomorrow. It will be nice to compare the costs. |
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