Sep

4

I Am Starting to Dislike Tankless Water Heaters

September 4, 2008 |

My in laws swear by them (they live in a country where electricity costs are severe compared to the US).  I have thought about them, especially when I have to maintain three separate homes and the hot water heaters tend to break every 10 years or so.  But after reading the last Consumer Reports article I am not so in favor of these new inventions, mostly due to the installation cost difference that I wasn’t aware of.

Take a look at a portion of the table they publish on their article (for full table and article, grab a copy of the magazine at your closest newsstand):

Model Takagi T-K3 Standard 50 Gal Tank
Retail Price $800 $480
Install Cost $1200 $300
Annual Operating Cost $320 $400
Annual Energy Savings $80 N/A
Payback time (years) 15 N/A

I don’t even know if I will live/own a home for 15 years.

Sure, there is one advantage of these heaters:  the tank doesn’t burst and floods your basement.  I wonder if they have some system that automatically shuts off the water if it breaks or if the unit is broken.  For now… Unless there is something like that, I can’t see too many benefits of owning one of these units.

Do you ?


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