Question by stkchk4: Can you list the pros & cons of an on-demand water heater vs. traditional?
My water heater is getting to the age where I expect it to need replacement soon & wondered if it’d be worth it to replace with the on-demand type.
Best answer:
Answer by Steve W
A normal water-heater is always heating the water (constantly). So, your paying for gas even if your not using much hot water.
A normal water heater can run out of hot water (during heavy use); not so with tankless.
The tankless systems cost more upfront- but down the road end paying for themselves.
No brainer if you have some extra dough $ $ $ $
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3 Comments
Cons – initial expense. Much more expensive than traditional water heater. Have to make sure you get one that will heat to the capacity of your maximum use.
Pros – more efficient. Should cost you less to operate.
I switched from a 98% efficient Polaris hot water tank system to an on demand system. Both systems use natural gas. The Polaris used less gas than the on demand system now uses.
The Polaris not only provided all the hot water my family could use, it heated a 2600 sq. ft. house in the winter.
So check around before you buy, obviously, based on my experience, there are tank systems that are more efficient than the on demand systems.
What seems like a no-brainer may not be a no-brainer. If I had it to do over, I would buy another Polaris System.
It is true that tankless heaters are somewhat more efficient than traditional heaters. A drawback is that you use more water. The tankless will only turn on when a certain flow of water is sensed. If you wash your hands often, or rinse off a few dishes now and then, the water most likely wont get hot becaust the flow is too low. This could be important if you have “city” water.