Apparently not all areas in Philly can suppot the tankless water heater. Something to do with having low water pressure, but I'm sure exactly what. I do know that we tried to install one in a Point Breeze home but had to take it out because it wouldn't work witht he water system in south philly. Not sure what it's like up north, but I would call the water department to make sure you can do it before you waste any more time researching.

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Boo yah

I have an Electric Tankless hot water heater in my Trinity in Queen Village. It is in the Basement(which is the Kitchen) and it works great. The only issue is that it takes about a minute for the water to get hot, but once it is hot it stays hot. I don't even really have the themostat on it that high. The water getting hot is dependant on the flow, we did sweat a pipe after we installed it and something got in the pipe and clogged the screen and the hot water stopped working. It has been working fine since we cleaned the screen and it has been about 4 years. The issue with the electric one I put in is that you need 3 double slots in you electric box. I got it special order from lowes & the company that makes it in Vermont. I am very happy with it.

It is an all house electric.

The newer tankless models do need a minimum water flow to get the water to trigger the heating. Philly's water pressure is fine, so unless there is something reducing the flow of water into a particular house, there shouldn't be any issue with water flow to worry about. The folks who need to be concerned are folks with wells and pumps that don't maintain a constant decent water pressure.

The old school model we got even works fine under low water pressure. One think to consider though is that depending on the tankless model you get if you turn your water down to a trickle while washing dishes or your hands or something the heating will stop and when you turn the pressure back up it will take the 30-50 seconds to heat up again.

So if for some reason you need hot water to dribble out of your fixtures a tankless water heater may not be for you.

(Once again after going through the massive pain in the tuckus it was to get ours installed I wouldn't take the word of most plumbers or the Water Department as gospel on this particular issue if it's something you want you can find one that will work for you.)

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"All of this will not be finished in the first one hundred days, nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."

~John F. Kennedy

anyone else have a tankless water heater installed lately? i'm really considering it to try and gain some more space in my kitchen, but i'd like to hear other people's experiences with them before i make the jump.

The main draw back is venting (gas), room in your panel (electric), and low flow (at the faucet).

The big one is the low flow at the faucet. Like the previous poster said, if you turn the water to warm at a low flow, like I do when I'm washing dishes, the hot water cuts out.

Also, the energy efficiency of the new high efficient models are very good, and you get a tax credit with them also.

There are many options to think about, you need someone to look at your set up first, before you just decide you want one.

www.thestockgroup.net

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Chris
Sustainable Building
From Foundation to Finish
www.thestockgroup.net

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