True to their word, the remaining installation took them 3 hours. We were very happy that we left the plumbing and gas line to the pros. They did a fabulous job that only someone with experience can obtain. The soldering was neat as a pin and the pipe layout was perfect.
If you decide to install a tankless water heater like this unit there are several factors that you will need to think about when you locate your unit.1. You will need a 110v outlet as the unit needs electricity for the controls.
2. Your intake and exhaust pipes will need to be more than 4 feet from your furnace exhaust.
We lucked out on both accounts because we had an existing outlet right next to where we hung the unit and the furnace exhaust was 5 feet from the existing water heater exhaust.
3. The unit also requires a condensation drain tube so you will need some where to drain the water.We did not have a floor drain or a sump pump crock but we do have a condensation pump on our furnace that pumps the condensation to our laundry tub. The plumbers ran a small PVC pipe along the wall and over to the condensation pump making sure to have a slight slope to allow for drainage. The condensation tube is the white PVC pipe coming from the bottom of the unit in the photo above.
4. This unit also requires a 3/4 inch gas line. You may need to upgrade the size of your gas line to accommodate this requirement. FYI make sure your shutoff is easily accessible.
At this point I do not know the extent of our savings. As you can see the unit itself costs a pretty penny plus what we spent on installation. It will take several months of use to determine our monthly savings.
I also love not having the water heater sitting on the floor. Not only do you have the added floor space but I feel safer in that I don't have to worry about dust bunnies getting under the gas water heater and catching on fire. For some reason the location of my previous floor sitting gas water heater was a magnet for dust bunnies. It absolutely had nothing to do with the fact that I did NOT regularly sweep my basement floor.
Would we completely install the next unit ourselves? Yes. This summer we will install the same unit at 'The Gear'. We feel confident that when given unlimited time without the pressure of NO HOT WATER that we can obtain the same results. Time was something we just did not have with this installation. The ideal situation is to install a tankless water heater before your existing water heater fails. But who does that????
Yay for hot water! And so glad to hear that your dad is doing better. I missed your posts and was wondering how you all were doing.
ReplyDeleteWe have a tankless---it was the first thing we installed when we moved in---6 people, one bath, and a closet that would only accommodate a 30 gallon water heater. Do the math :-) We put a tankless in the attic a week after moving in and haven't looked back!
The biggest thing is to be sure that you have a sufficient diameter gas supply line. Whatever unit you get should have specs. My MIL's house has one that was installed previously by a dis-reputable contractor, and he never up-sized the supply line so it doesn't heat properly. He also monkey-rigged the condensation line to tie into the p-trap under the bathroom sink. sigh. Fixing it all is on my hubby's to-do list.
I do not think we will regret this at all.
ReplyDeleteI love the added floor space that this gives you.
Now was not the ideal time but it was something we wanted to do. Plus we felt it was needed for resale or renting value in the future.
My dad is doing better. Daily small improvements. We knew it would be spring before he was out of rehab but it is taking him longer than expected to get to the rehab portion of his post surgical recovery.