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Water Heater Conversion to Tankless
Posted on 10/4/21 at 9:28 am
Posted on 10/4/21 at 9:28 am
I have (2) 50 gallon water heaters. Both are in closets on opposite ends of the house. The house was built in the 80's and neither are in a pan that will drain to the outside in the event they the tank leaks which I believe is an accident waiting to happen.
My options are to either move the water heaters in the attic to put them in a pan or replace them with a tankless in each closet they are currently in.
What would the H&G board recommend, and what kind of cost am I looking at? I'm in North Louisiana if that helps.
ETA: Both water heaters are electric. No gas available.
My options are to either move the water heaters in the attic to put them in a pan or replace them with a tankless in each closet they are currently in.
What would the H&G board recommend, and what kind of cost am I looking at? I'm in North Louisiana if that helps.
ETA: Both water heaters are electric. No gas available.
This post was edited on 10/4/21 at 9:30 am
7
Posted on 10/4/21 at 9:31 am to Witty_Username
quote:
Both water heaters are electric. No gas available.
then go tank imo. tankless is great for gas....expensive as shite for electrical.
Posted on 10/4/21 at 9:31 am to Witty_Username
This conversation and price will center around where your gas meter is located. You will likely have trouble putting tankless where the closets are if your meter is far away from that location as they require more gas than tanks.
I got a quote recently for about $3850 for install of a new tankless to replace my two attic tanks. I was going to relocate closer to the meter. This was in south Louisiana.
I got a quote recently for about $3850 for install of a new tankless to replace my two attic tanks. I was going to relocate closer to the meter. This was in south Louisiana.
Posted on 10/4/21 at 10:17 am to Witty_Username
I got rid of one on our side the house when we were updating things and we were going to gas anyway, for the cook top. Plus that one wasn't in the attic.
If I could do it again, I would have switched them both
If I could do it again, I would have switched them both
Posted on 10/4/21 at 10:23 am to Witty_Username
Plumber in my family says to avoid electric tankless. Consult with a plumber to see if there are convenient locations near your meter. Need a larger gas line for tankless than other gas appliances use, so tapping existing line may not be an option.
Posted on 10/4/21 at 11:28 am to Witty_Username
quote:
My options are to either move the water heaters in the attic to put them in a pan or replace them with a tankless in each closet they are currently in.
No gas available.
Then as others said, go with the tank. Why can't you just keep them in the closet? You can get a pan installed under them that drains out.
Posted on 10/4/21 at 11:32 am to Witty_Username
Go Gas for tankless....
Posted on 10/4/21 at 12:25 pm to Weekend Warrior79
The problem is the tanks are both in separate interior closets and not near an exterior wall. I'm not sure how you could get it to drain unless you moved them to the attic.
Posted on 10/4/21 at 12:51 pm to lsujro
Why stay away from electric? I'm actually thinking of adding one for my master bath since it's the last on the hot supply line. It takes close to 10 mins for hot water.
What are the cons with electric?
What are the cons with electric?
Posted on 10/4/21 at 1:23 pm to SCndaBR
quote:
Why stay away from electric?
i believe cost, durability and effectiveness vs a tank make it not worth it, but i would ask a plumber. i've just always been told to avoid. also, tankless are actually slower to get you hot water in my experience unless you have recirculator (which you can also put on a tank)
Posted on 10/4/21 at 2:11 pm to lsujro
quote:
tankless are actually slower to get you hot water
Simply depends on the distance from the water heater to the faucet.
Tankless installed just outside of our master shower has hot water coming out in about 5 seconds. End of the line in our kitchen, maybe 45 seconds.
Posted on 10/4/21 at 2:28 pm to SCndaBR
quote:
Why stay away from electric? I'm actually thinking of adding one for my master bath since it's the last on the hot supply line. It takes close to 10 mins for hot water.
What are the cons with electric?
You may rather a recirculation pump than a tankless water heater.
If you can get away with a 120V heater you might be alright. Some of these bigger electric tankless heaters will take (3) 60A 3P circuits to run. Thats a shite ton of power and your normal 200A home electrical service might not be big enough.
Posted on 10/4/21 at 2:51 pm to Witty_Username
quote:
The problem is the tanks are both in separate interior closets and not near an exterior wall. I'm not sure how you could get it to drain unless you moved them to the attic.
Just run the drain line through the middle of the house and throw a nice rug over it. No one will notice
But seriously, that sucks and I actually am surprised that was allowed. Attic is the way to go. My wife was freaking out about the attic option because she was worried about the lines leaking. Plumber told us they now use pex lines so it's one continuous line with no connections. The only risk are squirrels will chew through them. We ended up going tank on an exterior wall, but if we did attic it was going to be over the middle of the den (minimize damaging furniture)
Posted on 10/4/21 at 3:11 pm to shell01
quote:
Simply depends on the distance from the water heater to the faucet.
well duh
i installed a gas tankless in exact same spot as a tank. took a good bit longer because of the way they work - water gradually warms vs immediately hot water from tank.
Posted on 10/4/21 at 9:42 pm to Witty_Username
quote:
The problem is the tanks are both in separate interior closets and not near an exterior wall. I'm not sure how you could get it to drain unless you moved them to the attic.
Put a pan in the closet and add a $15 water leak alarm. Water heater tanks usually drip for a while before they a major water discharge occurs.
Amazon
Posted on 10/5/21 at 6:40 am to weadjust
quote:
Put a pan in the closet and add a $15 water leak alarm.
Just coming to post this. We have those "Leak frogs" all over the house, but unfortunately not before our AC units overflowed.
Posted on 10/5/21 at 7:11 am to SCndaBR
When I researched these when remodeling a number of years ago, there wasn’t an electric version sized for whole house, only single use (like for a single bathroom). I had two tankless gas units put in and the gas supply lines and vent stacks had to both be sized up (back when I lived in a OT Baller sized house). Absolutely loved them, but it was not a cheap investment.
Posted on 10/5/21 at 7:24 am to Witty_Username
Depending on who the local propane companies are: we got a free tankless outside unit for doing a one year "top off" agreement in MS.
No commitment, other than paying for the gas they delivered. Free propane tank as well.
No commitment, other than paying for the gas they delivered. Free propane tank as well.
Posted on 10/5/21 at 8:27 am to SCndaBR
quote:
Why stay away from electric? I'm actually thinking of adding one for my master bath since it's the last on the hot supply line. It takes close to 10 mins for hot water.
What are the cons with electric?
Most people dont have the available service to get what you would want out of an electric tankless. A pretty standard setup for a gas tankless is 199k BTU's which will put out 8-10 GPM depending on the ground water temp. To achieve that on an electric tankless you would probably need 100 amps for just the heater. Most homes only have 200 amps total availble through the box. To install a 2nd service would be way to expensive to justify going that route over a tank type heater.
Posted on 10/5/21 at 9:04 am to weadjust
quote:
Put a pan in the closet and add a $15 water leak alarm. Water heater tanks usually drip for a while before they a major water discharge occurs.
Seems this would be the easiest route route for the OP to go, plus there are automatic water heater shutoff valves that can be installed in the water heater supply line that will shut the water off to the water heater if a leak is detected by the sensor from water accumulating in the catch pan.
And as far as the issue associated with having to run water a long time before hot water reaches the farthest part of the house, as another posted stated you can install a water recirculation pump on each water heater and for all practical purposes you’ll get instantaneous hot water - I have one installed on my tank water heater and it works great.
You would need 120V service in each closet for all that and of course the parts and labor for all of this comes at a cost, but I would still think it would be a much cheaper and easier project than moving water heaters Into the attic, and all the re-plumbing and electrical to accomplish that.
This post was edited on 10/5/21 at 12:54 pm
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