Tankless water heater or Indirect water heater


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Old 12-15-04, 11:54 AM
dnoda
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Tankless water heater or Indirect water heater

In planning for replacing my mechanicals, I am faced with a decision on which method of hot water to go with. Indirect or tankless? Any opinions? Pros / con to both?
 
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Old 12-15-04, 12:27 PM
S
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I hear the tankless one is the way to go. From what I understand it'll save you a TON of money. Besides that, you can shower forever and never run out of hotwater. On the downside, I've been told that these things don't last as long as a hot water heater with tank. But, thinking about it, the tanks don't last too long themselves, we run out to Sears about once every 10 years for a new hot water heater. I say go for it.
 
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Old 12-29-04, 10:55 AM
dnoda
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Thanks for the input!

I guess my only hesitation with the tankless is that I hear you can't have too much water demand at once. This is currently not a problem since we don't have kids yet and we typically don't do laundry or run the dishwasher while showering anyway.
 
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Old 12-29-04, 11:37 AM
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If you choice is between a tankless coil and an indirect heater, the pros and cons are as follows:
Tankless is least expensive at start because it is a small unit inside of your boiler. It is limited on hot water delivery but many people survive with this method. Many people also complain regularly about them changing water temp during a shower and running out of hot water quickly.

An indirect heater stores water that your boiler makes and takes a load off of the boiler because it doesn't have to make the water quite as fast as you use it. It costs almost $1000 until you get the hardware. It would let you use a boiler that doesn't stay hot all day long too. Known as a cold start boiler. That can save a fair amount of energy because the water is stored in a well insulated tank and the boiler doesn't even need to run until the tank needs a replentishment of hot water.

You can start out with the tankless coil and install the indirect later without any real cost penalty.

Ken
 
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Old 01-04-05, 07:29 AM
dnoda
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That's interesting. I was thinking of the stand-alone tankless unit. I was not aware one could get a coil integrated with the boiler I use for heat. Another thing to think about.

Thanks!
 
 

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