I'm hot blooded

[quantumduck]

Hot water is one of the great innovations of modern living. I personally enjoy it on a regular basis. Most homes create this hot water with a big boiler - usually one which runs on gas. Yesterday our water started getting less hot. Being a long time veteran of gas water heaters I figured we had a situation where the pilot light had blown out. I was

Comments

[shefsatyr]

Not enough gas pressure to get a tankless? I'm confused by this. Are you saying you don't have as much natural gas input as any other standard house?
if not why the hell not?
We went through much the same kind of thing when our water heater died. The plumber said that since our house was now in the city it didn't meet code and there was no way it ever could since it would require the exhaust to go up and not horizontally out of the house by the wall it was installed next to. Problem is that "up" would go through the floor into our upstairs living room. Unworkable.
Ended up doing the work myself and bought a tankless with a motorized exhaust fan. Got then indoor model and put it where the old tank was. Works just fine and has saved enough money I think it will pay for itself in about 5 years from what we save on the gas bill vs the tank.
I hear the outdoor version that mounts to your side of the house are pretty good and easy as anything to be within code.
I'd recommend a tankless anyday, that is if I knew what "not enough gas pressure" means in your situation.

[quantumduck]

I hear you on going tankless. I'd prefer their 80% efficiency to the %35 a traditional tank heater manages.

Because of our peak water demand, and the fact that we have a three story house, we'd need a tankless with at least 7.5gpm capacity. That's some serious hardware. They make one, of course, but it's expensive. It would also require a slightly higher volume gas main than we have on that side of the house. Running an additional gas lead across the house seems silly.

Instead our plumber has suggested a power jet 50gallon tank heater with a water recycler. That would give us %65 efficiency and allow us to use some of our current connections. With the powered fan jets in this thing we can run a horizontal vent out to the side wall, much as you can with many tankless units.

[shefsatyr]

Another alternative is I know they make small tankless heaters that work for a specific device, such as one connected directly to a shower. It's been suggested that using a main tankless set on low to "prime" the water and a little unit on an shower or sink to finish the job works really well. Of course you have to buy multiple units and all that installation whee.. But the mini tankless don't need exhaust holes and I think they work on 120 so no need to rewire the breaker box.

Sadly it may just be easier to go with your 50 gallon tank.

[quantumduck]

Yeah, I thought about installing two tankless systems in series, and then adding the small single use units throughout the house. It would cost quite a bit more up front, and we have far too many different bathrooms. That may be what we do in five or so years.