My water heater has officially took a dump.

I don't have room for a regular water heater and have no options for a gas tankless, so I have to get an electric tankless

Anyways, I had a plumber come out and he said I need one that uses AT LEAST 18kw/hr with a 3-5gpm at a minimum.

I have found this heater but it is only 11.8kw/hr; is that alright? How are Titans?

I was also quoted at a minimum $303 to install the heater, is that about standard? All the wiring and plumbing are in place.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

the problem is that while you don't need a lot of hot water for the lavs and the kitchen sink, the washing machine and the showers do. is your current heater a tank-type? you mention space being an issue.....would a low-boy heater fit? i.e. 30" tall, 22" around? i'd put a 40-50 gallon low-boy in instead of an electric tankless......and if you like long showers, your electric bill is going to noticeably rise...that said, yes you can find a large demand electric tankless heater.....look at state, lochinvar, rinnai, takagi, and eemax.    some of those only have gas options....some don't, sorry i don't remember which.....

How good is your water quality? We haven't good luck with electric on demand heating elements and hard water. We shy away from those personally.

If we do install a tankless it is generally a Rinnai.






 

It's pretty limited space, I doubt that would fit. The other problem, is we have one now and all the wiring and plumbing is up high, almost 6ft up the wall.




It's terrible! I have to CLR the kitchen faucet every week or so. The plumber thinks that is what fried my water heater.


I will check out those heaters, especially rinnai because both of you suggested it.

Thanks!!

Terrible water quality and tankless just isn't a good idea.  They're so much more expensive than a conventional water heater that you might be able to look at what it would take to put in a tank - even if you have to do plumbing, it may save money in the long run.

ETA: That thing is dirt cheap compared to what I've seen... and I think that would worry me.

ETA2: A quick search of Home Depot's website shows that these suckers have gotten a lot cheaper than I remembered.

I think whatever you do, get a good 3-stage in-line filter for your rust and sediment, that will help. They don't take up much space, just 3 canisters (or less, depending on your budget) the size of 2-liter pop bottles. We have a single stage for sediment and the filters aren't too bad if you buy everything locally (you can occasionally find plumbing stores with stuff priced way less than general hardware stores, and if you buy what they carry they'll always have your filters in stock).

Install that on the main line before the water heater, and it should help with your water quality.

Disclaimer: I'm not a plumber so I can't give you very technical advice, but I have always lived in the country with well water and do recommend installing some sort of whole-house filter to save your appliances.

I was also looking at a filter, I was looking at the >$50 ones, but the plumber said those aren't for the whole house.

I hate this house so much!!! Rather pay more a month and rent!

Warning: personal anecdote ahead.

We had a Rinnai in our last place, and it was for shit. Hot water took forever to get to the bathrooms at the back of the house, and after a year or so after being installed it wouldn't ignite, I had to have it torn down to replace a switch in the ignition system. The repair rep said that the manufacturer basically considered that switch a consumable part.

There was another thread about this today. My .02 is electric tankless aren't very good. Disclaimer: This comes from installing a couple 7 or 8 years ago. They might be better now, I don't know.

Any way you could install a regular WH outside and build an enclosure?

I've done that on the side of houses. Looks like it was there from the start.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, those are out of my price ranges.




That seems to be a recurring theme!

If I were to build and set up a housing outside, I'd be up to the price of a heavy duty one inside.

I really didn't want to get near or over a $1000 but it's starting to look like I will.

If you want a tankless you need gas.  Electric is teh suxor.

I already called the gas company, they have pipes in my neighborhood but not close enough to just run a line and I'd have to pay a portion of the cost of them digging a new line and piping it to my house.

Then stick with a tank type water heater.

Got to follow this one.  Our 80 gallon heater is 17-18 years old and I no it's days are numbered.

If you own the place, I'd strongly consider converting everything to natural gas. Gas is super cheap as a result of oil exploration.

Kharn

A properly sized electric tankless is fine, the problem is most are not sized properly.  I had a 22kW electric in TX, and it was turned down pretty far from maximum setting.  I was told it was overkill when I ordered it, but the extra cost was minimal for the unit, and I was rewiring the entire house so no worries there.  If you have an older house, pay close attention to the number of breakers when comparing units, often times they use more than one breaker.  You may be forced to install a subpanel to upgrade, and that assumes your entry and main breaker is up to the task.

The unit will have a chart or table for temperature rise versus flow in gpm, this is what you need to figure out.  Florida should have fairly high ground temperatures year round and that information should be available online.  Turn your shower on for the hottest setting you will use, and take a measurement.