People Experiences about Replacing Water Heaters

When you think that you need to replace your water heater, there are not only the water heater it self to be consider. There are a lot more to know before we buy water heater and replace our old one. The best resource to know about these all things is via forum or social network where people usualy sharing their experiences. Here are some of people talk about their experiences :


If you want to replace a conventional heater with a tankless water heater it is much easier to do with electric than with gas. Continuous water heaters that are gas need special size vents and gas-lines which drives up your cost considerably. When I queried my plumber about this very thing he said that for my house to switch it would cost over $2,500.00 without even buying the water heater!

However, many sites recommend the gas over electric for whole house heating. This type of heater also cannot take on too many things at once. If you are doing a load of laundry then you might be able to take a shower at the same time but not run the dishwasher as well. If you get one of these units, look for a gas-fired model eligible for 2006-2007 federal tax credits, at least an Energy Factor (EF) of 0.80. (Marye Audet)

We've had a oil burner with a tankless water heater system since our house was built in 1993. We've only had one "major" repair, not bad for 15 years with very hard water. We have hot-water baseboard heat in the house, and this tankless heater supplies the hot water for everything - domestic and heating system. We live in Massachusetts, and the house stays as warm as we want it to all winter with this system.

Plusses & Minuses -
Plus: we never run out of hot water. A bunch of people can take showers in a row, then run the dishwasher and then the washing machine with no worries.

Minus: in the winter, if the heat is on and more than one person showers at the same time, both people end up with tepid showers. It's not an issue in the summer. --Lafalum84

There are two kinds of tankless hot water heaters. We have the kind that was installed in 1994 when we built this house and is actually part of our oil hot water heating system...no separate hot water heater.

However, there is another kind that is very energy efficient, but more expensive to install. It is a stand alone kind that is "on demand", has a reserve tank and is typically run by natural gas or propane. DH says that they are not oil run.

My husband says that since you have gas, it will be more energy efficient in the long term to get the new tankless type. It will be more expensive to install, but it is an "on demand" system. Some of them do have a smaller reserve tank.--thumper1

DH installed a tankless heater last summer and although I don't know a lot about them I do know that it saved us $$ on our gas bills. Since it's only the two of us and we don't use alot of hot water, it's been great not having to worry about running out of hot water when everyone is taking showers and doing dishes and laundry. --laxmom