Are Tankless Water Heaters a Waste of Money?

[Vic Smith]

The old house I grew up in had the water heater near the center too. But that's where the chimney was.

[clare]

A furnace and water heater in the middle of your basement isn't a PITA for the homeowner??? A finished basement with a furnace and water heater in the middle is pretty limitted by it being there.

[clare]

But the whole tank heater is less expensive than most any of the small replaceable parts.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Every design is different. Mine is in the middle and it cause no problems, but in others it may be. The layout though, should be what is best for use over many years, not for installation that is done one time.

[clare]

Chimney went up the center of the house where the "gravity furnace" sat with its octopus of pipes spread out to all corners of the house to distribute heat without benefit of a fan. The water lines also ran up the core of the house, because running them up the outside walls was just about guaranteeing they would freeze and split on the first really cold night.

[clare]

My gas ones last 18 years here in "hard water central" - but I DO use a water softener.

[Attila.Iskander]

My previous house had a gravity hot air furnace squatting in the middle of the basement. It looked like something left over from a 1950s space alien movie, Big, fat, squat and ugly, and basically reduced the useability of the basement.

[clare]

You are free to dissagree - as I am. Unless the parts price has dropped a LOT, replacing the parts if you are paying a "technician" to do the job used to be half the price of the unit - which is more than the cost of a complete tank unit.

Yes, there are some cases where the tankless may make sense - but the initial statement by I don't remember who was that there were good reasons why in the not too distant future the tankless would take over the market - and my reply was I had not heard those "good reasons". FOR ME, the reasons do not make a strong enough case for replacing a tank type water heater when you weigh the small gains against the downside that has so far not been disproven. Higher cost up-front, often including major upgrades to the energy source (gasline/meter or electrical service),and efficiency issues with low water usage, as well as higher year to year maintenance costs.

[clare]

In my home, and in my daughter's home, anywhere but against or close to an outside wall, close to the existing furnace, would be a longterm P.I.T.A, even though it would actually be EASIER to install it out in the open. Her furnace was in the middle of the basement, making the entire space virtually un-useable so we moved it 6 feet - along with all the major air ducts - and the water heater. It would have been MUCH easier to simply replace it where it was, believe me!!!!

[Ed Pawlowski]

I've seen some like that, often they were converted from coal. In my last house, it was right next to the back of the steps to the basement with one large duct going up. It was maintenance free and very quiet. House was built in 1949.

[clare]

snipped-for-privacy@snyder.>>

You are just trying, quite effectively, to be obtuse. Nowhere did I say the heat was "an advantage" in the winter.

In the winter extra heat is welcome - but nowhere did I say the amount of heat was significant enough to be "an advantage". People are saying the heat loss is a "disadvantage" because it adds heat to the house. Just because it is not a disadvantage does not mean it is an advantage. Just a fact of life - and so insignificant as to be neither.

[clare]

Not everybody in the world, or even North America lives in a 3100 sq foot house - particularly a 3100 sq foot ranch with a 3100 sq ft basement. Many basements are less than 1000 sq ft in a two story house

- even less in a split level. Put the water heater in the middle of that, and you have significantly reduced the useable finished space, My two story, which is average sized in this 38 year old subdivision, has 600 sq ft of basement.

[trader4]

:

ore efficient.

Didn't I say:

"Only if it's a small basement. "

A 600 sq ft basement meets that by my definition. It still shouldn't make it difficult to use the basement even if you did put it in the middle. They have small houses with the water heater in the living space in a closet don't they? It only takes a closet.