Tankless water heater query

Hello,

I'm considering the old tankless vs tank water heater question and reviewed some of the archived discussions. A couple questions occurred to me that I didn't see addressed:

I understand that people (sinks, showers) like 110F water, while machines (clothes and dish washers) like 140F water. So does anyone make a tankless water heater with two hot water outlets for two different temperatures? Tankless water heaters have those remote control units, but that seems like trouble if someone is showering while someone else raises the water temperature to use the dishwasher.

Since tankless water heaters are flow rate bound, it seems to me it would be useful to limit the flow rate to clothes and dish washers. I don't really mind if my clothes or dishes take a few extra minutes to wash, if it would impact other uses less. Are there inline flow limiters available that could be installed after the supply stop for a dishwasher or clothes washer? About 1.0 gpm would be about right, since the tankless heaters require 0.5 - 0.75 gpm to start.

Thanks, Wayne

Reply to
Wayne Whitney
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Good gas tankless will keep output temp the same whether it puts out .75

-5 gpm, so reducing flow is not going to do anything for your laundry. I set mine so the shower head output is 100 - 102, I do not add cold water for a shower. My tankless is next to the laundry so output is higher, no loss in pipes, clothes come out clean, A=A0remote thermostat is good if your winter ground temperature drops cooling input temps since tankless work on heat rise temp of water, not tank temperature as tanks do .

Reply to
m Ransley

It is probably easiest to set the temperature either to a high one that machines like (140 F) or a lower one that humans like (120 F) at the tank and take care of the water temperature differential at the use point. What I mean here is set the high temp and control the shower temperature by installing a thermostatically controlled shower blender similar to those used in Europe or install a cold water shunt at the existing shower valve to reduce the output temperature at the shower. As for kitchen and bathroom faucets, you might have to take more care. The alternative is to set the lower temperature and use the machine's internals to heat the water to a higher temperature for use. For example, always use the "Pots and Pans" setting on the dishwasher to wash normal loads. The only difference between Regular and Pot/Pans settings on most washers is that the machine uses a heat coil to warm the water on the Pots/Pans setting.

I'm presently doing the latter (i.e. setting the temp to 120 F) with my Rinnai Combo unit until I upgrade the installation next year. I planning on installing an air handler unit to replace the gas fired burner in the furnace. When that is done, my house will be forced air heated by hot water from the Rinnai. The overall efficiency of the Rinnai (90%) means I'll save lots of money with reduced gas usage than with the two gas appliances I have today. My present furnace is only 75% efficient. During the air handler installation, the mixing valves the installer put in will split the hot water between the air handler and domestic points of use. The air handler lines will use the water directly from the Rinnai. They will install a thermostatic mixing shunt in the domestic line that will blend cold water in to reduce the output flow temperature. Thus I set the remote to about 160 F for the air handler and the mixing valve will reduce the output to about 120 F. Cool stuff.

Your scenario can't occur because when you set an over-ride output temperature on the tankless unit, it maintains that temp until the water flow ceases (or goes below the minimum flow rate of 0.5 gpm). Thus someone can't come along and reset the temperature until the priority source stops using the water).

I don't think this would buy you anything. Most good tankless heaters limit flow rate to favour output temperature so this mechanism is automatic depending on your daily hot water use pattern.

Reply to
Robert MacKinnon

Rinnai, is that a gas tankless, at 90% you say?. I see 88% on a site . Why not just get a 94.5% efficient furnace.

Reply to
m Ransley

OK, so when I'm showering, and the laundry kicks in, I still get hot water, but the flow rate is reduced. With a flow restrictor on the laundry supply, this wouldn't happen.

Cheers, Wayne

Reply to
Wayne Whitney
94% of on all the time is probably more than 88% of on when you need it.

randy

Reply to
xrongor

I see your point that this can be done, but it strikes me that if the supply system can do be designed to take care of this for a reasonable price, that is easier. Maybe a small electric "booster" water heater for the machines supply? Of course, as you mention, the dishwasher already has a heater. But I don't think the clothes washer does.

Ignorant question: the water the Rinnai heats for the air handler, what happens to it after it gives up its heat?

If you have a thermostatic mixing valve to make 120 F water for people, why not have a second one to make 140 F water for the machines, and run separate supply lines to the machines? I guess the separate supply lines is a significant cost. There is also the problem of the cooled water sitting in these separate supply lines and the need to purge it before use.

Is it a concern that if the Rinnai is set to 160F, that one small load won't trigger enough flow to activate it? E.g. cold water is 60F, small faucet wants 1 gpm of 110F water, so Rinnai is to provide 0.5gpm of 160F, perhaps below its threshhold. The thermostatic mixing valves don't figure into this calculation, it doesn't matter whether the mixing is done at the point of use or earlier.

I don't see how this prevents the following scenario:

Standard water temp is 120F Person A is having a shower (pressure balancing valve) Person B wants to run the dishes and overrides to 140F Person A's shower suddenly gets hotter

Cheers, Wayne

Reply to
Wayne Whitney

Reply to
Robert MacKinnon

It gets fed back to the cold water inlet for domestic use or reheating in the Rinnai. On my Rinnai, I have two valves connected to a "Y" on the cold inlet labeled (DCW and AH return) and two connected to a "Y" on the hot outlet labeled (DHW and AH).

The thermostaic mixing valve is automatic. I understand from the installer that it is a purely mechanical device (not electronic nor electro-mechanical) designed to introduce the correct amount of cold water to reduce the temperature of the outgoing hot water from the Rinnai. It senses water temperature based on the expansion properties of a piece of wax integrated into the valve (like a car radiator thermostat). So, a 1gpm outflow rate request to the Rinnai from the point of use will automatically mix in the correct amount of cold to give a 1gpm delivery at the approximately correct temperature of domestic hot water. This is all guess work on my part at the moment because the installation is roughed in for the air handler but will not be completed until next year (my choice). So I'm not exactly sure of all the equipment that eventually will be installed to control the temperature.

So long as Person A continues to shower, the tankless heater is sensing a hot water flow. It will be impossible for Person B to reset the remote to a higher temperature for the dishes until the flow rate from Person A's use ceases (i.e. Person A finishes the shower). At that point in time, Person B can reset the temperature and use the dish washer. However, if Person A thinks that they are not clean enough yet and re-enters the shower, they may have to re-adjust the hot and cold taps for a comfortable water temperature since now the outgoing water is at 140F instead of 120F. This problem could be solved automatically if the shower was equiped with a thermostaticly controlled faucet. These units are common in Europe. You have two controls -- water quantity and water temperature. Once you set the water temperature to a comfortable value, it is maintained independant of the water quantity setting. So, in this new scenario, Person A re-enters the shower and the faucet automatically delivers the comfortable shower temperature without Person A needing to readjust the water temperature control.

Reply to
Robert MacKinnon

My point is that a 1 gpm 110F flow request at the faucet translates (regardless of what mixing mechanism is used) into a 0.5 gpm 160F flow request at the Rinnai (under the stated conditions), which may be below the Rinnai's threshold. Just something to be aware of.

Cheers, Wayne

Reply to
Wayne Whitney

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