I recently saw an add for this "novel" new tank style water heater. It seems like a good idea with it's plastic, non-pressurized tank. But I have my doubts as to the claims of it's heat capacity. I would like to know if anyone out there has one (or similar) and what they think of it. The link to the manufacturers website is:
Dan Akers
Some of its claims border on violating laws of thermodynamics. Currently produced conventional electric water heaters have efficiency ratings of
93 to 95 percent based on using 64 gallons of hot water a day, so there's not much room left to gain efficiency with electric heating, is there?Some of the claims sound like oompah to me. Their unit's "average yearly cost as low as $197.00" compared to a standard unit's "Average yearly cost up to $429.00" without mentioning the total quantities of hot water used during the year.
There do seem to be some attractive features, particularly if that finned copper heat exchanger lasts a lot longer than the the 5-7 years a steel heater tanks lasts around where I live.
But if the heat exchange does spring a leak, I don't what keeps that leak from ending up on the floor.
It seems to be a cross between a conventional water heater and a true demand electric water heater.
I wouldn't write it off completely, but I'd sure like to know how long the consequtive hot showers SWMBO and I could take using our 5 GPM high flow shower head would be.
Jeff
The primary source of inefficiency of any tank water heater is the fact that some of the heat you put into the water is lost through the sides of the tank before the water is used. Obviously insulation is the primary means to combat that loss.
If one could heat only the water one uses, the standby losses could be eliminated. In many households, you would need to get a tankless heater with enough capacity to heat your coldest water (middle of winter) to the temp you want. This results in a WH with more BTU than you need for much of the year. If one could preheat that water so the tankless dosent need to work so hard and the tank has a lower temp thereby reducing heat loss through the sides (by virtue of a smaller delta T) this would be the best of both systems.
It is reasonable that the efficiencies of both methods could be optimized to obtain a system of overall higher efficiency than either system alone. At least in concept.
This product isn't exactly a combination of a conventional tankless because the primary water is not directly heated by the heat source but instead a buffer volume of water is heated and the heat is transferred to the supply with a heat exchanger. It would still be subject to heat loss through the sides and could still be depleated of heat if you ran the water too long but the prpensity for running out of hot water and waiting seems to be reduced.
If you're into electronics, it sounds similar in concepot to putting an RC filter on the output of a power supply to reduce ripple.
It seems to be 173% efficient according to the yellow highlighted text:
"this water heater will heat 10 gallons of incoming 58° cold water to
129° hot water temperature per kilowatt of energy"10 gallons of water is 80.34lbs and it takes 5,921 BTU to raise the temperature 71F. One kw/h=3,414 BTU
replying to Jeff Wisnia, Gary P. wrote: We have one( have had it for 14 years & it?s been great!
replying to Gary P., Keith B wrote: I too have had a unit 13 years. Only problems are the inner sleeve leaks and kills the heater element. About 6 so far.
Keith B posted for all of us...
It is hard to tell what you are seeking from this post. I suggest that you get a real newsreader and find out what is being discussed and previously answered on the newsgroup: alt.home.repair You may get better results.
replying to Keith B, Howard wrote: Keith, I am now having the heater element problem. Where do you get your spare parts?
replying to Gary P., Howard wrote: Ours are (two of the tanks) are 15 years old, 2020...Have had no trouble at all, then the element burned out. Would like to find a new sleeve which holds the element down into the tank. Any ideas? Love the simplicity of these tanks!
What did you decide to do or did you find a replacement? Ours is doing the same thing.
What makes these so simple or special compared to any other electric water heaters which are just insulated tanks with electric resistance heating elements?
I haven't had much luck finding anything on these except 14 year old questions. I am guessing they didn't work out.
Have you noticed they all have the usenet header tag:
X-poster: Hermes 2.0
IOW, it's one troll. Ignore it.
Did you find a new inner sleeve? That is what we need! snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com
What do you mean by inner sleeve? The heating element screws into the plastic piece to keep it secure inside the tank. If you are changing the heating element, just unscrew the old one from the plastic piece. If its rusty where the threads are, apply some kroil oil to get it out. A local plumbing supply orders elements for me. I gave them information from a burnt out element afew years ago and they made some calls and found a replacement.Actuall just changed an element last week. the thermostat and high limit switch can be purchased at menards, home depot, lowes, or ace hardware. I hope this helps.
Hoping to revive this thread. I have had one since December of 08. The owner was in failing health and the wife had a design change on the element. She had a short tube and a longer element installed so there was no water pressure on the element itself (leak issue shorted the element). she sent me the mount and 2 elements. My coil has sprung a leak and I really want to keep using the unit as it has worked so well.
I have a heater that has been great. My inner sleeve has started to leak around where the element screws in. Can you supply contact information so I can order a new inner sleeve. Thanks in advance.
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