# Pros and cons of on demand hot water



## mquigley69 (Oct 10, 2009)

Anybody have any experience with these? My parents who are now all alone at home are looking to get rid of their old electric water heater and are considering this. Dad has heard a few negatives and asked me if I could find out what the story is. As I said they live alone and use minimal got water, so it sounds like a decent idea to me.

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## spoikey (Jan 18, 2005)

An electric on demand has been in my home for about 4 or 5 years now. Would do it again in a heart beat. Mine has to heat flow water so it has to heat really cold water. It's not hot enough to burn but definately warm enough for showers. Sure cut down on energy usage too.


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## murfster3 (Feb 2, 2012)

I have 5 in my restaurants they work great the only thing is they recommend that you have a water softener, in not you will running vinegar through them a few times a year depending on the hardness of your water.


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## M.Schmitz87 (Mar 12, 2013)

Im using one too and im very satisfied. If you only need small ammounts of water a day, its efficient enough to use. 
Check their water wuality first and get yourself educated about the diffrent ways to fit the heater to their needs.


Pro is definately that you have water on demant, no standing water that can cause an legionella infection. Also its compact and you dont need a lot of room for a hotwater boiler. 


Con is that depending on the size of the heater it will cost a lot of energy. Energy prices are increasing. 
Mine has a LCD display that shows the exact temperatur, waterflow, used energy etc. With that its easy to stay on track with your edison bill.


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## ih772 (Jan 28, 2003)

If you have a well you will curse the day you put the thing in. I have one and I'll never put another one in any home I own.


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## limige (Sep 2, 2005)

ih772 said:


> If you have a well you will curse the day you put the thing in. I have one and I'll never put another one in any home I own.


Care to explain what you don't like?


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## walleyeman2006 (Sep 12, 2006)

limige said:


> Care to explain what you don't like?


hard water he probably didn't know to vinegar flush it...same as a coffee pot my water will plug a coffee pot up in a week...lime builds up ...

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## mquigley69 (Oct 10, 2009)

Thanks guys. They do have well water, but have a softener hooked up. If they go with the on demand unit or a traditional heater they plan on making the switch to propane. Is there enough energy savings by not heating water that's not being used over and over again to justify the price of one?

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## spoikey (Jan 18, 2005)

I have well water and have never had to run vinegar through the system. Once in a while I'll see a flake of deposit, but not much. I don't know how much you'll save with propane but my electric bill went up about $5 a month after I installed the electric one. My natural gas bill was completely eliminated. I converted my cook stove to propane and spend about #15 a month for cooking. I also heat with wood. The reason I switched was because the natural gas was just too high.


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## grabbingills87 (Dec 30, 2013)

I do plumbing for a living all I can say is don't buy junk from the big box stores invest the money and buy a rinnah or navian they are a lot better quality will cost you around 1,000


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## Badgersbunk (Feb 7, 2011)

My uncle had one and it froze up and busted pipes 3 winters in a row. It was in his basement but the cold air coming down the vent would cause it to freeze. He was constantly calling me over to braze it back up. He even pointed a heater at it running 24hours. It might of just been that model but I'll never use one.


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## N M Mechanical (Feb 7, 2008)

Badgersbunk said:


> My uncle had one and it froze up and busted pipes 3 winters in a row. It was in his basement but the cold air coming down the vent would cause it to freeze. He was constantly calling me over to braze it back up. He even pointed a heater at it running 24hours. It might of just been that model but I'll never use one.


Was it a quiteside?


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## Badgersbunk (Feb 7, 2011)

I don't remember the name


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## Ausable Junkie (Oct 2, 2002)

An alternative to on demand heating, is a system that continually circulates hot water through your hot water supply line "loop". Your hot water loop becomes an extension of your hot water tank. Hot water is constantly being looped from your water heater, through the system, and back into the heater. 

My mother's house has a system like this. I don't know much about it, but I do know pex was used to plumb the water lines. There _may_ be a pex material with a higher insulation value to limit heat loss, I'm not sure. Same end result though when you turn the hot water handle on a faucet. You get hot water in a few seconds.


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

How does the on demand work in uses where a small constant flow of hot water is needed such as using a furnace humidifier?


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## spoikey (Jan 18, 2005)

If the flow of water is low my element doesn't turn on. This works fine for me as it keeps the line from freezing in winter. Other heaters might work different though.


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