Special offer

Info regarding Tankless Water Heaters

By
Real Estate Agent with Realty Texas

My husband, whom I call Mr. Consumer, just informed me, that we would not be replacing our water heater with the "green, energy efficient, money saving" tankless water heater.  He did his research, called people, talked to plumbers, the whole gamut.  Here is what surfaced from his research.

It takes 22 years to get your money back on a tankless water heater.  The average cost for the unit is approximately $3,000. plus installation, in some cases. But here is the kicker - the life span for the middle of the road units as mentioned above only lasts approximately 17 to 19 years.  I would say it isn't a very wise investment.     

Comments (4)

Keith Vermilyea
Boise Homes Realty brokered by Found It LLC - Boise, ID

Thanks for sharing your husbands research with us Suzanne.  It sounds like the tankless water heater is like other green technologies, not priced well enough for prime time.  So many green products are not yet cost effective to become a standard.  Some people like the tankless water heaters because they offer hot water on demand, you never have to worry about running out of hot water.  This feature might be important enough to some people to justify the expense, perhaps large families and people that like to take really long showers! 

Nov 23, 2010 02:36 AM
Kirk Buscho
North Valley Mechanical - Phoenix, AZ

I agree with Keith, but let's agree that some green technologies are currently cost effective too. It may be a ways off for some of these large appliances though.

 

Suzanne, great post. It's always good to ignore the hype and do your homework.

Do you have a blog outside of Activerain? We'd be interested in exchanging links or guest posts with our blog at http://northvalleyhvac.com/

Nov 23, 2010 10:58 AM
Will Nesbitt
Nesbitt Realty at Condo Alexandria - Alexandria, VA
Nesbitt Realty is a family-run brokerage.

Mr. Consumer sure did his homework. Thanks for this information Suzanne! Very useful!

Nov 26, 2010 01:49 AM
Charles Buell
Charles Buell Inspections Inc. - Seattle, WA
Seattle Home Inspector

Suzanne, what you have concluded about these appliances is accurate in my opinion.  There are reasons to use them---just not "green" reasons---unless you like parting with "green" :)  Space savings is one reason.

Dec 12, 2010 02:53 AM