Tank-less water heaters are the rage. In the mind of homeowners, replacing the 40 gallon tank with a tank-less is a simple step to take towards the greening of a home. It's simple in concept, particularly when you who have traveled abroad, and have noticed that they are the status quo in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and have been for decades!

We are just now waking up. In all fairness, I woke up too early, 20 years ago, when, years after having to  fight for the right to take a warm shower after digging in the trenches during my stint as an archaeologist in Italy, I knew that there were more efficient ways to heat water, and proceeded to experiment in my first home by installing a whole house tank-less water heater. Suffice it to say that the experiment failed. The metal box just wouldn't spit out water on the other end, much less hot water, and there was no one to help. I kept a grudge for a long time...

That was then, and now, in my new awakening, I installed three tank-less water heaters for my Casa Concept house. And I love them. One year later, I have all the hot water I need or demand, anywhere in the house, for as long as I need it. It is the sweet result of having done some research, because at the time of filling in the line item in the budget, it looked like a mistake or a dumb move, and we know it was neither. I put  three different brand reps through the test, and after hours of grilling them, I ended up with Noritz.

I was hoping for one whole-house unit..but that was not to be given the number of plumbing fixtures that were hooked up to the hot water. I compromised with three; two- installed in tandem- service the main hot water guzzlers like the kitchen and laundry, and master spa bath and shower. That means that at top use, in the dead of winter, there is endless hot water for all appliances and plumbing fixtures if all were to be turned on at once. It's almost too good to be true. It is particularly well suited for the new generation of master bathrooms gadgets, such as multiple shower heads and spa tubs for two.

Right around now, I've probably sold you on the idea of going tank-less. But remember my failure in 1987? It was a failure to take into account ( and the seller never brought it up) that the tank-less water heaters work by passing the water through multiple copper coils inside the tank, and that every bend of those coils is susceptible to scale, which is prevalent in Houston due to the hardness of the city water, and to large particles of debris. Did I tell you that the first heater lasted three months? I'm not about to divulge what the cost of that entire fiasco was, but know that the cost of having a tank-less water heater has a soft cost associated with it, which is having to install a conditioner for the whole house.

That is the generic recommendation. Any system that you install for whole house water conditioning is expensive. Most are bulky, with huge tanks or boxes, to be installed outside because ,who has the space inside? I call expensive $3-6K . I'll share with you my specific recommendation: use a two part system, to be installed inside your home, that includes a rust and silt filter at the entry of the water main into your home, and a de-scalinator (miracle little gadget!) that is wrapped around the water main, directly after the first filter, to charge the water particles in such way that they don't bond to produce scale.

This system is easy to install (about 2hours max by any plumber) and easy to maintain ( change the filter about every 6-9 months). If bought directly from the supplier it costs $995. But given that so many people have followed what they saw in Casa Concept, Sam, the supplier will give anyone who mentions Casa Concept a huge CASA CONCEPT discount!!!!! Plus, you can get the Noritz tank-less heater from him at a discount. If you are in Houston, his company will install the entire system, and warranty it. He likes to come around to see his system and installation once in a while, and I like it to keep working. That is a successful experiment. Go to http://www.casaconceptdesign.com , click on the resource guide, and look for Hot Water Solutions.

Stay tuned on tricks to best use your new tank-less water heater.