Originally Posted By: FordPrefect
This might be worth a read:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appli...-heaters-ov.htm


We were considering one but because of our "advanced years" didn't bite.

YMMV

Yep, saw that one.
We're not concerned that overall long term costs and may not get back the investment of the tankless system. I am more keen on saving on gas. People refer to wasting water, but in reality the water goes down the sink, to a waste water plant and gets spit right back into the environment.
If anything you are just putting clean water back into the system and paying for it.
That bothers me less than wasting gas, a limited resource that is not recyclable.

BUT, can we live with the other downsides?
I think we can adapt to how the tankless system works. Only rinsing the occasional dishes and shaving (for which i could fill a sink with hot water and use that method instead) might show the problem of tank vs tankless.
However, i'm uncertain if the dishwasher or washing machine would draw enough hot water for their use to properly do the job. I doubt they are triggered to run water until it hits a certain temp but rather are on timers to pull a certain amount of water from a hot line before shutting off and running their cycles.
We do most clothes in warm or cold washes anyway, and the dishwasher can be put onto its own sanitize cycle (uses its own internal heater) but still something else to consider.

At this point i'm researching the info, but would like to find good brand names.
Of all the reviews i've seen, Rennai seems to be one of the names that ppl have yet to complain about service or malfunction issues.


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