The Joys of In-Line Water Heaters
 

In Japan many homes or apartments were built in eras before the demand for hot water was met by centralized water heaters. Especially in areas with predominantly warm climates, many building that aren’t even particularly old lack what many Americans might consider this very basic feature. I am currently living on one of those apartments, and [...]Post from: EcoRenovator.org

The Joys of In-Line Water Heaters



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I guess they have their advantages. But you need enough power under each sink to run each one. And multiply the cost by the number of sinks you want hot water at.

Smaller Gas Point-of-Use water heaters...
 

The certainly do. I have been living with a Bosch Aqua-Star for the last ten years, and I really like it.

In fact, I talked to a friend who has a gas water heater as a backup for his Ground Source Heat Pump, for when the temperatures get really nasty. His main water heater is electric.

His summer bill with no gas hot water use at all (just the pilot light, and standing heat losses) was actually higher than the bill for my gas water heater AND my gas cook stove use.

And my showers are not just turn-on turn-off showers, I really like a long shower.

Granted, I do have a very low flow shower head, the shower experience is not the least bit stingy.

Something from the post that is key: the shortest possible distance from the water heater to the point-of-use.

This is true for tank and tankless water heaters. In the previous era of cheap energy, the advantage had little meaning. Because we are now entering an era when energy costs on the global market are rising quickly, and the strength of the dollar is declining, these changes can have a large reward.

In the US, tankless water heaters are marketed with the assumption that they will be a drop-in replacement for central tank type water heating systems, and you see water heaters that are too big for point-of-use applications.

I have looked on ebay for smaller tankless heaters and saw this.

With the smaller demand heaters, this is quite possible...

From looking at the ebay listings, the really economical (2 gpm or less) point-of-use units are propane, but for the 'gumption-enabled' it is possible to re-jet for Natural Gas use.

Some of the units use flashlight batteries for ignition (mine does), so there is no standing pilot loss, and as an added benefit, if there is a power failure, you can still take a hot shower (oh the luxuries of eco-prepared living!).

-AC_Hacker

I purchased a bosch propane in line water heater last year. I was planning on converting it to natural gas. However, with some digging I quickly found out that the two have a fair amount of different parts. Not only are the jets different, but the pressure regulators are also different and burner assembly. By the time I would have bought all the natural gas parts, I could simply find another natural gas water heater (used) for the same price.

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