cubfan23

If I currently have a gas water heater, can I replace it with an elec. tankless water heater? OR do I need to stick with a gas unit. I would like to put the new tankless water heater in the attic directly above where the old unit use to be. Any advice on choosing elec over gas????

glennjanie

Hello CubFan:
I would not want a gas water heater in the attic; the electric one will not use power unless the hot water is running, which is much more efficient. It should be about equal to the cost of using the gas water heater.
Glenn

kwmainer

Hum... is the real issue that you want to move the water heater to the attic? If so, I'd agree with the other poster, do the electric tankless - but it'll not be as efficient.

If the real issue is that you want to (for some reason) replace gas with electric... I'd say, "why?" Is your gas line going away?

I did a bunch of research on using tankless hot water heaters about a year ago. Tankless-gas was the way to go for efficiency, cost reduction, ease of installation. Here in florida, you can install the thing on the OUTside of your house even... if you want to. Or you can zone it, using smaller units for strategic parts of your house (say one unit for kitchen, one for laundry, one for upstairs baths... ).

I wouldn't put a water heater with all it's pipes and such in the attic. Would just be more ceiling, wall and floor to rip out and fix should one of the lines burst or something. If you're in a very cold climate, I'd think that the attic would tend to be a risk of freezing...

???? I'm curious...

Raindem

We just built a new house with elec. tankless water heaters and I have to say I'm pretty disappointed. The main one for the house makes a loud snapping sound every time you turn the water on. We chose electric because it sounded like a lot of hassle to vent the gas unit.

The one in the workshop doesn't work at all because my water pressure is too low to trigger it. I have to get some special low-flow type of unit, but the place I bought it from won't exchange it. I'm thinking of going in the opposite direction of everyone else and taking out my tankless and put in an old fashioned water heater.

glennjanie

Hello Raindem:
If I lived in New Mexico, I would use solar water heating. An 80 gallon storage tank and a small pump is all you need to take advantage of the free sunlight.
Glenn

Raindem

Thanks Glenn. The house we built is actually in Arizona but it's a similar climate. We're already plumbed for gas so if I go back to a tank I'll either do that or look into the solar you were talking about.

Besides the noise the main house unit takes a while to get it hot. It's like what we're saving in electricity we're losing in wasted water.