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Hello,
Can anyone chime in regarding on demand water heaters?
We are having problems with a couple of ours (Titans) which apparently are not so good. Can anyone recommend a better manufactured alternative model?
Thank you—–Peter
Hi Peter
I have used both Stiebel Eltron and Thermosonic. The former is better suited for higher temp / higher flow needs. Both have various models depending on the application and are available locally.Cheers
[quote=”pebo1″]Hello,
Can anyone chime in regarding on demand water heaters?
We are having problems with a couple of ours (Titans) which apparently are not so good. Can anyone recommend a better manufactured alternative model?
Thank you—–Peter[/quote]
Go with electric and have a timer on top. You might want to just get in the habit of throwing the breaker when you are gone long. We also have two instant on gas and have had nothing but problems. No one seems to want to work on them and it is very expensive if they do. You are better going with a 20, 30, 0r 40 gallon depending on your family size. Go to San Jose and pick one up since I had a very hard time finding one every where else.
baontheriver, you’ve corrupted the direction of this thread, so I’ll chime in and make it worse . . .
We’ve had solar water heating systems on our homes since 1980 and I wouldn’t build again without including one (or more). In our home outside Grecia, we have two solar panels and an eighty-gallon storage tank with an electric backup. It’s been virtually flawless for six years.
If I had it to do again, I’d opt for two solar heaters of the “everything on the roof” design. They incorporate a single panel and a fifty-three gallon storage tank. In our house, the hot water run from the storage tank to the kitchen is overly long, so I’d put one on the roof over the kitchen and a second at the other end to serve the bathroom and laundry.
i don’t know anyone who HASN’T had problems with the on-demand gizmos. i have a 30 gallon hot water heater with the timer on top. it runs two hours in the a.m. and two in the p.m. and i have never had a problem. i think it was about the same cost as an on-demand, but i haven’t yet had to replace it or have it repaired.
In addition to the timer, your tank-type water heater, gas or electric, will be much more efficient if you wrap it in an additional insulation blanket. It takes a lot of energy to heat water. Once heated, it pays to retain that heat energy for as long as possible.
The shortcoming of the timer aproach is that while it may only heat the water at peak usage times, the remaining heated, but unused, hot water cools off during slack usage times and must be reheated. Heating the same body of water twice runs up the cost. That’s why the additional insulation pays off. And it’s cheap and easy.
OK thanks for that advice about alternate methods of water heating.
It appears though if one wants to stay with on demand then the German built variations are better.
[quote=”pebo1″]OK thanks for that advice about alternate methods of water heating.
It appears though if one wants to stay with on demand then the German built variations are better.
[/quote]
The German built Steibel Eltron heaters can be found at EPA.Stiebel Eltron heaters are also available at “Importaciones Campos Rudin” the nice thing is, if it needs a repair, they lend you another one for the meantime.
What I would recommend for all on/demand heaters, install faucets that have hot and cold separate (no one-hand mixers etc.) because many times we do not pay attention when we open the water and put it to semi-hot, which kicks the heater on immediately. Turning on the heater is like turning on 90 light bulbs at the same time. I also used solar for years and was very happy with it. If I ever built a house again for myself, I would go solar again.In 5 rental apartments, we have 3 Titan on-demand water heaters and 2 electric water tank heaters, admittedly not insulated. At the beach, mold and other ugly black growths appear in no time, if you wrap something. We do turn off the power for the water heater when not needed.
In 10 years, we have replaced 1 Titan and one tank, and replaced the heating elements ($35) in another Titan.
With comparable use (number of people x number of days in use), there is a huge difference in the amount of used electricity , with the on-demand heaters winning hands-down!
They are more expensive to buy, but with the money saved to ICE and the much smaller amount of space that the Titan needs, we will recommend that any day.
If we need to replace one of the small heaters, we will check the other brands mentioned here – or look into solar power – but all things considered, we have gotten a lot of hot water from the Titan heaters at a reasonable cost.I have the Stiebel Eltron on demand water heater for 5 years now without a problem. Mine is a 220 volt and works with 2 baths and the kitchen. More than once there have been more than 10 people in my house (not counting the dog) and never did we have a problem with hot water.
Stiebel Eltron has 3 models. One is a 110 volt for the kitchen and 2 versions of the 220. The prices in the USA ranges from $150.00 to $250.00 in these models.
I discovered them when I lived in Germany because nobody in that country or Europe uses a water tank heater. They are compact, efficient and cheap.
that is my story on the hot water on demand, your milage COULD vary
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