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Tankless Hot Water Heaters, Efficient, Effective, Endless.
Installation Techniques
Live Help! Now Available
Jun 23rd
Live Tankless Water Heater Help
We get tonnes of emails everyday regarding tankless water heaters, installation, costs associated and grant rebates. In an effort to provide faster and more direct contact to people we have installed a new live help feature. It should be located in the bottom corner of your screen and if you have any questions just type them in and you will get an immediate response. 
Feel free to ask our representatives anything, as they are well versed in the ontario and Canadian grants as well as tankless water heater specifications. Even if they dont know, someone in the office is bound to have an answer.
If were not online feel free to fill out one of the request forms and we will get back to you (usually within 24 hours) Form HERE. Remember information is always free.
Sizing a Tankless Hot Water Heater
May 6th
Sizing a Tankless Water Heater
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The largest difference between a tankless and a conventional tank type system is that, while a tank can 
supply a large amount of hot water for a short period, a tankless water heater provides a smaller amount limitlessly. Thus with a tank type water heater you can run all your taps and showers and have all the hot water you want…. Well until the tank runs dry, and that shouldn’t take long. With the tankless system you can open all the taps to the capacity of the tankless, and have hot water for as long as you want. Yet if the system was undersized or sees demand beyond its designed capacity, your water will only be lukewarm.
In fact that’s really about the only thing that can go wrong on a tankless water heater, and realistically its not even the fault of the heater. This usually occurs when customers don’t take the time to really understand how a tankless hot water system works. It’s also cause by people trying to get the best deal or cheaping out and having a dealer install a smaller unit.
A tankless water heater has a certain capacity that has to be carefully calibrated to make sure that it can handle the highest load that a house can produce. A smaller sized tank may be able to handle only a gallon of hot water a minute (about one shower). If you have a larger family or home that has multiple showers you will need a much larger system.
Any contractor trained in tankless hot water heater installation will be able to give your situation and home the best advice on which model to choose.
Rinnai Concentric Venting
Apr 28th
Rinnai Venting
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Rinnai tankless water heaters use a single tube for their venting, how do they do this? It’s quite a simple process that prevents two holes from being drilled in your wall. As you can see in the picture of the elbow, the vent pipe has two distinct sections. This type of venting piping is called concentric venting. 
The tankless concentric vent pipe handles both the incoming supply air as well as ejecting the toxic exhaust gases. This form of tankless venting can save an extra hole in your wall and thus reduced risk of air leakage.
Concentric venting is really quite expensive as the pipe is made from stainless steel. On average you are looking at about 60 dollars per foot plus installation. This is why it important to position a Rinnai tankless water heater as close as possible to its venting termination point.
Solar Water Heater and Tankless Update
Apr 21st
Solar Water Heater and Tankless
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One of our readers is working on installing a domestic solar hot water heater in conjunction with a tankless. They were going to go with a Rheem tankless to offset any additinonal temperature increase that was needed over the solar gains. Unfortunately they found out that the particular unit that they were planning on using senses the incoming water temperature, buy ‘ignores’ water that is within 40F of the target temp (ie. the unit won’t cut on to work). This has caused them some problems because:
1) The max output on any residential line is 120F (49C) (this is canadian law it cant be any hotter than this in a residential home).
2) If the solar heated water comes in at 100F (37C) or warmer, the unit will not kick on. This means the output is 37C, a cold shower to be sure.
3) If you go to the commerical unit, the max temp is 180F. This much too hot for residential use (think of someone turning on the hot water at the sink to do dishes), but it would work from the 40F differential standpoint (ie. if the water is 60C or colder, then the unit will fire, anything warmer than 60C doesn’t matter as it would be warm enough for a shower). Again this is illegal in Canada as the Max allowed Temperature is 120F.
The best solution is to more to a Rinnai Tankless water heater as this unit only requires there to be a 20 degree farenheight differentiation between water to be heated and heated water. Therfor your shower will at the very least be 100 degrees farenheight which is plenty warm enough.
These co-heating water heating systems are quite complicated so its important that you talk to a prefessional regarding any plans that you have for your home or cottage. Feel free to send us an email if you have any questions.
Tankless Installation Time
Apr 8th
Installing a Tankless
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How long is it going to take to install a new tankless water heater?
There really isn’t a simple time frame that can be stated because no two installs are the same. Everyone’s home is unique and this means that install times are different for every home. If you have a tankless system and are replacing it (far and few between) the tankless install will be relatively quick as most of the pipes and the gas line will be the right vicinity.
If you are moving from a conventional hot water tank to a tankless water heater then it will take at least a few hours. These are a few of the required tasks of an install crew
This is a very short rundown of the installation process, it is much more detailed and requires more time than you might expect. All tankless water heaters have very specific details as to where and how they are vented. This does place a bit more work on the installer as they have to ensure that their installation meets all codes.
All and all a new tankless installation will run anywhere from a few hours to an entire day. For the majority of situations it is rare for a tankless to take more than half of a day to install. So I would suggest to budget about 4 hours for the installers to finish their work.
The Cold water Sandwich
Mar 23rd
What is the cold water sandwich?
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This sandwich happens when there is warm water for a few minutes then a burst of cold and then rapidly back to warm. This occurs in homes with tankless water heaters as the residual water in the pipes going to a faucet or shower can still be hot. The user in the household will then turn the tap on and feel warm water almost instantly. A tankless water heater takes a few seconds to heat up the heat exchanger and start 
transferring that heat to the water. The result is that a small amount of cold water can make it through the heat exchanger without warming up. When this cold water reaches the end user it may not even be noticed or if the person is in the shower it may be quite evident. After a second or two the heat exchanger is working and hot water is being produced and sent though the hot water pipes bring the desired water temperature again. This does occur more frequently in electric tankless water heaters over gas powered tankless systems. Gas is at full temperature almost immediately where an electric element can take a minute to fully reach its operating temperature.
Now you know what a hot water sandwich is in reference to plumbing and tankless hot water heaters, ask your contractor or installer as there are ways to mitigate this sandwich.
Recirculation Tankless Installations
Mar 3rd
Tankless And Recirculation
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Some Larger homes may require a recirculation loop so that hot water gets to the desired applications faster. They are commonly used with conventional tanks but certain tankless brands can also be used to fit the bill.
What is a ReCirculation Loop?
The loop usually runs the length of one side of the house and then back along the other side. It should be well insulated and have a continuous flow so that there is always hot water in the loop. This way when someone needs hot water at a shower on the other side of the house it only takes a few seconds for hot water to reach the user. If there wasn’t this recirculation loop the water would need to flow all the way from the other side of the house, this could take few minutes and waste gallons of water.
See the diagram below for a good example
Tankless Recirculation
There is not a lot of tankless water heaters that can suitable provide the demands of a recirculation loop. In fact some companies will cut the tankless warranty in half if it is used in a situation where a recirculation loop exists. There are others that don’t modify the warranty and depending on installation Rinnai is one of the brands that allows for a recirculation system. Make sure to talk to your plumber or contractor before begining as they’re a lot of factors to consider before installation.
Solar and a Tankless
Feb 19th
Solar And A Tankless Heater
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There is starting to become a buzz around solar hot water systems. If you have a good, knowledgeable contractor a solar water system can work quite well with a tankless hot water heater. 
Here are a few of the advantages that you can expect when combining the two systems.
1. The preheated water coming from the solar water heating system will increase the flow of hot water out of a tankless unit. The reason is due to the fact the tankless has to heat pre-warmed water reducing the necessary temperature rise. The amount of hot water a tankless can provide depends on the input temperature. The greater the temperature rise necessary the slower the water can travel through the heat exchanger and the slower the output flow. Incoming water at 45F vs. 70F vs. 100F will have very different results on the output of a tankless system.
2. The water is already warm or even hot from the solar rays before entering the tankless unit and therefore the added wait time associated with a tankless unit can be reduced or even eliminated.
3. Its important when combining a tankless and solar water heater to consider a tankless unit that recognizes incoming temperature as well as outgoing and is able to fully modulate its burner (therefore only burning the necessary amount of gas to raise the temperature to the appropriate amount).
4. With the right tankless unit and an appropriately sized solar system you may find that your tankless rarely need to run. In fact some people have found that their gas bills are now costing only a few dollars as opposed to a few hundred dollars.
These Solar systems can be a little tricky in Ontario and Toronto as we have winter and the solar system (if it fails) could experience freezing. This would rupture the thermal cells in the collector rendering it ineffective. It may be necessary to use a glycol system to prevent freezing if electricity goes out. Your contractor should be able to provide all necessary info, or fill out the contact form and we can help.
Rinnai Installation Diagram
Feb 11th
Rinnai Installation Diagram |
If you decide that a tankless water heater is a good idea for your home you should consider the requirements that your house will need to meet first. Tankless systems have a number of additional needs over your conventional tank water heater. We install more Rinnai than any other system so I will give the specifications for this system, although they are all quite similar.
A 3 FT clearance is required for the following:
- a. Windows
- b. Any exhaust outlets – Furnace, dryer vent, kitchen vent etc.
- c. Gas Meter – The vent needs to be at least 3 feet from the gas meter and the pressure relief valve.
The vent also needs to be 1 foot above grade and cannot be vented into any shared walkway that is less than 5 feet wide.
This diagram should help explain it.
Or get a Free in home consultation and have an installer who really knows “the tricks of the trade” help you find a spot for your Rinnai Tankless water heater. And as we all know installation can be tricky in Canada with existing gas codes and venting requirements. Get a Quote here
