Tankless Water Heaters

Water Heater Diseases

administrator — Wed, 16 May 2012 04:54:07 +0000

Check out most energy saving tips on green promoting websites and one of the key things they recommend is to reduce the temperature of your homes water heater. What they don’t say is that this puts your family at risk of catching Legionnaires Disease, a potentially deadly bacterial infection that can be one of the causes of pneumonia.

Legionnaires Disease thrives in hot water environments, below is a list of where it thrives and dies at different temperature settings.

70 to 80 °C (158 to 176 °F): Disinfection range
66 °C (151 °F): die within 2 minutes
60 °C (140 °F): die within 32 minutes
55 °C (131 °F): die within 5 to 6 hours
Above 50 °C (122 °F): survive but do not multiply
20 to 50 °C (68 to 122 °F): growth range
Below 20 °C (68 °F): survive but are dormant

Legionnaires Disease is perfectly suited to survive within a conventional hot water tank as temperatures constantly fluctuate with colder temperatures at the bottom and hotter at the top. A regular tank also never completely empties so some of the bacteria always persist and continue to re-populate. It is estimated that nearly 25% of all water heaters are contaminated with this bacteria.

Legionnaires Disease can be caught through a number of ways but these are most popular; inhaling water vapours in a shower or bathroom, though choking while drinking and contaminated water entering your lungs.

A tankless water heater does not have the potential to contract and harbour Legionnaires Disease. A tankless completely flushes its system every time the hot water is tuned on making it nearly impossible for Legionnaires Disease to repopulate the system. If you have elderly or young children in your home it may be a good time to switch to a tankless water heater.

Striking Reliance Workers

administrator — Wed, 09 May 2012 00:50:34 +0000

As we previously predicted in this article Reliance Home Comfort has gone on strike. The union represeting some 300 workers is seeking a fair agreement. Talks are scheduled to get started again but the company seems persistent in clawing back pensions, benefits, and overtime which is prolonging this strike.

CEP Local 1999 represents 295 clerical and operational employees of Reliance Home Comfort. This strike affects skilled workers who install HVAC equipment including Furnaces, air conditioners, water heaters, and tankless water heaters. throughout Ontario. The offices are located in several cities around Ontario including, Windsor, Sarnia, London, Brantford, Cambridge, Burlington, Kingston, and Thunder Bay.

The striking reliance workers want to get back to serving the customers that make Reliance Home Comfort a successful enterprice but the current strike and lack of bargaining is adding to the difficulties. Relaince posted 60 million in profits last year, its important that they fairly remunerate the very people that helped attain such success.

Controversy Fires Debate Over Water Heaters – Review

administrator — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:38:31 +0000

Controversy Fires Debate Over Water Heaters

This was the title of a recent article by Ian Harvey of the Toronto Star. The article (read it here) was well written and for the most part completely accurate, which is a bit of a shock considering most journalists seem to chastise tankless water heaters at any possible opportunity.

In his article Mr. Harvey mentions that he has a tankless or on-demand water heating system in his own home. His first hand experience is clearly beneficial allowing him to write about the positives of this system. He mentions that price is an issue and that they usually cost about double that of a conventional water heater. This is true and accurate and as such tankless systems still have very little penetration in the Toronto market with only about 5% of homes utilizing one. The majority of Toronto home owners rent their water heaters, which seems like a cheap and easy solution; until Direct Energy sneakily decides to change the contracts on its customers…

As for installation Mr. Harvey addresses the 3 key elements correctly, you need to have natural gas at your home, running a gas line from the street for just a water heater is quite expensive. There needs to be an electrical socket near where the tankless will be installed. Lastly, there needs to be an adequate location where the vent can be situated outside the home.

The one thing I do feel Mr. Harvey was wrong on was the maintenance of a tankless system. Water drawn from Lake Ontario still has between 8-10 grains of water hardness, this wont clog up your tankless but it will reduce its efficiency within a few years. Having or performing a flush ensures you maintain the over 90% efficiency a tankless provides.

If you have any questions, are interested in a tankless or need a tankless flush drop us a quick email inquiries@tanklesshotwaterguide.ca or fill out the form below.

[contact-form-7]

A Few Benefits of a Tankless Heater

administrator — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:26:02 +0000

A tankless heater hangs on the wall so it should free up some space in your basement. We are all paying crazy amounts per square foot in our homes so it really only makes sense that we free up as much of it as possible.

It is crazy to rent a water heater, Ontario is a strange market, and most other Provinces don’t have such a large trend in water heater rentals. You can easily pay for conventional a water heater 3 times over by renting it over a period of 15 years. Sure a tankless is more expensive but they do have a significantly longer lifespan than a conventional tank and a tankless uses significantly less energy to heat your homes water.

A tankless heater is best mounted on an exterior wall which eases the venting requirements, although each unit has its own set of rules and regulations. You will need a nearby electrical socket as well as natural gas to your home. It’s hard to give a price for a tankless as there are numerous different models for certain homes and situations. Since we also live in Ontario our ground water in the winter is quite cold, this requires that we purchase and install powerful systems capable of raising water temperatures 70 or more degrees (50 Celsius). Tankless systems also are technologically advanced and can have remotes in bathrooms and kitchens, so if you know want your bath at 102 Fahrenheit you can simply set the tankless remotely to produce water at that exact temperature. Thus A tankless will be more expensive but for a rough estimate you’re looking at between $2200 and $3800 and again highly dependent on accessories and unit purchased.

Condensing tankless heaters are up to 98% efficient but they do cost a little more than the others which are around 82% efficient. A tankless has a significantly longer lifespan than a conventional tank so they do need to be flushed every few years… This is simply to remove the scale that builds up in all water heaters. On average a water heaters (tankless and conventional) efficiency rating is reduced by 2% per year due to scale build-up. Since a tankless can be cleaned it last longer and maintains its high efficiency. A conventional tank can lose 20-25 percent of its efficiency within 10 years, necessitating it be replaced.

If you have any more questions don’t be afraid to ask.

Tankless Maintenance Tasks

administrator — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:51:52 +0000

Tankless maintenance is important, just like it is for your car. A tankless would probably run for a good 10 years without you doing a thing to it, but it will lose a lot of efficiency over time. To maintain tankless efficiency you need a service tech to do some basic maintenance tasks. One of the most important is flushing the system.

Toronto has hard water and this causes build-up of deposits on the inside of the tankess. With the addition of heat the process is accelerated creating a sort crude insulation. This prevents the thorough transfer of heat to water and causes your tankless to run harder, longer and costing you more money. Flushing a tankless is a quick and cheap task that removes the build-up and barrier created by the hard water.

I would also recommend you check the fan and fan grill for dirt and debris build-up that can cause internal overheating. The next thing I would look at is the igniter, do a quick visual inspection looking for any apparent damage or potential issues.

If the tankless isn’t giving you any issues or warning I don’t think you need to any other steps to maintain it. Again though, the flush is probably the most important as it keeps your system in top performance.

If you are in the Greater Toronto Area send us an Email if you have any further questions or interested in having your system flushed.
info@tanklesshotwaterguide.ca

Reliance Home Comfort Strike/Lockout

administrator — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 20:04:29 +0000

Reliance Home Comfort Strike/Lockout

Local 1999 is in bargaining with Reliance Home Comfort who have a set a firm deadline of April 16^th at 12:01 am. The union has made several passes to Reliance but has been met with firm resistance. The proposal for a tiered CBA for new hires has been rejected and remains a firm sticking point.

The union’s position is to bargain for a fair and equitable deal for all members at Reliance Home Comfort team. They have until Sunday night and will bargain until the final seconds to avert any type of strike or lockout.

Reliance Home Comfort has refused to say whether they will be locking employees out or not.

This potential strike or lockout is between service reps and installers at Reliance Home Comfort. As a customer of this company you will likely experience a decrease in customer service in HVAC service and HVAC installations. If your equipment is running well and you don’t have any issues during this strike/lockout you likely wont even know it occurred.

You can read more at the CEP Local 1999 union statement

No related posts.

Master Predictions At Augusta National

administrator — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:31:20 +0000

Our Master Predictions At Augusta National 2012

Well we all talked about it today and came up with our predictions for the winner of the Green Jacket this weekend.

Hunter Mahan
Lee Westwood
Rory McIlroy

Hunter Mahan – He has a lot of momentem going for him, he is in the zone, we all see him pulling through and doing really well this weekend. He has more than showed his intentions and in 7 tournaments has placed in the top ten three times this year.

Lee Westwood – He has the talent and is due for a win. In the last 4 tournaments he has placed in he has placed in the top 10 twice.

Rory McIlroy - His blow up last year, well this year is redemption time. He has the skill and we all feel he will make this years attempt personal.

Potentials Candidates to Keep an Eye On

We had a lively debate on these candidates for the win.

Bo Van Pelt
Phil Mickelson
Keegan Bradley

What About Tiger Woods?

We all seem to think he is out, the last tourney he won was lucky. He seems to be focusing too much on swing, mechanics, and form and it has ruined his game. The man is a golf god with a greater talent than any other player in history, the problem is that he doesnt belive it and had lost all of his confidence. For Tiger to get his mojo back (no pun intended) he needs to simply play golf and trust his instincts, dont worry about your mechanics, rely on the muscle memory and natural instincts that made you the greats golfer ever…. We predict a blowup and subsquent hissy fit of which Tiger will play himself right out of contention.

These are all simply predictions and recomend you take them with a grain of salt.

If we are correct we hope everyone who reads this looks at a tankless as an option for their homes hot water heating. A tankless is not right for every home and in many cases the tank you have is more than adequate. Yet, there are situations were a tankless is the correct choice.

If your tank type water heater is older than 10 years you should consider a tankless
If you live in an area of hard water, a tankless can be cleaned, a conventional tank can’t.
If you go away frequently, why heat water when your not home.
If you own a cottage, a tankless is a perfect option as you’re only there on weekends
If you want to reduce the amount of natural gas your home is consuming

Dis you answer yes to any of those questions? Well get in contact with us and we can get you a free quote and information on how a tankless may be right for your home.

No related posts.

Is Toronto’s Hard Water Making You Sick?

administrator — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:16:06 +0000

Is Toronto’s Hard Water Making You Sick?

A new research study recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences drew a connection with showerheads that sprayed hard water and a prevalence of bacteria linked to pulmonary, or lung-related, disease.

Toronto in particular has a water hardness rating of 7.5 which isn’t too bad considering some nearby municipalities are much higher. Woodbridge is 16.2, Aurora and Newmarket are 17, Richmond Hill 17.2, all have water hardness readings more than double that of Toronto. Yet some lucky municipalities have exceptionally low water hardness, Parry Sound is 4, Ottawa is 3, Bracebridge 2.

What Does Water Hardness Mean For You?

If you own a tankless or are thinking about getting one you should have the system flushed once a year to remove the scale and build up that is left from heating water with dissolved minerals. If you’re living in an area with high levels of hard water than you may want to increase the regularity of the tankless flush. A flush will remove build up and your tankless will regain all of its efficiency.

If you have a conventional tank and live in an area of hard water than you need to know the facts. Firstly a conventional tank can’t be flushed and thus scale and lime deposits will continuously build up in your water heater. With the presence of hard water the build up will occur faster reducing your water heaters efficiency by over 2% a year. A conventional tank starts out life at about 60% efficiency, this drops significantly as scale build up and insulates the heat from the water.

Secondly test done on tank type water heater are done with soft water, or water with very little dissolved minerals. So your tank may have a lifespan of 12 years in ideal conditions but in reality it may be reduced by more than 25%.

Water Softeners

A water softener will break down and dissolve the minerals like calcium, iron, and magnesium that are present in hard water conditions. These are effective systems that not only protect the homes residents but also mechanical systems. A homes softener can remove the minerals and stop the build up of scale where bacteria can reside in a shower head. Its recommended that you dip your showerhead in vinegar once a year for 30 minutes to remove any scale build up that has occurred.

Direct Energy Moves Deadline To May 1st

administrator — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:08:04 +0000

UPDATE: Due to the huge number of complaints and customer loss Direct Energy has cancelled its contract changes – BUT If you’re still interested in owning your water heater and skipping all these issues Call 1-855-696-8265

Direct Energy Moves Deadline

Apparently masses of Direct Energy customers are showing their frustrations and have forced a change to the contract change deadline, you now have until to May 1, 2012 to opt out of the new contract.

Your Direct Energy Choice

Call or Email Direct Energy and opt out of the new contract and your existing one will continue to be considered lawful. 1-866-202-1120 or rentalterms@directenergy.com
Do nothing and you will automatically be moved to the new contract which has a cancellation fee calculated according to hot water tanks age and type. Fees range from $100 and up.

I feel that old saying “the straw that broke the camel’s back” really applies to this situation. Direct Energy is was one of the few reputable companies competing in the water heater rental business. The water heater rental business is on the tipping point as customers are getting fed up with hidden costs and questionable tactics. For Direct Energy to try and quietly pull this on their customer is the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Get Out Of Your Contract and Own Your Water Heater

Power Vent 40 gallon tank $1395 installed and vented – Old tank will also be drained, removed, and returned to Direct Energy or appropriate company.
Power Vent 50 gallon tank $1495 installed and vented – Old tank will also be drained, removed, and returned to Direct Energy or appropriate company.
Conventional vent tank drain, removed and returned will be even cheaper.
Tankless upgrade! venting has different restriction and thus we offer free pre inspections to verify installation in your home.
Call toll free for any question 1-855-696-8265

[contact-form-7]<

Direct Energy Contract Changes

administrator — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:55:24 +0000

Direct Energy Contract Changes

The news regarding Direct Energy changing their water heater contracts on their customers is accurate and incredible unfair. I will talk about the changes and what it means for you.

Firstly and foremost Direct Energy has changed their contract so that if you want to cancel or get out of your water heating contract you will be subject to a cancellation fee from $100 and up.
Direct Energy has to honour the contract you signed but you have to call them and say that you don’t want the new contract and would rather remain on the old one (with no cancellation fees).
If you don’t call and stipulate your preference you will automatically be moved to the new contract with the cancellation fees.
You need to call or email before April 2^nd 2012. 1-866-202-1120 or rentalterms@directenergy.com

If you’re a Direct Energy water heater client you will probably be making the call, I would also suggest at the same time to ask what your buyout would currently cost you. If your tank is between 5-10 years old the buyout is relatively cheap and it’s probably not a bad idea to consider it. If the tank is less than 5 year it will probably be relatively expensive to buyout.

Tanks 10 Years and Older

Buy it out; it’s probably only a few hundred dollars at most. But, the tank is getting old and likely quite inefficient. A 40 or 50 gallon tank has a lifespan of 12-15 years at best and loses 2% efficiency per year gradually but consistently. Your conventional tank starts life at around 55% efficiency but scale and lime build-up really starts to reduce its heating efficiency over time. If you buy the old Direct Energy water tank out I would suggest you start budgeting for a new one as soon as possible.

Tankless Upgrade

This site deals with all types of water heaters in general but we feel that a tankless is an ideal solution is a lot of residential applications (not all though). A tankless will cost more, but it does have a lifespan of 20 plus years. In addition a tankless water heater is designed to be cleaned so scale and lime build-up don’t reduce the efficiency rating over time. A condensing tankless efficiency is rated between 94% and 98% depending on brand. Again, they won’t be right for every home but they is a lot of situations a tankless does make a lot of sense. Explore this as option for your home.

Conclusion

Renting a water heater is strange, most Provinces and States don’t have anything like what we have here in Ontario. When big players like Direct Energy apply such overarching, unfair changes to customers it gets people talking. I would suggest that every home owner owns their water heater or tankless water heater and stops renting. You don’t rent your stove, fridge, or other appliances, what makes the water heater so different? Buyout your Direct Energy contracts and own the water heater in your basement. Have Direct Energy remove their water heater and hire a certified contractor to install a new one you own outright. Move up to a tankless and own that water heater for 20 plus years with high efficiency and reduced gas bills. Do whatever you need to do to stop paying a monthly water heater fee.