![[X] Close](http://www.tanklesshotwaterguide.ca/wp-content/themes/mystique2/images/close.png)
Tankless Hot Water Heaters, Efficient, Effective, Endless.
Posts tagged hot water
Heating Water with a Tankless in Ontario
Feb 10th
Buying a Tankless in Ontario |
So you’re thinking of getting a tankless water heater and you live in Ontario, that’s good these systems are excellent for the environment and your bottom line. Most…. Actually all of these systems are designed outside our country and thus outside our climate. You should take some extra precautions before purchasing a system.
If you take a look at the map you can extrapolate a rough estimate of ground water temperatures for Ontario. Sorry there doesn’t seem to be an accurate map of Ontario’s ground water values anywhere. I would use 35-37 Fahrenheit as a good starting point; your incoming water will never be much colder than that. The tankless water heater you choose will need to warm the water up from your starting temperature to your desired level. If the incoming water is 35 and you want hot water to be 110 your tankless needs to heat the water 75 degrees. This is quite a relatively significant increase and to produce this level of rise requires the water to pass through the heat exchangers at a slower rate.
In the summer Ontario ground water is often between 50 and 65 Fahrenheit, to reach your desired 110 degree level the water only needs to be heated 45 degrees. Sensors in the tankless measure incoming and outgoing temperature levels and adjust flow rates accordingly. Thus a system rated to provide 5 GPM (gallons per minute) with only a 40 degree temperature rise will likely only produce maybe 2 GPM in the winter when water temperatures are really low.
When you’re purchasing a new tankless for your home make sure you pay close attention to the tankless heaters specifications. Make sure that it is able to provide an adequate flow rate when your incoming water temperatures are at the lowest in the winter.
Takagi Tankless Condensing Unit
Feb 9th
Takagi Tankless Condensing Unit
|
The Takagi Flash T-H1 tankless water heater is a new condensing unit available to house hold consumers. 
This tankless heater has an average efficiency of 95% with propane as its fuel source and 92% when natural gas is used. In our Canadian climate you can expect about 4 plus gallons per minute in the dead of winter, and much more in the summer when ground water is warmer.
The Flash T-H1 is able to provide about 3 simultaneous showers when ground water is at or below 40 Fahrenheit. This tankless is unique in that it has two heat exchangers which enable the water passing through to absorb much (90 to 97 percent of it) of the heat generated from combustion. The stainless steel secondary heat exchanger has been added to collect waste heat from the units vent stack and divert it to pre-heating the incoming water. This secondary exchanger causes some condensation that is slightly acidic, Takagi has included a collector and a built in neutralizer that allows the drainage to be plumbed into your standard drainpipe.
This tankless water heater employs a variable gas input which allows the unit to produce only the amount of heat necessary to warm the water to a household’s desired temperature. At a maximum this tankless can produce 199,000 BTU’s per hour and in ideal conditions provide 10 gallons of hot water per minute.
There is a downside, the Takagi condensing tankless water heater is quite expensive, but it is one of the higher end units with a very high efficiency rating. Also unless you buy the Takagi temperature controller you are limited to only 4 preset temperatures, 113 F, 122 F, 140 F, and 182 F.
This is a very interesting system but we havent had any direct hands on experience to draw on yet. We should be getting a trial system soon at which point we will provide a new update and evaluation.
Conventional Tank Thermal Images
Jan 30th
Hot Water Tank Thermal Images
|
Here are some thermal shots of a conventional hot water tank, as you can see there is a lot of heat loss
occurring. Sure during the winter months this is probably not a very big deal as the heat leaks into the house. During the summer when you are paying copious amount of money to keep your house cool a conventional tank sits there 24 hours a day leaking heat, and costing money. Additionally if you can see the vent pipe coming off the tank it is quite warm, this is wasted heat and energy being directly 
vented outside. That is lost energy and money for you. A tankless water heater has a much higher efficiency rating which significantly reduces the amount of heat and energy vented out of the house. The increased efficiency also means that there is less heat escaping into your home during the cooling season.
More pictures to come soon.
If you are interested we can bring the thermal camera out on an in home consultation and you can see first hand why your conventional tank is one of the largest energy waters in your home. Fill out the simple inquiries form and we will contact you within 1 business day (please specify if you would like us to bring the thermal camera).
Rinnai R75i Specifications
Jan 26th
Rinnai R75i Specs
|
- Natural Gas or Propane Gas Models
- 15,000 to 180,000 Btu
- 0.7 to 6.0 GPM (55 F rise) / 0.7 to 7.5 GPM (35 F rise)
- 98-140 Degree Settings or 98 – 185° F with (MCC-91 controller)
- Height 26″ Width 14″ Depth 10″
- No Pilot Light – Direct Electronic Ignition
- Maximum Hot Water Capacity – 7.5 GPM (multiple points of use)
- Newly Designed Commercial-Grade Heat Exchanger
- New Integrated Condensate Collector
- On-Board Diagnostics and Safety Monitoring
- EZ Connect (connects 2 units together without use of a control board
- High-Altitude Operation Up To 10,000 Feet Without Additional Parts
Rinnai R85 Tankless Water Heater
Jan 26th
Rinnai R85 Specs
|
Tankless Specs
Specifications
Hot water capacity - Minimum flow – 0.5 gpm (gallons per minute)
- Maximum flow – 5.3 gpm
Anticipated maximum – at 75°F temperature rise (input 45°, output 120°) 4.2 gpm
There should be no single water fixture requiring more than 3.5 gpm
Sized right for our Ontario climate
Input BTU rating: Minimum 15,000 Maximum 180,000
Efficiency rating: 82%
Installation requirements
• Water lines – minimum ¾” required (inlet & outlet) – R-Ready Valve Set included
• Gas lines – sized for 180,000 BTU rating (3/4” minimum, larger with long runs)
• Gas pressure – minimum 6” W.C. (watch low pressure areas)
• Water pressure – target 30 – 80 psi (minimum 15 psi, maximum 150 psi)
• No anti-scald mixing valve required (check with your local municipality)
• Venting – 5” concentric venting (proprietary to Rinnai)
• Outside wall location is recommended – Standard Vent Kit included
Application guidelines
Hard water areas
• Unit is approved for use in areas where the water hardness is less than 12 grains
• Typically, GTA, Ottawa and Niagara municipal water sources qualify
• North (Barrie) and southwestern Ontario likely not eligible
• For hard water areas above 12 grains, please discuss with installation crew. A water softener may be required.
Configuration
• No re- circulating systems permitted (holding tanks, plumbing re-circ, etc.)
Links
Jan 23rd
Tankless Water Heater Solutions Directory
Find tankless and hot water heater distributors. Showcasing the latest tankless hot water heater developments, news and trends to improve energy efficiency, lower costs and save the environment.
Rinnai – American Made Tankless Water Heaters.
Paloma — Tankless water heaters will serve your domestic hot water needs years to come with reliable performance
Navien — Navien tankless water heater official site
Bosch — Bosch official tankless water heater site
Takagi — Tankless water heaters by Takagi
Noritz — The Noritz tankless water heater website
Home Energy Audits — Ontario home energy audit service organization
Home Air Conditioners — Central Air Conditioners for your home that meet rebate requirements
Which Tankless System Is The Most Efficient?
Jan 8th
Tankless Efficiency Ratings
|
All current tankless units have different efficiency ratings. They can range anywhere from 60 to an amazing 
98 percent. This can of course come with some positives and Negatives. The highest rated efficiency of a tankless system is called the Navien which is 98% efficient. Since the unit uses the heat so effectively it can actually be vented with plastic pipe as the exhaust gases are at a very low temperatures. This unit is one of the first to utilize a condensing heat exchanger giving the unit its amazing efficiency rating.
It has been approved by CSA and thus can be used and sold in Canada and Ontario, which it has been for more than a year now. Before you settle on this unit there are some negatives of this hot water heater. This system has the highest failure rate of all other systems, motherboards are constantly failing causing no heat situations for customers. There has also been been reported a failure with a rubber gas hose off the valve which needs to be replaced. This in turn could possible remove the Ontario TSSA approval and the Canadian wide CSA stamp. 2009 should be an interesting year for Navien.
Currently the best tankless system is the Rinnai it doesn’t have the greatest efficiency rating but it still stands at 84%. If efficiency was a test and that was your mark you would be bringing home an A and that’s something I wish I received more often.
