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Tankless Hot Water Heaters, Efficient, Effective, Endless.
Posts tagged tank type
Why does everyone rent water heaters in Ontario?
Jan 22nd
No other province rents hot water tanks so why does everyone here in Ontario?
It is a strange province we live in. No one rents their furnace, air conditioner, fridge, stove, washer or dryer. So why do we rent water heaters?
Ontario is in a transitional phase right now as old tank type water heaters are being replaced with the new, technologically enhanced, tankless water heaters. A tankless is well over 90% efficient and heats water on demand, significantly reducing your energy consumption (and energy bills).
With this new transition it’s time for Ontario residents to start owning verses renting their water heater…. here’s why now is the right time to start owning.
- A tankless has a much longer lifespan than a regular tank, so you save money.
- Tankless systems typically cost more so the rental fees can be more than double
- Rental water heater companies don’t care about efficiency, why would they? You’re the one paying the bill.
- The Government is offering free rebates to offset some of the additional costs of a tankless.
- It will cost you significantly less to own than to it will to continue renting a water heater.
Tankless Math Breakdown – Renting a Tankless Vs Owning a Tankless
Rental Tankless
Monthly Rental Fee - $39.95 plus taxes
Lifespan of 20+ years – 39.95 x 12 x 20 = $9588 plus taxes to rent a tankless.
Owned Tankless
Purchase and Installation Cost – $2400 – $4000 (not including government rebates)
Lifespan of 20+ years – these systems have exceptionally long warranties so you’re likely to get an easy 20 or more years of reliable service.
Conclusion
None of the other appliances are rented in our homes what baffles us so much to assume that a water heater needs to be? Renting a regular water heater verses owning will cost homeowners more than double. It’s time to get out of these ridiculous 10 year contracts and get back to simply owning your water heater and saving money. Technology is revolutionizing water heating systems don’t get locked into a lengthy contract call or email today and see how cheap owning a tankless can be.
We offer free site inspections to provide you with an exact price and to ensure a tankless can be installed in your home.
Call Toll Free 1-855-OWN TANK (696-8265)
Or send us a quick message through the automated form below.
Pickering Tankless
Jan 11th
Thinking of getting a tankless? We offer installation and service throughout all of Pickering for both tankless and conventional tank type systems. If you rent your water heater it’s time to move to a systems that you own, and we can give you a great deal and stop the lifelong monthly payments. 
Pickering is a great city, it water is taken from Lake Ontario and this is conducive to a new tankless as it has a relatively low dissolved solids content. Pickering has water that reduces the amount of buildup on the inside of a tankless heat exchanger. A tankless has a lifespan of over 20 years.
Here is some quick math on owing a tankless vs purchasing one in Pickering
- Rental
- Tankless Rental – $39/month
- Tankless Lifespan – 20 years
- Total = $9,360
- Purchased
- Purchase Price – $3500 max
- Savings - $5860 or more
We offer tankless systems in Pickering installed for around $3000 plus or minus $500. On top of all that a tankless will save you money on your gas bill as it is over 90% efficient verses a regular tank that is at best 60%.
IF your interested in getting a tankless send us some info and we can get you a free quote
Energy Audit Program Coming To An End… Again
Jan 10th
The ecoEnergy program that gives homeowners access to thousands in grant money to upgrade and improve the efficiency of their homes is coming to an end.
This program is quite convoluted due to both the Provincial and Federal Governments flip flopping on both funding and support for the ecoEnergy retrofit. I guess when something is as successful as the ecoEnergy program it makes sense that our Government would work to dismantle it. 
Moving from a old tank type hot water system to a tankless will net you 315-375 dollars in rebate money depending on the efficiency of your new tankless. You can also add grants up, so if you change out your old furnace or insulate you walls to R-50, then add 750-1250 dollars to that 375 dollars you received for the tankless. It’s definitely a great opportunity for Canadians to take advantage of.
Having an energy audit on your home shows you the home owner intimate details regarding the walls, roof, equipment, insulation, and efficiency of the place you live and call home. It can provide very useful ways to not only save money but get you access to grants that help offset the cost of the upgrades. The ecoEnergy audit retrofit will once again be cancelled on March 31st 2012.
You can find out more on where do get an audit from http://homeecoenergyaudit.ca
If you are interested in the grants and the values that are available you can check them out here on this GRANT CHART
Periodic Maintenance of a Tankless
Oct 27th
There areonly a few things that need to be maintained on a tankless water heater. If these steps are preformed regularly you can expect your unit to last much longer (20 plus years) than a conventional tank type water heater.
First there is a inline screen filter that is installed to insure that incoming water is clean and free of debris before running through the heat exchanger. This little filter should be checked every so often, (dependent on water quality) and is a circular mesh screen. Incoming water needs to be shut off and then the screen can be cleaned.
Secondly a tankless needs to be flushed to remove calcium and scale build up in the heat exchanger. If your tankless was installed by a reputable company they will have included a pair of flush valves which make this process quite easy. It’s probably best this be done by your installer but here is a brief rundown of what occurs. Water and gas are shut off and the unit is drained. Then two hoses and a small pump are hooked up to the flush valves and fresh vinegar is pumped through the systems heat exchanger for roughly 30 minutes. This cleans out all the buildup and scale that severely reduces a water heaters efficiency.
Those are basically the two things that a tankless owner needs to perform to ensure maximum efficiency and a prolonged lifespan. Barrie through to Toronto and basically all of southern Ontario have significant concentrations of limestone and thus relatively hard water conditions. A conventional tank can’t be cleaned whereas a tankless can and hot water accelerates the rate of scale deposits.
Navien Tankless NR180 NR210 NR240
Oct 19th
With Navien Condensing Technology, you’re purchasing the most efficient home water heating system with “Ultra Condensing Efficiency”. Their systems offers substantial savings and produces less emmissions than a conventional water heater. Plus, the installation and venting processes are easy, cost effective, and Navien’s products are high in quality and performance.
The 3 primary Navien models
NR-180
NR-210
NR-240
These three are Natural gas systems, but you should note that they come in propane versions as well. In fact as propane burns hotter than natural gas the propane versions are a bit more efficient.
Navien tankless water heaters utilizes dual stainless steel heat exchangers, providing a longer life-expectancy and more resistance to erosion than copper heat exchangers. All tankless systems are designed to be cleaned and de-scaled, improving life span and durability.
Hot Water Flow Chart.
This chart shows the corrected values for hotwater production of each Navien water heater in relation to ground water temperature. Here in Ontario, Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton, and the surrounding cities we should assume a ground water temperature of 35F.
Intelligent Remote Control For the Navien Tankless
NR-10DU (Included with every Navien Tankless Water Heater)
. Temperature adjustment in 1¡ÆF increments between 98-120¡ÆF
. Touch activated backlight function
. Easy-to-Use button type control
. Built-in recirculation timer for water and energy savings
. Key-pad lock button prevents inadvertent temperature changes
. Advanced water heater diagnosis capability and error feedback
Endless Hot Water Supply
Navien’s (and all tankless systems) offer an unlimited supply of hot water to meet a home’s unending demand
for hot water. With body showeres becoming much more common place now, it is imperative that you install a tankless. These new shower systems can
run a conventional tank type water heater dry in very short period.
Navien Venting Benefits
The high effciency of Navien’s Condensing Tankless Water Heater results in lower exhaust
temperatures, allowing for the use of 3” PVC venting.
• PVC venting offers a significant cost savings when compared with other venting materials.
• PVC venting is lightweight and easily slides together, reducing installation time
and makes it easy to run long distances.
See the Full Navien Brochure
Lime Scale…. The Energy Thief
Nov 24th
From the smallest homes and business to the very largest, everyone 
invests a substantial amount of money into heating water. The problem is lime scale buildup on the surface of water heaters, which significantly reduces heat transfer. This lime scale reduces heat transfer, decreases fuel efficiency, and will ultimately lead to equipment failure.
Water naturally contains dissolved minerals such as calcium carbonate, lime, silica, iron, and phosphate to name a few. These trace elements are essential to human health, not so much for your water heater though. With heat the minerals are able to precipitate out and build up on the surfaces.
On day one of a tank type water heater you looking at your greatest efficiency, sometimes as high as 80%. This is reduced quickly as the lime and other particles cling together and bake themselves into a hard crust. This scale builds up on the walls and blocks the heat transfer proportionally as much. With the additional heat not being transferred into the water the steel becomes brittle and can crack quite easily. 
Solutions For Lime Scaling
For a tankless water heater it is essential that you have the system flushed once a year with a de scaling solution (vinegar). This maintains the tankless heat exchanger and ensure a consistent efficiency rate. As for your conventional tank water heater, flushing is more difficult but can be done. For the most part they are designed as disposable units that are simply just replaced if broken.
Dont Like Tankless? Or Cant Install One? You Can Still Have High Efficiency
Nov 11th
In a lot of instances a tankless is unable to be installed due to venting restrictions, or maybe your not interested in a tankless but still want greater efficiency…. does this mean you have to stick with your old style inefficient tank type water heater?
Nope, there is a solutions….. Envirosense.
GSW makes a conventional style tank type system that is 90% efficient.
The Envirosense Power Vent is a 50-gallon, 76,000 BTU gas water heater, equipped with a fully submerged, spiral-shaped condensing heat exchanger. This design provides much greater heat transfer surface than a standard straight flue tube, resulting in 90% thermal efficiency and higher hot water output than standard water heaters. With a 22” diameter, Envirosense Power Vent can be installed in less space than a 75-gallon unit and delivers greater recovery and lower operating costs. The Envirosense Power Vent is so advanced, it can deliver “endless hot water for showers” … a continuous flow of over 3 gallons per minute
If you are not keen on a tankless water heater you can still have unlimited hot water with this GSW high efficiency tank. This qualifies for Government Grants and Rebates
Burlington Tankless
Sep 14th
Burlington Tankless Water Heaters
A tankless water heater can provide your home with endless hot water, and save you energy. You wouldn’t leave your car running all night so that it was warm in the morning…. 
why do you do the same with your hot water tank
Burlington has good water for tankless heaters as it doesn’t have high dissolved mineral content so this cuts down on the amount of buildup in the heat exchanger. Although it is still important to periodically flush the tankless system to keep it in peak operation.
Burlington tankless water heater installation and service is one the main areas visited by technicians and sales REPS as the population seems to understand the value in a good system and deal. Burlington seems to be one of those cities that is embracing the tankless water heater and moving away from the conventional tank type system.
Don’t forget Burlington and the Province of Ontario are still offering grants and rebates to home owners who make the switch over to a tankless system. Best of all is that you still get the grant money even if you rent the tankless system.
Pipe Sweating
Jul 27th
Pipe sweating is a question that’s been asked numerous times and its an important one to deal with (albeit very tricky).
In all modern homes the basement floor and walls are all wrapped in a thick plastic barrier to prevent moisture from seeping into the home. Unfortunately we all don’t live in new homes and we have work with whats available. Moisture seeps into the basement through walls and floors causing a high humidity environment, any source of cold cause this water to condense. All tankless and tank type water heaters have a cold water line leading to the appliance. This supply line almost always “sweats” and can cause corrosion at a the tankless water heaters connection site.
Your best solution for Pipe sweating?
Wrap your pipes in a rubber or foam pipe insulation this will contain the cold temperatures and prevent sweating along that temperature gradient.
The next best solution is to deal with the issue at its source, this means waterproofing your basement floor and walls, fixing any water leaks that cause additional humidity levels. As a last resort you can look at running a dehumidifier in the basement to bring the moisture levels down even further.
Good Luck and protect your tankless with pipe insulation
