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Tankless Hot Water Heaters, Efficient, Effective, Endless.
Posts tagged tank water
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.
Tankless Warranty Facts
Oct 4th
Tankless systems all seem to have different warranties and information regarding their heat exchangers, parts, and labour on installation. Here is a small break down of what you as a home owner can expect. 
Bosch – 12 year warranty on tankless heat exchanger and 2 years on Parts.
Navian – 15 year warranty on tankless heat exchanger and 5 years on Parts
Noritz - 10 year warranty on tankless heat exchanger and 5 years on Prats.
Rinnai – 12 year warranty on tankless heat exchanger and 5 on Parts, but also comes with 1 year on labour.
Takagi - 10 year warranty on tankless heat exchanger, 5 years on Parts, and 1 year on labour.
It pays to do your research as you can see there is a bit of a difference between the different brands and the warranties that they offer. These tankless systems are designed to last for a number of years, many years longer than your conventional tank water heater.
Also know that the company you hire to do the installation more often than not (if they are reputable) will add additional warranty on to your unit. Make sure to get a few quotes and make the warranty a priority when negotiating the price.
End of Government Grants for Tankless
Apr 4th
Grants End
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In a surprise announcement on Thursday April 1 2010, the Federal government suspended the Ecoenergy retrofit program. This program aided homeowners in upgrading their existing HVAC equipment to more energy efficient models, thus reducing greenhouse gases that homes emitted substantially. The program was axed due to its popularity, more than 3 times more Canadians participated than the Government had anticipated. Typical government fashion, lets end anything that is actually working and making a change. This puts more than 2000 energy auditors and countless other support staff out of jobs, and that’s only in Ontario.
Can I Still Get An Audit?
Unfortunately, you can not get an audit anymore. There are no more grants available for tankless water heaters from Federal or Provincial governments.
- The Ontario provincial government was matching all grants, this has also ended.
- This isnt the end, there will be incentives from companies and manufactures to try and maintain the low entry cost for a tankless water heater.
- Check back here as we will be following the situation and posting any updates.
I Have Had My D-Audit, Will I Not Get My Grants?
- If you have had your D-Audit but nit your final E-Audit then you are lucky. The Government will still honour all rebates and upgrades that you do. You have until April 1 2011 to perform any upgrades and have your final E-Audit. I would recommend that you look into upgrading as much as you can over the next year, you can get $1500 back on a new furnace and $750 on a tankless water heater, and even more on roof and wall insulation. Your in a good situation, I would definitely take advantage of it.
Is a Tankless Water Heater Even Worth It Now?
- Even though you are not able to get the grants for a tankless water heater the cost to benefit is still greater than having and maintaining you conventional tank water heater.
- Natural Gas and Electricity prices are only on the rise, any system that can cut their use by over 40% will net you savings.
- If you need a loan to purchase a tankless rates are still exceptionally low
- Our rental rates haven’t changed, you can still rent a tankless for $39.95 a month
Give us a call or send us a quick email and we will call you, quotes and information are always free.
Rinnai Tankless
Jan 12th
Rinnai Tankless
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If you’re searching for an endless supply of hot water for your home or business, Rinnai tankless water heaters offer you hot water on demand, 
so you are not stuck with a fixed and pre-heated supply. You can enjoy hot water when you want it and for as long as you want it, so go ahead and do the dishes, run the washing machine and take a long and luxurious bath at the same time. No more worrying about running out of hot water with a Rinnai tankless water heater.
As a Rinnai tankless owner you will enjoy up to 40% energy savings. These units are highly efficient and only heat the water when it is needed. When the demand ceases, the unit shuts down and uses zero energy-a revolutionary advantage over the big and bulky inefficient conventional tanks heaters.
Purchasing a Rinnai tankless water heater, gets you will a reliable and durable copper heat exchanger with a typical life span of 20 or more years (that is twice as long as the old tank water heater’s life span). In addition, the traditional tank water heat accumulates a buildup of rust and sediments that collect in the tank-where the water you drink and bathe is stored. With the Rinnai tankless heaters, no water is stored, so you only get fresh and clean hot water because the water is heated as it passes through the unit.
Being about the size of a small suitcase, the Rinnai tankless unit can be installed on virtually any wall on the inside or outside of your home. Rinnai offers you a line of controllers that makes it very easy to set the hot water temperatures for multiple locations in your house.
(update)
Rinnai Condensing Tankless
Rinnai has a condensing unit out in the market now. This tankless has an efficiency of around 95% and utilizes two heat exchangers to attain the high efficiency rating. Rinnai has maintained the single exhaust vent or concentric piping. This unit will get you the full $375 in available grant money from the Ontario Government. If you want to get a free quote for this Rinnai tankless Contact us Here
You can also read more on the Rinnai condensing tankless here.
How Loud Is A Tankless Water Heater
Jul 7th
Tankless Sounds
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We have had a number of inquiries about how loud a tankless water heater is, how it compares to conventional water heaters and what appliance would it be on par with. 
First, tankless water heaters have basically a blower motor and a burner, nothing else would really make any noise. A power vented conventional tank water heater would have exactly the same components. We asked a few of our customers how they felt the noise level was and they all said that they didn’t notice a difference.
As mentioned above if your old tank was power vented its very unlikely that a tankless is any louder than the system 
you had. If it was not power vented than the tankless would be a bit more noticeable in terms of volume.
I would say in my opinion that a tankless would maybe be about as loud as a computer fan or maybe an electric can opener. Somewhere along that lines.
Find out even more with a FREE IN HOME CONSULTATION.
GE Hybrid Electric Water Heater
May 11th
GE Hybrid Electric Water Heater
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Heating water for showers, laundry, dishwashers and other household needs can account for up to 25 percent of a home’s total energy cost. General Electric hopes that they figured out a way to persuade
homeowners to upgrade from a conventional electric storage-tank water heater to its new heat-pump water heater, expected out in the fourth quarter of 2009. A heat-pump water heater is quite common in Japan, but GE’s 50-gallon Hybrid Electric Water Heater represents the only U.S. version from a major manufacturer. This is an electric conventional style tank that holds between 40 and 60 gallons.
This heat-pump technology being used works be allowing heat to transfer from the air to the water stored in the insulated tank. (The conventional style tank will also retain some traditional electrical heating elements, which will kick in when needed.) GE claims this new water heater will use 2,300 kilowatt hours annually, about half that of a standard electric water heater. Those savings could help defray its cost, which at $1,200 to $1,500 American is higher than purchasing a conventional tank.
Realistically if you have gas or propane service at your home it would be much more efficient and cost effective to go with the new tankless water heaters that are available. Additionally since the unit is absorbing heat from the surrounding air it has to give off cool air which in Toronto and surrounding area means that your furnace will have to then work to heat that new cool air.
This may be an interesting product for any cottages or homes with electrical service only.
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
