Tankless Hot Water Heaters, Efficient, Effective, Endless.
Posts tagged water heating
Microwave Tankless Water Heaters….
May 11th
Microwave Tankless
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Giant microwaves to heat water instantly? Is this real? And can it actually work?
A microwave (like in a microwave oven) is generated by a magnetron at a frequency of 2.45 gigahertz, this is the 
exact frequency that targets water molecules and gets them vibrating faster and faster, thus heating up.
The principal behind a microwave tankless water heater is basically the same as your microwave oven at home just on a larger scale. Cold water will simply pass through the unit where it will be bombarded by microwaves actively exciting the molecules to the required temperature. The warm or hot water will then pass through the pluming system to the source of demand.
Effectively this is making hot water produced by electricity actually a reality. There are electric tankless water heaters, sure, but they require massive amounts of power and don’t reliably produce enough water to supply a modern home. Wanderport, a manufacturer of these systems is claiming upwards of 6-7 gallons per minute which is directly on par with conventional tankless systems.
What’s potentially so great about these systems?
First off there is no venting needed, no holes in the walls, no venting proximity restrictions; these are huge barriers that gas or propane tankless systems face. On that same note, the conventional tankless systems sometimes require home owners to upgrade supply lines as units can consume upwards of 199,000 Btu’s.
Secondly a microwave unit has an efficiency of 99% and emits no pollution. The unit also doesn’t degrade over time as a conventional tankless does with calcium deposits and buildups in the various heat exchangers that they need.
So what’s the chances of you getting a microwave water heater in your home in the near future?
According to Wanderport, quite realistic. In fact they have a product on the verge of being released. Its already won an advanced technology award from the
Toronto Construction Association.
Check out the future of water heating here.
First Rinnai Condensing Tankless
Oct 14th
Rinnai Condensing
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Rinnai’s condensing water heating technology offers all of the lifestyle benefits of traditional tankless water heaters which includes continuous hot water and the ability to run multiple hot water appliances at the same time coupled with even greater energy savings. Rinnai’s unique condensing design incorporates two innovative heat exchangers to achieve optimum water heating value from every cubic foot of natural gas or propane, and the units are ENERGY STAR qualified. The condensing process delivers up to 95 percent thermal efficiency, which translates to significant energy savings when compared to traditional gas tank water heaters. Available in four models, the condensing tankless water heaters are designed to meet the needs of mid to large sized homes and can be banked for even greater capacity. Like all Rinnai tankless water heaters, the condensing tankless water heaters contain commercial grade heat exchangers, making them an ideal choice for both residential and commercial applications.
In addition to the units’ lifestyle and energy saving benefits, the Rinnai condensing tankless water heaters utilize a unique concentric venting system that is specifically designed for gas appliance venting. This results in an overall safer and easier to install product. The concentric venting design is a safer option for consumers due to the use of a polypropylene inner pipe, which is designed to withstand varying flue temperature conditions that may be experienced over the life of a product. Also, since Rinnai’s concentric venting system uses just one pipe that is fit and locked into place without glues or solvents with expandable gasket seals at pipe joints, the risk of gaps is virtually eliminated, further contributing to the safety of the system; plus, installers appreciate the simplified, quicker installation afforded by the single pipe.
Find out more on the Rinnai condensing takless you can give our office a call or fill out the quick form and we will have some one call you back.
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.
Get Some Government Grant Money
Mar 25th
Tankless Government Grants
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Currently the Ontario and Canadian government are giving rebates to households in Ontario that upgrade 
their conventional water heaters to either a state or a tankless water heater (I realize that state tanks have not really been explained so I will make a point to do a synopsis on them this week). The provincial (Ontario) will give 250$ for any tankless water heater that is installed, the federal government will match that offer which totals the rebate to 500$. This is a good chunk off the purchase and installation of a tankless water heater. State tanks are eligible for 300$ from the federal government and another 300$ from the Ontario government totaling 600$.
Additionally if you live in the Enbridge territory they are offering 300$ off your gas bill for any new tankless 
water heater installation in your home. Enbridge’s territory consist of most of southern Ontario. Their service territory includes these cities referenced below and a number of others but it would be too long to list:
- Barrie
- Bolton
- Brampton
- Caledon
- Metro Toronto
- Mississauga
- Newmarket
- Richmond Hill
- Whitby
Ontario has a unique market where a significant portion of hot water tanks are rented. As the market for tankless hot water tanks begins to penetrate households there has become a 
strong demand for rental units for these systems as well. If you decide that renting is a better idea than outright purchasing you are still entitled to the rebates that are offered from both the government and from Enbridge.
There is a small catch though; to prove that you have upgraded you water heating system the Ontario government requires that a homeowner get an energy audit. This is a thorough evaluation of your home and its overall efficiency. Once the first audit is completed, you, the homeowner are sent the results of your audit (SAMPLE REPORT). Now that this is completed you have 18 months to make any renovations, or get your tankless hot water tank installed. After the renovations have been completed you need to get a second audit which will validate that all upgrades have been completed and grant cheques will be sent. Looking for an audit? we can put you in touch with a certified eco energy evaluation company. FIND OUT MORE
This is a bit of a complicated process but if you are looking to upgrade even a few things there are rebates from the Ontario government for almost anything that will make your home more energy efficient.
Fill out a quick form to get a price for a tankless water heater for your home FREE QUOTE
Environmental Water Heater
Mar 19th
Environmental Tankless
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- If you decide to Go tankless you can expect savings of up to 30-50% on your water heating costs.
– For every dollar of gas spent on heating water with a tank, 30 to 50 cents goes straight out the chimney. Tankless units are so efficient they ultimately pay for themselves through the energy savings they generate each month.
- Because water is heated on demand with a tankless water heater, you will never run out of hot water and the water temperature will always remains constant. You can take a shower, run the dish washer and use a tap at the same time with no interruption of water pressure or temperature. One of the best improvements is that family members can take showers one after another and you will never run out of hot water.
- Tankless systems last twice as long as typical conventional take type storage systems – about 20 years. And, unlike typical water storage tanks, tankless water heaters never rust, accumulate sediment, leak or flood your basement. Additionally, they are much safer because there is no active pilot light.
- Tankless water heaters reduce nitrous oxide (major smog producing gas) emissions by up to 80%. When you switch to a tankless water heater, you eliminate up to 1,000 pounds of polluting carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere every year!
Renting a Tankless Water Heater
Mar 9th
Renting a Tankless Water Heater
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For a lot of people in Ontario renting your water heater is something you have always done, the charge is roughly between 10$ and 20$ a month. Companies that provide this service (for the most part) 
put in low end tanks so that their return on investment is only a few years. The problem is that low end tanks are energy hogs and consume copious amount of power. The company you rent it off of doesn’t care about efficiency as they are not paying the bills, thus the problem.
Renting a Tankless Water heater is going to be more expensive on a monthly basis but the savings it 
produces more than outweigh the additional cost. Remember a Tankless water heater is the top of the line water heating system, if it’s a Navien (or Navian which is often spelled incorrectly) you will be getting 98% efficiency. A Rinnai will produce great savings with lots of hot water and very reliable service. These units are the best there is for residential hot water demands.
The rental fees are almost identical from all companies that are offering rental tankless systems in Ontario and the greater Toronto area. On average you will be looking at between 32$ and 40$ per month for the rental water heater. You will also be getting the peace of mind that if anything goes wrong the unit will be replace or fixed.
The Tankless Hot Water Guide rents tankless water heaters if you are interested in renting a tankless system please fill out the form below and we will have a representative contact you.
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.
Navien Tankless Water Tank
Feb 4th
Navien Tankless Water Tank
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Firstly let’s get this straight; Navien is a brand of tankless hot water heater not Navian. I have seen this 
spelled wrong many times, Navian (I googled it) is nothing, definitely not a tankless water heater.
Navien has 6 residential models (CR-180, CR-210, CR-240, CR-180A, CR-210A, CR-240A) and then 3 commercial units (CC-180, CC-210, CC-240). These tankless water heaters are all relatively similarly designed but as you go up in model number you increase the amount of hot water the tankless unit can provide. Here is a quick list of each units performance.
- CR-180 and 180A are able to provide roughly 3.8 gallons per minute with a 77 degree F rise.
- CR-210 and 210A are able to provide roughly 4.5 gallons per minute with a 77 degree F rise
- CR-240 and 240A are able to provide roughly 5 gallons per minute with a 77 degree F rise
We should definitely look at the efficiency of the Navien tankless water heater which is currently the only condensing unit on the market. This extra step gives Navien the efficiency title, currently rated at 98%, therefore 98 cents of every dollar spent on heating your water is actually turned into hot water. This is an amazing number as most tankless water heaters are 10% to 15% less efficient. Of course being the first on the block has its issues, the Navien tankless water heater is facing some problems from rubber hoses becoming blocked. This has been reported numerous time in several forums around the internet.
The good thing is that most of the other Tankless water heater manufactures are working on their own form of tankless condensing units. This should give the consumer a good choice in high efficiency water heating.
CR-180, CR-180A…… Specifications Sheet
CR-210, CR-210A…… Specifications Sheet
CR-240, CR-240A…….Specifications Sheet
UPDATE
This write up was done in February of 2009 so its been over a year now and there are a number of alternate condensing tankless water heaters available now. Navien was the first on the block and realistically you cant beat the price of the unit, even today its still lower than all condensing tankless units. Sure there has been some issues regarding the system but thats to be expected from a new technology (we will be authoring a new post on all these problems and their fix, check back soon).
Navien problems and the Fix – Click here to read
If your interested in a Navien tankless water heater fill out the form below and we will contact you, there’s no obligation and at the very least you will be more informed on whether a tankless is right for you or not.
Greatest Tankless Penetration
Jan 9th
Most Popular Areas
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2008 was a great year with many people switching over to tankless systems, it sure has keep us busy around here. Going over some of the results have yielded some surprising stats.
Most Popular Brand
Rinnai
This was not that surprising to us as we had a hard time maintain an adequate amount of stock for customer installations. Hands down the Rinnai tankless is the best unit out there.
Navian
This units efficiency rating was through the roof and thus made it an easy choice for a lot of consumers, we have stopped selling it due to system flaws. 2009 should be a much better year for the Navien.
Location
Toronto Core
This location has one of the highest densities of homes and so it is to be expected that it had the greatest density of tankless installs.
Mississauga
We didn’t expect this but Mississauga came in second with numerous installs of tankless systems.
Brampton
Brampton came in third for the city with the most tankless installs. They also had the highest penetration of Rinnai’s verses other brands, 94 percent were installed Rinnai’s. That topped all the other cities by a slight margin.
Oakville
There is really nothing too exciting about Oakville but they achieved the fourth highest number of tankless installs.
Markham
This city has achieved a fifth place ranking on total tankless installations but they also have the highest number of rented tankless systems.
Burlington
Not the greatest claim to fame but Burlington had the highest percentage of Navian’s installed, and the city with the sixth greatest tankless installations
Other
We installed tankless systems in many other location, nearly 50% were installed outside the six cities listed above. Here is a list of 9 more make this a list of 15 top tankless installs per city in Ontario.
- Hamilton
- Etobicoke
- Richmond Hill
- Scarborough
- Vaughan
- Kitchener
- Guelph
- Newmarket
- Whitby
I will try to publish some more interesting facts such as
- Average Tankless Cost
- Average Venting Cost
- Type of Home system installed in
- Average Home Age
- Average Home size
Find Out More
And as always if you are interested in a tankless water heating system follow the link below or click the “get a quote” at the top of the page.
