Heating Water with a Tankless in Ontario

    Buying a Tankless in Ontario

    Ground Water Temperature Map
    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.
    Rinnai R-85 Flow Graph
    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.

    Author: John

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    2 Comments

    1. We can get them, they are not as efficient and do use 220V.

      There are some small systems that are 110V that sit under ever sink and provide 1-2 gallons of hot water.

    2. do u have electric tankless

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