I am watching the sun rise in beautiful Hannah, Utah. I spent the night with two other plumbers so that in the morning, we could have a full day installing a tankless water heater that another company messed up only five years ago. Because of this, I wanted to share why I like tankless water when it is so easy to make a mistake.
I am going to try to be as unbiased as possible in this. It’s no secret that I am a big fan of tankless water heaters. But what you may not know is that many property management companies and other plumbers, especially old-school ones, absolutely despise them.
So why the drastic split? And why might I recommend you spend two, three, or even four times as much on a tankless water heater over another tank style? I will cover EVERYTHING so you can make an absolute decision based on your lifestyle and worldview. I will cover both practical and emotional reasons behind it. You may be shocked which one sways you the most.
Connivence. Pros and Cons
Have you ever run out of hot water? And then ask yourself, do you find yourself hurrying in the shower to be considerate of others in your family? For MOST people, the answer is they don’t run out at all, or not often. But if you’re honest, after a ski trip, a family hike or camping trip, swimming at the lake or local pool. An unspoken rule is that adults shower first because they can be responsible for water usage. Teens, you get what’s left. And we are all going to hurry. You are guessing at how much hot water is left. But I am a plumber; I don’t have to guess! There are two standard-size water heaters, 40 or 50 gallons. You will get 80% of their capacity in one use. So, let’s size it to 50 gallons. A shower head is limited to 2.5 gallons per minute. You have 16 solid minutes of hot water running the shower on straight hot. With three people, the average household in Utah, they get a 5-minute shower. NOW! You don’t shower on a straight, hot day, right? Unless you’re a lava monster like my wife. You will mix it with cold based on how high your water heater is turned up. Let’s say it’s 75% hot water and 25% cold. Now you get 21 total minutes of showering. Maybe that’s enough, maybe not!
Let’s pivot to a scenario that I am much more familiar with because I don’t have teens; I have two small kids. When we get back from a trip, it’s not showers; it’s baths. Your bathtub will almost always completely drain its water capacity, and you need to wait an hour before you can take a shower.
There is a negative side to having unlimited hot water. You may never see your teens again. Sometimes, the water turning cold is the only reason they get out of the shower!
Suppose you’re anything like me after the first ski trip of the year or a long backpacking trip. I need some time. And in a hot shower without any time constraints. A tankless is a luxury that I can afford and enjoy! If you have ever shut the water off on your teenager because they will use up all the hot water. If you have ever had a baby with six blowouts in a day, if you are married to a lava monster like me, a tankless may make sense. A tank is perfect if you have a smaller family or enjoy just getting in and out and onto the next thing!
Water quality
As mentioned, a tankless water heater may cost up to four times as much as a tank style. Utah’s water quality contributes to this. I have tested it as high as 45 GPG, grains per gallon, in Herriman and bountiful, which, for the record, is really bad.
Now, again, this is the practical and emotional side of the story.
With a tankless, you need a softener or, at the very least, a water conditioner. Some people see this as a drawback. They don’t like the “slimy” feeling of showing with a softener. They don’t want to deal with salt; they don’t want to affect the taste of their water. This is like never eating ice cream because you don’t like the taste of the cone… it’s silly because there are easy ways around this!
That “slimy” feeling I have come to love. But if you hate it, we can add a bleeder for minimal cost and introduce 1-2 GPG or hardness back into your system. This will still protect your tankless and your fixtures. But I will also take away that feeling.
Suppose you don’t want to deal with salt. What if we put the salt barrel in your garage? That way, you won’t have to carry it anywhere. I did that on my home, and it’s my favorite plumbing improvement ever! But if that’s not enough, we can install a saltless water conditioning system that is cheaper than an average softener!
Taste changes. We can add a simple filter and completely fix that or step it up to an RO, and you will have great-tasting pure water anyway:)
But as a water nerd, I can tell you soft water is way better for you and your home. It is better for your skin and your children’s skin. Some studies and data show that bathing in soft water when young reduces the chance of developing eczema. It will dry out your hair less, keeping the coloring of your hair more vibrant. It will make the colors of your clothes more vibrant.
We all know the age-old adage: “A softener up to date keeps the service plumber away.” I can’t tell you how true that is. With a softener, your fixtures, appliances, and everything the water touches will not only last longer but also look newer longer! And it will save you hours of unnecessary cleaning.
So yes, it’s an added necessary expense. But I would invest in it whether you want a tankless or not.
Space
Tankless water heaters take up much less space, so we can typically fit a water heater and a softener in the area where you have a tank. For most people, however, you don’t care about the space in your utility room, so this is a minor factor. But for some, we have put a tankless in and added a box for a washing machine so they could have a mother-in-law’s apartment downstairs. With the average price of a square foot home in Utah at over $260, we could save you two whole feet! Over 500 dollars! I am joking, but two feet can make a big difference for some people.
Maintenance
This is hands down the most significant problem with a tankless water heater in most people’s minds. Manufacturers recommend flushing a tank water heater every year, but to be honest, you probably never have, and it hasn’t affected you.
A tankless water heater NEEDS to be flushed every year. Otherwise, you will have considerable problems in about five years. As we established in previous posts, we want them to last 15-25 years.
When you hear someone complain about their tankless water heater in a newly built home or a property management company saying they always have issues, 99% of the time, they skipped on a softener, never flushed it, or both.
From a tradesperson’s standpoint, your car needs an oil change; we all know and accept that. Your home is a much more significant investment and should get a once-over annually at a minimum.
You don’t need to call a plumber to flush your tankless, but our annual membership includes a water heater flush. You can get a kit for $100 on Amazon that you can use repeatedly and rinse yourself with white vinegar. If I install it for you, I will even wash it for free in the first year and show you how!
I can’t deny the convenience of no maintenance and forgetting about it. This one goes to the tank.
Flow
People who experienced the first-generation tankless and DIY people who didn’t size their unit correctly often bring up flow as an issue.
With a tankless, there is a FLOW restriction. It can only produce so much hot water at a time. Typically, in Utah, you will notice a drop in water pressure on your hot side if more than three showers run simultaneously.
Some blogs and reviews report they could only use 1 or 2 fixtures. But as you read on, you realize they had a unit sized for a completely different climate… The water in Arizona comes into your home at 70 degrees. It is warmed to 120, leaving a delta, or a difference of 50 degrees, that you need to heat the water. However, in Utah, your water enters at 20-40 degrees in the winter, so your tankless needs to heat it 80-100 degrees! That’s a big difference!
For this reason, I have had multiple customers worry that they will regret switching to a tankless tank. When sized correctly, however, you will always be okay. I have a mother-in-law’s apartment in my basement and have never seen a drop in pressure since putting in my tankless.
Cold water sandwich
Another common complaint about earlier models of tankless you may read about is cold-water sandwiches. This is when you are showering, someone else turns on the water, and you get a second or two of cold water before it goes hot again.
I haven’t experienced it, but it would be enough to want to tear my tankless right off the wall!
This unpleasant problem was widespread with early models of tankless water heaters, especially Noritz or Boshe. What would happen most of the time is that your water heater has different flame levels based on the rate of gallons per minute or how many fixtures in the house are used at one time. When it switched between flame levels, it often had a delay where it didn’t heat consistently. But these issues have entirely been solved with the newer tankless that we installed.
Cost
As I have said before, the cost of a tankless water heater may be up to four times as much as that of a typical water heater.
Installing a standard water heater will take 2-4 hours. For a tankless, you are looking at 8-16 person-hours to install correctly so I can give you that 5-10-year labor warranty. That is why you should hire a professional with extensive experience in these units. Here are a few factors that differ significantly from a conventional water heater.
Drainage
At least once a week, I am the second quote on a tankless water heater for a home with a cast iron floor drain. The first plumbers will not mention that to the customer or include a neutralizer in the bid. They may view it as “Job security.” Or they may need to learn it is required.
What is a neutralizer?
Like your furnace, when a tankless is heating, it produces condensate. This condensate is acidic and WILL stain concrete, kill plants, and eat through your metal floor drains!
You won’t hear about this much on YouTube; they don’t discuss it in plumbing school. But my whole career, I have been fixing what someone else replaced. And it will eat a hole at the bottom of your floor drain or, worse, the whole drain line under your home’s concrete.
Venting
Your vents must slope back towards the tankless, or your exhaust will make a bubbling sound after a few years of use. It also cannot be too close to an open window —this is very important!! When quoting this, we often tell the customer we need to cut a few holes that we can have someone patch. They think we are crazy because the last guy said he only needed one hole. While it’s true you only need one hole to get the vent out of the home. You will probably need a few to secure the pipe and verify you have the correct slope. Cutting holes sounds scary, but we have great people we trust to patch and paint, so you will never even know we were there!
We cannot use the same venting as your last water heater, which adds more work upfront. But once you get it done, replacing your tankless in 20 years will be much more affordable!
Gas pressure
An engineer planned your home’s gas with a regular water heater in mind. When we switch to a tankless, we will go from 38,000 BTU to 240,000 BTU! Many people will say. “Oh, as long as we have a 3/4 inch gas line, we are fine.” The truth is it’s more complicated than that. We need to look at your meter, the other gas appliances you have in your home, how much gas piping you have, what size, and what kind of piping to ensure you have a great experience with your tankless. Having an RFGA, gas-certified professional, is incredibly beneficial to ensure you have the correct gas and combustion for your tankless to last its entire life span.
Some more emotional arguments with logic
Prepper
Honestly, the tank style makes way more sense for someone with a prepper mentality. In an emergency with a tank, 50 gallons of usable water are stored conveniently in your home. This is true. Also, tankless need electricity to work. If the power goes out, we can get a battery backup that will do well for you. But on a tank, no electricity is needed. So, as long as the gas lines are functional, it will work! These factors are why I held off on getting tankless at the start of COVID-19, and I have some great points behind them! And I love Red Dawn as much as the next guy, so win the tank!
Go green!
We all know Utah has terrible air quality. Significantly, I grew up in Cache Valley. A traditional water heater has a pilot that is always burning. And as the unit cools down, the burner kicks on repeatedly! A tankless unit only lights when you turn on hot water, which is better for your carbon footprint and overall air quality. Because they are much more efficient, there are $600-$1000 in federal and local rebates for going tankless. There is also the argument that because you will save up to 34% on your gas consumption going tankless, you will save money there over time. However, with the low natural gas price in Utah, it is more of an emotional argument when you do the math. However, if you are on propane, the propane savings may make more sense!
Ultimately, to affect any environmental change, many individuals must make small changes so that I would give Tankless the win here!
Go green, or else…
In 2010, the DOE changed the standards of water heaters, making them more energy-efficient. In 2017, Utah required low-nox. There is a lot of speculation that the government first rebates, then they demand. They have already made tank-style water heaters more expensive and demanding. There is a bill proposed on a federal level that in 2029, we all switch to high-efficiency water heaters like tankless. And if I had to bet, it would pass. They did it with dishwashers, laundry machines, and all vehicles, and I think they will get it with water heaters as well.
Flooding
This is both logical and emotional. If your home is built right, your floor drain works, and your concrete slopes when your 50-gallon water heater springs a leak, most of it should be contained. I have been to many homes with severe leaks where one of these things isn’t right, and they have 50+ gallons of water in their basement, doing damage. With a tankless system, the slightest traces of water send an error code to protect the electrical, so you know about it before it gets out of hand.
For all these reasons, I like tankless. In short, it fits my life. I feel good about having it and like the relaxation and peace of mind it brings me!
Alternatives To A Gas Tankless
Electric Tankless
Garbage. They use a ridiculous amount of power and are not cost-effective if it’s not for a single bathroom with our incoming water temperature.
Heat Pumps
These are great things in hot climates, but they could be better in Utah. They take the hot air, put it into the water, and cool the air in your home, like a giant refrigerator. The problem in Utah is that the air in your utility closet is cold for half the year. Therefore, they don’t work effectively. Yes, there are tax breaks on them. But you will spend a fortune on electricity, which is not a good option.
Solar Water Heaters
I have only worked on 3 of these in Utah. My thoughts are… I am not impressed. I used these a lot in Arizona, but in Utah, I don’t think it is worth the price.
Call Rare Breed Plumbing if you are interested in learning more about tankless water heaters for your home!
