Tankless Water Heater Update

Our new tankless water heater is now installed and fully operational, meaning the oil furnace we have is now strictly backup heat–the less we use it, the more we save. This in turn makes me start wondering just how much money we’ll be shelling out each year to have backup heat now and then. It could be that it ends up being more worth our while to convert that chimney to a pellet stove, or another wood stove. I mean, if we still are paying $50 or $100 a month just for the option of having baseboard heat a few nights a year . . . then that doesn’t sound like too wise a financial decision. Then again, without some option for heating the house while we’re gone, it becomes difficult to go on any vacations in the winter, seeing as how frozen, burst water pipes and I don’t get along too well.

In any case, things to ponder . . .

So what do we think of our tankless water heater so far? Love it. It lives in our bathroom, right behind our shower. It provides wonderfully hot water, and because it’s so much closer to where we use the hot water, the heat comes much more quickly. (Except in the kitchen, where apparently the water decides to go for a tour under our living room before moseying into the faucet. We might have to switch that this summer.) It truly does put out endless hot water, although we have yet to put it through its paces–seeing just how many things we can run at the same time and not lose pressure. We’d been concerned it might be too noisy for our bathroom, but such is not the case. Plus, it’s only on when you’re using hot water, so . . . you don’t mind what little noise is there.

So it’s tiny, quiet, efficient, and I didn’t have to do the installing myself. (Of course, I paid for that luxury–but we’re getting $$$ back from Uncle Sam because of that fancy tax credit that goes for the next week or two, so it evens out.) I’ll update more if my opinion of the thing changes, but for now, consider me a happy customer. (Just need to put in an electrical outlet by the thing, since the closest plug is like 10 feet away. But that’s par for the course, in an old farm house.) Questions? I’m happy to answer them.