Best Tankless water heater I can install

[MontanaChef]

Originally Posted by NH_Bulldog

It’s important to have reasonable expectations here; a tankless/on-demand water heater is not an instant water heater. There is still a wait to heat the water and for that hot water to travel to whatever fixture is calling for the hot water.

In a traditional tank water heater, the water is hot and being stored waiting for you to open a faucet. The hot water has to displace all the cold water in the line between the water heater and whatever fixture is calling for hot water. Depending on how hot and how long you need hot water, the water heater may or may not keep up with the demand.

A tankless water heater has no stored pre-heated water. When you open a faucet for hot water, the flow of water makes the burner activate, and water is heated and still has to displace all the cold water in the line before it reaches your faucet. For the most part, you “should” be able to use hot water nearly continuously and in theory not run out.

Either way, the wait time between opening the faucet and getting hot water is nearly identical, but some reports suggest it takes a few seconds longer for a demand water heater to produce and deliver hot water.

Unless you are installing individual electric demand water heaters at each fixture, you will never get anywhere close to “instant” hot water. A tankless/on-demand water heater is really only for people who like to take long hot showers.

As long as you recognize and understand what these units are and are not and what they can and cannot do, the choice is yours. Personally, I am not a fan of them.

I understand the system. We have a Tankless in our store. Works great. Just looking to put one in our rv. I shouldn’t of said “instant”. Thanks!

[MontanaChef]

Thanks for everyone’s input. I know the difference between the tankless vs tanked hot water systems. Just looking for those that have it and why they like their brand they choose. Did my research on most of the top 10 but looking to see if I missed something. Thanks again.

[4Buck]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

The IW60RL (recircualtion Loop) water heater is not available over the counter. It is only for OEM factory installations.

It is.. IMO the WORST on demand WH on the market. The failure rate and problem rate is quite high amongst the Alpine fifth wheel community that have this water heater installed.

Problems seen: issues with WH firing up and running reliably, cracked recirculation pumps, lack of available over the counter parts

The IW60 is.. from what I have seen much more robust.. Many Alpine owners have yanked out the RL model and installed the IW60 in its place...

Personally I think the Suburban SW12DEL is heads and tails above both the Subruban on demand and the Girard on demand WH units. Electric mode is what I run in most of the time..

Simple system to TS is I ever had a problem, parts readily available and we are never short on Hot water for the wife and I to take showers.

This is to bad about the RL model, we really like ours. When you turn on the recirculation loop the hot water comes out really quick. We have had ours for two years but sounds like we better get ready to replace it.

[Denialhkr]

I'd check out the Camplux rv water heater. They've got that cool vibration technology, which is important when you're constantly on the move. Plus, it ramps up the heat super fast. The only downside is it seems a bit finicky about water pressure – sometimes our showerhead changes the temperature a bit.

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by MontanaChef

After one year f us takes a shower we have to wait. When my wife does laundry we have to wait. My wife also has a inflatable bath tub that she has to use plug in water heaters to heat the water. Not safe. We love our hot water and my wife loves her long showers.

For these purposes you will be very happy with a tankless @MontanaChef.

My installation of the Suburban IW60 saved my RV (or my marriage). Although I can take a shower on three quarts of water the 6 gallon tank, even on electric and gas, was insufficient for a single shower for her and for repeat showers when we have our grandchildren on board. Mrs. boxcar loves her unlimited hot water and my Lab loves the exterior hot water showers! I was a hero on our October trip to Colorado. However I was thrown off the pedestal on our December trip to the same Colorado campsite at 7200' in Colorado.

I appreciate all the actual numbers you recorded @Mikendebbie - thank you! I would like to record the tap temperature for many ground water temperatures now, as I believe that my problem in December was the temperature of the water going into the IW60. We could not get a shower above 100°, which is fine for me but simply not enough for the wife. I will add, however, that I believe the well water that I was pumping from my fresh water tank was sitting at 32.1° - my input water line froze solid on that trip (-4° overnight) and I was using my winterization bypass valve to pump water out of gallon jugs.

My 295RLS Sprinter does not have tank heaters, though it will before our next Christmas trip to Colorado. And I'll have heat tape stretched along the main water line. I believe the tank heaters will get the holding tank temperature to 40° and I'll need to do some research to see if that is sufficient for output water temperature.

A few other things I will add that haven't been mentioned if you go tankless.

1. Add the Suburban remote control to your bathroom wall in reach of anyone in the shower. I used the Suburban 162292 on my IW60. We now set the temperature on the wall before getting in the shower. Then we turn on only the hot water knob and get a perfect shower. Wife's temp is 109° on the wall and mine is 106°. I can't say what the shower water temperature is yet because I forgot to bring my thermometer on this winter trip to Florida.

2. Remember to return the remote control to 130° so the temps are good for dishes.

2. You don't do a "navy style" shower with a tankless. There is a more significant cold water pocket than with a tank water heater.

3. I had to take water restrictors out of the bathroom and kitchen faucets to get sufficient water flow to keep the IW60 heating.

4. While installation was really simple, I wasn't able to get Suburban support because they state they only provide it through an RV tech.

5. I bought the IW60 for $525 from a well known chain with a 15% discount coupon.

6. I've been pleasantly surprised how little propane we use even when both of us take daily hot showers. I now use hot water to rinse the black tank, too, and we haven't used a full propane tank per month in Florida this year.

We are very happy with tankless in our RV. I've also replaced the tank hot water heaters in most of my houses with tankless, so we're quite used to them. We have 9 teenage grandchildren who, along with the adults, can take back to back showers.

[TXiceman]

I currently have the tankless and I am getting ready to yank it out and put in a regular tank type water heater. The tankless is not designed for minimal water showers.

Ken