Instead of constantly heating a tank of water, tankless water heaters run water through a series of tubing exposed to high powered burners in the “heat exchanger”. The water enters the heat exchanger cold and comes out perfectly hot, just as fast as the client can demand the water, giving tankless water heaters a nickname of “on demand” water heaters.

High quality tankless water heaters use multiple thermostats, flow control valves, and burner controls in the heat exchanger to ensure that water only leaves the water heater at full temperature. Tankless water heaters have more components than traditional tank heaters, but each component, including the heat exchanger (the heart of the unit) is replaceable. This is what makes tankless heaters last longer than traditional water heaters.

Tankless heaters generally cost more upfront than older tank-style water heaters. The tankless units themselves cost more because they are packed with game-changing technology that offer great cost savings over time. The labor to install a tankless is greater than that of replacing a tank heater because you must “reconfigure” the venting, waterlines, gas line, and condensate drain, rather than simply “reconnecting” to those lines to replace the tank with another tank.

A tankless water heater costs more upfront than a tank water heater, but a tankless water heater will save money in two ways:

1. Life expectancy of the tankless heater, and

2. Yearly operating cost

The life expectancy of a traditional tank heater is 8 to 12 years if serviced regularly. The life expectancy of a tankless heater is upwards of 20 years if tankless heater maintenance is performed consistently! That means you would have to replace a tank heater twice for every tankless installed. If a tankless were to cost twice that of a tank heater, you make up that upfront cost in life expectancy alone. This means that the yearly operating savings is going straight back into your bank account.

An electric water heater can burn upwards of $500 per year, constantly heating that tank of water in the most inefficient way possible. Tankless water heaters only use hot water when a hot water faucet is turned on, meaning that they are powered down, consuming zero energy most of the time. This leads to extreme energy efficiency. Tankless heaters can consume under $200 per year, depending on the size and model required for your home. In this scenario, you would save $300 per year in heating water alone.

Tankless heaters cost more upfront, but the savings over time can easily amount to several thousands of dollars over their 20-year life expectancy.

Here is the process for installing a tankless water heater:

1. Turn off the water, gas, and power to the old heater

2. Drain down the existing water heater and disconnect the waterlines, gas, electric, venting, and all other connections to the heater.

3. Remove the old heater and mount the mounting bracket of the new tankless heater to the wall.

4. Install the tankless isolation kit and hang the beautiful new tankless water heater to on the mounting bracket.

5. Reconfigure the waterlines and connect to the new tankless heater.

6. Reconfigure the gas line and upsize if necessary to handle the more powerful burners in the tankless heater.

7. Reconfigure the intake and exhaust venting and connect to the unit, running the venting to the exterior of the building, if the building does not have the air volume to intake from inside.

8. Configure the condensate drain to remove the condensation created by all ultra-efficient water heaters.

9. Call customer support to register the new tankless heater and make sure all motherboard settings are correct for the tankless installation

10. Test, inspect, and present the tankless heater to the happy clients who get to enjoy endless hot water in perpetuity.

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Tankless water heaters are all rated by the gallons per minute (GPM) they can produce. Each plumbing fixture in your home has a GPM rating for the hot water that it can use. Tankless manufacturers have formulas for adding up each fixture in the home to determine how big of a tankless water hear unit you need. Many of the complaints about tankless water heaters actually come from homeowners whose previous plumber undersized their tankless water heater to cut costs. At Tennessee Standard, our tankless water heater experts can size the perfect unit for your home so that you can have all your showers operating at the same time, and never run out of water.

Tankless water heaters are typically twice as efficient as their tank-style counterparts. If a tank heater is consuming $400 of energy per year, a tankless can usually get that down to $200 for the same amount of hot water consumed. The tankless heater also saves a chunk of money in the middle of its 20-year lifespan because all the tank heaters have to be replaced around year 10, but those tankless water heaters can last 20 years if maintained properly.