Water Heaters - American Tankless experience

Hello all,

I am thinking to purchase an electric tankless water heater for my beach house. We have problems with the local well water that causes tanks to deteriorate after 3 - 5 years.

I was looking into American Tankless. They make great claims about low flow sensing and accurate temperature control.

Does anyone have experience with these units? I will have a 400 amp capacity in my new home, so power is not a problem. And I plan to install a CSV (Cycle Stop Valve) on the pump discharge to hold a constant 50 psig regardless of flow rate.

What electric units have you had good experience with?

Thank you,

Bayboy

Me personally? None. The gas tankles i've installed work great..the electric never seem to work as intended...except the higher end models. This goes for all brands...and this is just my experience :). Most plumbers in my area hate electric tankless.

My recommendation is don't focus too much on manufacturer advertisement as of course they are biased. Focus on the warranty information provided. That is your key to the quality of the product. I know some provide in home warranty and will come work on it if your having issues at no cost to you.

As for your well issues..i know there are some lifetime warranty heaters out now that you may want to look into as well.

I won't say tankless isn't the way to go..hopefully someone here who has had some good luck with an electric tankless will post so even i can get some others feedback. I would love to find a tankless electric that performs well.

On the other side...if there is only a couple people using it....it should be ok. My experiences deal mostly with families in residential homes. The electric tankless can only usually keep up with enough hot water to have 2 things running at once which isn't usually efficient enough in my situations.

Again, i hope someone does have a good brand to recommend cause i haven't found one yet.

thanks CSG.

I thought about gas because I have heard more success stories about them, but I am tending to shy away because I also have heard some local residents complaining about the rise in LP gas prices by the local dealer - and this guy has a monopoly in this small town.

I have designed the service panel for 2 electric tankless units up to 120 amps each. This should be sufficient to allow me at least 7 gpm flow with good temperature control, IF I can find a reliable supplier. Incoming water temperature is 50-58 F, and I have an option to add pre-heat capability via my geothermal heat pump.

I don't know if this changes anything related to peoples recommendations.

thanks,

Check the rates, it is very rare when electricity costs less to operate than Propane. Usually two to three times the cost.

MA

What aspect of the water causes the tanks to die so early? Any chance of using solar for pre-heating?