Gas tankless hot water heaters

[rp2813]

I'll confirm 3BW's claim that instantaneous water heaters are hardly a new thing in the U.S.

 

I had a collector friend (RIP) who was serious about his hobby.  He did his best to live an entirely Victorian lifestyle in an old farm house, with exceptions for things like indoor plumbing, a monitor top and a "grey ghost" Maytag.  He installed an ancient instantaneous gas water heater, quite the fancy looking exterior and of course on stylish legs. 

 

Washing dishes (by hand of course) at his house was extremely frustrating.  The water was either beyond scalding hot, or once the spigot was turned down, too cool.  It was nearly impossible to find a happy medium with the correct flow combination from hot and cold spigots that would maintain a tolerable temperature.

 

It sounds like today's versions aren't that much better.  I would have thought this particular issue had been resolved.

 

[circlew]

The washateria I patronize has two of these type water heaters; I can't remember what brand. I have noticed there that it takes a few minutes to get hot water in the restroom. Also, unless others are washing with hot water at the time, if hot is selected on a washer, the fill is mostly cold water.

When I was in there the other day, the owner was in the process of installing a large hot water storage tank. It has no burner or elements; he says there will be a thermostatically controled pump to circulate the water through the heaters. He says this should give quicker hot water. He also plans to connect it to solar panels he will attach to the building.

One reason I didn't select an electric tankless for my home is that I wouldn't have any hot water during a power outage. The wiring is being done with the future installation of a generator in mind, but to run such a water heater (plus other electrical items) would require a gen-set of 50-60 KW. One of that size would cost as much as a decent new car.

 

[passatdoc]

first tankless heaters I ever saw (Holland)

First tankless water heaters I ever saw were the wall-mounted, point of use gas-fired heaters in the house in which I lived as an exchange student in 1973 in Holland:

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Geldershofstraat+23,+Nijmegen-Noord,+Lent,+Nederland&layer=c&sll=51.864453,5.864153&cbp=13,299.76,,0,4.28&cbll=51.864339,5.864319&hl=en&sspn=0.006295,0.006295&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Geldershofstraat+23,+Nijmegen-Noord,+Lent,+Nijmegen,+Gelderland,+The+Netherlands&ll=51.864044,5.86686&spn=0,0.010804&z=17&panoid=RRded--ARF7gKsXK3sCi9A

 

(it's cool to post this, my host parents are long since deceased and the house was sold to someone else in the late 1990s.).

 

There was a heater in each of the two bathrooms, plus one in the kitchen. The garage had a cold water tap for a utility sink and the TL horizontal access washer. House was built in the early or mid 1960s.