New water boiler

[thomasortega]

Finally last night I installed my new tankless water boiler, after two weeks waiting.
I still don't know why I wanted it, but now it's there.

As I was tired, I just installed a hose to fill the Affinity but, when I have some free time (maybe in two or three centuries) I'll install a pipe to fill the other 7 washers.

The heater works great! I have to set it to minimum otherwise it'll cook my clothes.

Just wanted to share this happy moment with you.

 

[oldhouseman]

Congratulations

Thomas!

I put in a tankless water heater two years ago and I saved more than enough money to pay for the cost of it the first year in service.

I hope you find this as energy saving as I did. My gas bill dropped 80%. I would never go back to a conventional tank.

When you have some free summer time come visit me in Georgia during July and find out what a humid summer is all about!!!

My partner speaks your native language and always wanted to move to Brazil. He would if he were 21 again but he is over 50 now and wonders about it.

Thanks for sharing the information and pic. I'm glad you made the change.

Greg/oldhouseman

 

[oldhouseman]

Oh, I see

your heat/humid problems are the reverse of our in the southern part of north America.

I wonder how some of my ancestors delt with that after they moved there in 1865 after our civil war. Over 20 thousand Americans from the south moved to Brazil after the war to escape yankee domination of America.

I bet you get great savings since you set the machine to the lowest setting. Please let us know about the utility bill the next few months.

My machine was set for next to the highest temp. And I still had great savings.

From all you have posted about Brazil it makes me wonder if we should move there!!!!

Greg/oldhouseman

 

[thomasortega]

Hi Greg!

Well... actually I think there won't be any difference in my bills because I NEVER use hot water.
Now I'll start to use hot water sometimes, but just because I have the heater. I just bought it because it's cute.
As the "cold" water is very hot sometimes, the washer fills with almost boiling water, even if I set it to minimum gas flow and maximum water flow.

My washer has an internal heater too, but I never use it. (maybe I used it once or twice to try only)

Here in my building the "cold" water has to be chilled during the day on summers or they come out of the faucet hot enough to make tea.

Maybe in 2009 I'll spend some days in the USA to meet my new friends from AW. You and your partner are also welcome to visit Brazil and if you visit my city, please let me know so I'll prepare the guest room... I think you should also consider moving to here. My country is fabulous, specially our food and our people. Our life quality is fantastic.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Hi Thomas.
Nice toy!

PLEASE tell me that heater is vented, or installed outdoors.

 

[thomasortega]

Steve
I'm crazy, but not enough to kill myself with the fumes. LOL

I didn't install a vent duct, but there's a huge window always open a few inches beside it. It stays active for about 2 minutes only, which is the time I need to bleed the cold water from the pipes and my affinity takes to fill considering my water pressure. It also doesn't have a pilot.
Heaters with pilot flame are forbidden in Brazil since late 80's. this model uses two batteries to produce a spark and has many safety devices, including a CO alarm that shuts it off if the CO level is too high.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Quidate mucho.

~It stays active for about 2 minutes only.

Life changes and ends in only one minute just as it only takes two tablespoons of water (30ml) to drown.............

BE CAREFUL.

"But my grandmother had unvented heaters for 30 years".
She was lucky and they STILL may have contributed to ill-health. There are FAR safer and better options. Why ingest/breathe poisions when avoidable?

Is the propane bottle in the house or ouside? Was the propane already exisitng for your stove/cooker/oven/BBQ?

 

[iheartmaytag]

I NEVER use hot water.

BRRRR--I hate cold showers.

When It comes time to replace my water tank, oldhouseman has convinced me. I am going to install a tankless. I am just worried about an outside install with our cold winters. I will more than likely have to have a powervented version in the basement.

My High Efficiency furnace has a power vent, it seems to do ok. The CO detector hasn't gone off anyway.

 

[thomasortega]

hehehe.
Please don´t worry.
I know gas appliances can be really dangerous and I always care about my safety and health.

If you see my installation, you'll agree with me.
less than 10 inches to the left there´s a huge window that I always open before starting the heater.
on the right side, there´s a balcony. It can be considered "outdoors"
I live on the 6th floor so it´s always windy.

My building has a 5 ton gas tank on the ground floor and gas pipes to all apartments. I´ve installed a T connector and a new pressure regulator valve, since the heater and the stove use different pressures.
The gas connections and regulators are built in the wall, and there´s a service door, just like a fuse panel. It´s next to the affinity washer (right side).

There are also a gas alarm and a CO alarm in my building that shuts off the main gas pipe on the ground floor when they activate. If it fails to detect the situation, there´s a panic pull station in the kitchen.

My bbq is charcoal/wood, everything in my kitchen is gas, except a portable induction cooktop.

As you´ll see by the picture I took last night, the heater is installed above the washing sink, next to the affinity pair.
There is the huge window (actually 4 windows side by side) and you can see part of my bbq.
Do you remember my pool´s photo? there you can see the bbq and the balcony.

 

[rayjay]

Tankless Water Heater

Greg, I am interested in a tankless water heater when my current water heater goes. I am tired of replacing them. I buy very good water heaters, but they do not seem to last. One went in 3 years, the other 6 years. I have mechanically softened water, so I do not know what the problem is.

The question I have is how fast does the hot water come out of the faucet after it is turned on? How is the unit sized? Number of people in house, or how many faucets you have?

Thanks for you help.

Ray

 

[dalangdon]

We have a Bosch Aquastar, and have been very pleased with it. It gives us enough hot water for two showers at one time (we've tried it - it works).

Ours is natural gas. They have electric versions, but make sure to check with your local utility before you install it, as they can cause brownouts if your neighborhood's transformer isn't prepared for it. Depending on how your utility bills for consumption, it might also subject you to a demand charge.

 

[thomasortega]

I hate cold showers too.

I have an electric heater for the bathrooms, plus electric shower heads as a backup.
I just need to use it on winters (less than a month/year).

All the other months the water is heated by the sun.
But we also don't need those solar heaters.

During our summers, instead of heating the water to the "hot" pipes, There's a chiller on the fop floor (kind of a mix of a giant tankless heater, a giant dishwasher and a giant air conditioner) to cool down the water to the cold pipes.
Here´s a chiller sample.. almost the same as I have in my building.

 

[thomasortega]

There are many tankless options.
The best brand in Brazil is Komeco. (and I think they´re made in Japan). We also have Bosch. They are excellent (same as Komeco) but 3x more expensive.

My model is the smallest one (8 litres/minute) but there are options to up to 45 litres/minute.

It takes only two seconds to start, after you open the faucet and less than 3 seconds to water starts to come our of it heated.

So, it will take aprox. 5 seconds more than your usual heater.

The best thing about tankless.... you can leave the hot water faucet open forever and you´ll never be out of hot water.

 

[oldhouseman]

I put a tankless water

heater in my house. Love it. Very cheap utilities and I never run out of hot water. I would never go back to a tank system.

I was not real pleased where the plumber placed the unit but he was trying to balance the distance between the side of the house the kitchen is on and the other side where the bathrooms are. His concern was how many seconds it took for the hot water to reach each room. At least I can do some creative landscaping to hide it. Because it is a gas model the local utulity required it to be mounted outside. In summer my gas bill rarely goes over 15 dollars.

 

[iheartmaytag]

Oldhouseman,
I may have asked this before, if I did forgive my Alzheimer's.
How cold does it get in your area in the winter? Do you have a freezing problem with the heater outside?

 

[rayjay]

Tankless Water Heater

Greg, I see that you have it outside. Do you get freezing temps in your area? I am in NJ, where it does get quite cold. So I would have to have mine inside the house, and vented throught the wall or chimney, (which ever is recommended by the manufacturer. In our area there are a lot of makes. One is Rheem. Luckily, the kitchen would be right over the unit, (as is now my water heater), and the bathrooms are another floor above , but all in the same area of the house. I am just tired of replacing water heaters. I buy top of the line ones, A.O. Smith, State. Now I have a Rheem.

 

[whirlcool]

When we were replacing our last hot water tank, I asked about the tankless models. The company said that they could do one with capacity similar to the tank we had and it would be $5K installed. Yup, $5,000 USD.
Our hot water tank is in our attic. All they would have to do is replumb maybe 3 feet of pipe and put a vent thru the roof. Are these instant hot water heaters that expensive?

 

[rayjay]

Are these tankless water heaters that expensive?

Hi Whircool. If you go to the Rheem or Bosch website, or do a Google on them, you can find the prices. I have seen a Rheem for a 2 bathroom house for around $1,700.00. Have not priced the Bosch. I think $5g is a little high.

 

[thomasortega]

OMG

R U sure about that?
I think I´ll move to the USA and work as a heater installer. LOL

Here in Brazil they´re much cheaper than tanks.

The biggest and the most expensive BOSCH or KOMECO model with digital remote control costs something around USD900

The user manual says you need to call the official service to install the unit, but installation is so simple that you can do it by yourself and then call them just to check it before you turn it on. (that´s much cheaper).

Of course, you MUST check your local codes. In some countries or regions, only an authorized service is allowed to install or fix gas appliances.