Rud Instantaneous Hot Water Heaters

[elginkid]

Hey,

I'm looking at buying one of these to install in the house, and I wanted any opinions from actual users as to their performance. From what I've seen people replace them, without necessarily knowing why, except for the fact that they're old. I did find out that they had an average temperature swing of about 20 degrees from the factory, and present operating conditions can swing that number a little more, but with a thermostatic mixer on the output end, that should be alleviated. Are they cheaper to operate? (as opposed to a 10-15 year old 75+ gallon tank style heater)

Thanks!

Wes

 

[ronhic]

Love it...

For multiple reasons really....

 

- never run out of hot water

- never scald myself as the maximum temperature on ours is 55c

- don't have to worry about mixing in the shower as there are 2 electronic controllers - one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom that you set whatever temperature you want on before you use it..

- is about 10' from our kitchen tap and is warm in 10 seconds, at temp in 15....so we turn taps on slowly to get it to 'kick in' and then on faster when warm

- kids don't burn themselves

- nor do the elderly

 

http://www.rheem.com.au/domestic_browse.asp?action=list&sub_cat=2

 

[laundromat]

I prefer and sell the Bosch tankless gas water heaters. They are great and have a 15 year warranty on the burner assembly.They retail for $899.

 

[dj-gabriele]

You'd have to kill me before I switch to an instantaneou

At my parents we installed a combi-boiler.
It both does space heating and water heating but even if it were to run as water heater alone it can provide endless water as it has a power of 24kW, so you never ever run out of hot water, plus it offers all the advantages of a "classic" boiler as it has an accumulation tank of 60 liters that keeps the temperature constant at the one set and you can have on demand recirculation to have really instantaneous hot water at the faucet.

I had several experiences with gas instantaneous water heaters and all ranged from miserable to almost decent but none offered real comfort as low flow and hot water is impossible to achieve, temperature swings are the norm and don't even think to open and close the tap!.

 

[DADoES]

My electric tankless (28KW, although it rarely goes to maximum) works very well, requires only 0.3 gals/min flow rate to activate. It has a settable temp range of 50°F to 140°F, I run it at 102°F to 104°F as "normal" and raise (or lower) as needed per the temp I want for the hot-water task at hand. This evening I filled my jacuzzi tub at 112°F. Gas units typically require a higher flow rate to activate and seem more likely to result in dissatisfaction regards to temp fluctuations.

A drawback to retrofitting them is that they do require a larger gas or electric supply line than a traditional tank unit.

 

[volvoguy87]

Clarification.

To clarify, he's not talking about anything recent. This Ruud is prewar (pre WWI).
It's an insulated cast iron tank with a massive gas burner in the bottom and copper pipe coils inside. It's a self-regulating tankless water heater from the 1st decade of the 20th century. For reference, here's a pic of a similar model.

There's lots of green stuff that's really old,
Dave

 

[jerrod6]

I have a Bosch whole house tank less and it does very well even when the incoming water temp is at 38F.

 

Rudd,Rheam, Rinani and others are now making tankless water heaters that are more sophisticated than my Bosch but so far no complaints with mine.  It was installed durring the summer months and the next month after installation the gas bill decreased by almost $18

 

[peterh770]

What is the average life of a 40 gal tank heater anyway?

 

[mattl]

I've been getting 20-25 years out of my tanks -- but I take care of them....

 

[launderess]

Yes, Folks

Tankless water heaters have been around since the early 1900's, invented by Mr. Ruud himself. Indeed two models of that vintage were recently aquired by the Ruud-Rheem company for their museum. Both are circa 1910,and were installed and working, what is more are still functional.

Advertisments of the period promised "oceans of (steamy) hot water", and how the system was better as it provided fresh hot water, rather than old recirculated stuff that had been sat sitting for who knows how long.

 

[launderess]

But Wait, There's More

Nice little story,

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06210/709472-30.stm

 

[launderess]

From My (Limited) Reserach On The Matter

One must remember these vintage units were designed for how households ran/persons lived during that period.

For instance tub baths instead of showers were the main method of getting clean. Laundry while requiring lots of hot water was done using large tubs or sinks, as were dishes. In short there was little that required long periods of constant hot water use. You filled large contaniners and go on with whatever you were doing.

While these vintage Ruud units can be adjusted, not sure what the flow-rate would be compared to a modern unit.

 

[3beltwesty]

A Giant Rheem Hot water heater here I have in a business was once used in a special process. It heats up 210 gallons per hour and has a 250,000 BTUH input and is 85 gallons. It is from 1985 and is a tanked unit made to supply a steady flow of hot water. It has two gas burners and two thermostats that can be set in stages. 1/4 million BTUH is like equalvalent to 73.3 Kilowatts of heating coil. ie like just 318 amps at 230 volts! or 159 amps at 460 volts if one uses a dumb coil. It is a beast of a unit that today is turned off and just used a few times a year. It is in a room by itself. Units like this one with a tank are used to supply a small number of apartments or a small laundromat too.

 

[3beltwesty]

Some places use a recirculating pump with an insulated circuit of the HOT water line; and them heater really is just storing water in that pipe