Reply #8: Thanks, GreenTea. Expensive? Yes, but the water heater is an afterthought [View All]

[reprobate]

Living in central florida we spent nearly two weeks in hotels last year because of power outages following the storms that came thru. After that experience I decided that WILL NOT happen again so we ordered a standby 16 KW generator which should power our home including the A/C. Of course, we'll have to forget about using the oven or stove top with the generator, but in that case the microwave should handle the cooking for a few days when needed.

Since we don't have natural gas available we have to use LP gas to drive the generator, putting in two 120 gallon tanks which should power the generator for a bit more than three days, depending on current draw. Having the gas supply there, and thinking that substituting a gas tankless water heater for the big electric unit would save on electric bills during normal operation on the power grid and also lessen the draw on the generator during power outages. I'm also hoping at the same time that using the tankless year round will save enough on power bills to amortize the tankless cost over about two years. Yes they are more expensive than the big electric tank types. I paid about eight hundred foe a unit that is claimed to run tow showers and kitchen sink at the same time. If it will save $50 a month on electric costs, that will pay for itself in less than two years. Everything after that is gravy.

So you see the tankless really was an afterthought.

Thats my story, and I'm sticking to it.