Got this email... No such thing as hot water heaters.

[Russel Ray]

Hot means anything that is going to burn me within a few seconds if I don't do something to protect myself. With my definition, Britney Spears and Ben Afleck are not hot!

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by rray

Hot means anything that is going to burn me within a few seconds if I don't do something to protect myself. With my definition, Britney Spears and Ben Afleck are not hot!

Maybe not, but "protection" would still not be a bad idea.

[jschulte]

I did not know they had electric tankless water heaters. I wonder how well they work. Any idea on cost?

It seems like the perfect solution.

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

Originally Posted by jschulte

I did not know they had electric tankless water heaters. I wonder how well they work. Any idea on cost?

It seems like the perfect solution.

In Cold country they must go inside .
Work great but the do take a lot of air from the home .
Need a larger feed pipe as the need a lot of fuel while operating.
I have be told they are 30% cheaper then regular gas heater.
I wonder how this can be in the winter as the heat from my water
heater is not lost as It has helped to heat my home .
I understand the cost is about 2.5 times a regular induced draft water heater .
I expect the air loss for a regular water heater would be the same
with the longer time should come close to the same .
I my self wonder does any of these companies take into consideration that with electric heaters
you do not loose any heated air from the home .
I heat my home with resistant electric heat .
The big sell is these fluorescent lamps can save much money and I wonder has any one considered
what I have lost in heat from the light bulb need to be made up by my base board heaters .
Please remember I am talking about cool weather .
Summer is completely different as we do not need as much light with longer days .
I think these save money bulbs that cost so much and give out so little lumen's are a farce.
Sorry for the wander but it all ties together .
Would love somebody to prove my thoughts wrong .
Roy Cooke .. RHI... Royshomeinspection.com. CAHPI-ON
Added sorry did not see the word Electric for electric you do need a lot of power

[jschulte]

I think I followed all of that.

I agree that the fluorescent bulbs are not what they advertise. The light is dimmer, they take time to start providing light, they have to warm up....

I found an electric tankless system for $499. It looks good. They require 3 50 AMP lines. I have a 200 AMP service. I wonder how much they really pull. Would I have to upgrade my service? Do they really perform?

[Bruce A. King]

I would be careful choosing one of the electric tankless ones, the gas tankless also have to be sized correctly. Minimum recommmended size is two major plus one minor fixture running at the same time.

[jclark1]

[quote=jschulte]

They require 3 50 AMP lines.

This makes no sense. Jeff, you probably mean it requires a 240/120 50 A circuit. This would be fed from a 2 pole 50 A breaker and a neutral (grounded conductor) plus a grounding conductor would be brought to the unit. Basically a 4 wire circuit like newer range and dryer circuits are.
But I agree with Bruce, I don't think electric tankless heaters are the way to go. As for Wendy, I live in Western Washington and I've never heard anyone call it an inline heater.

[jschulte]

James, I wish that was the case.

I was looking at one that had 3 50a 220 breakers installed in the unit, so you had to run three seperate 220 lines to it. I have also seen one that requires 1 100a line.

Have you had any experience with the units to say why you don't think they are the way to go?

[Brian E. Kelly]

http://www.hotwaterheater.com/model-h-28-4.htm

[ebadofsky]

Originally Posted by jwilliams4

Talk about the need for speck cheller---try V-E-R-B-I-A-G-E... Now that should get everybody running to their dictionaries.

LOL... and speaking of dictionary runs:

- "Could care less" (when one actually means "couldn't care less")
- "Hopefully" (consistently used in place of "I'm hopeful that...")
- "Substitute with" vs. "substitute for" (it's the latter)
- "And also" (redundant redundancy... and also repetitive!)
- "Forte" (most often - and wrongly - pronounced "for-tay")
- "To" vs. "too" (don't get me started...)
- "Your" vs. "you're" (again, don't get me started)
- "Mute point" (it's a moot point)
- "Pit in the stomach" (unless you've swallowed a peach whole, it's pit of the stomach)

I could go on all day - whereupon many of you would (rightfully) tell me to get a life - so I'll simply recommend further reading on the subject at
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html instead...

(This coming from someone who, up until an hour ago, had my location listed as "Illinous" in my signature... )

[whandley]

I like that Bruce. Maybe we should refer to them as "Full Spectrum" water heaters or "All Temperature" water heaters or my personal favorite, "Cold, Luke Warm, Warm, Warmer, Almost Hot, Hot, Scalding" water heaters.....

[Russel Ray]

Originally Posted by ebadofsky

- "Forte" (most often - and wrongly - pronounced "for-tay")

Fortunately, English is a beautiful language that is constantly changing; therein lies the beauty.

Main Entry: 1forte
Function: noun
Pronunciation: 'fOrt, 'fo rt; </I>2 is often 'fo r-"tA </I>or fo r-'tA </I>or 'fo r-te</I>
Etymology: French </I>fort, from </I>fort, adjective, strong</I>
1 : the part of a sword or foil blade that is between the middle and the hilt and that is the strongest part of the blade</I> </I>
2 : one's strong point</I>
usage In </I>forte we have a word derived from French that in its "strong point" sense has no entirely satisfactory pronunciation. Usage writers have denigrated \'fo r-"tA\ and \'fo r-te\ because they reflect the influence of the Italian-derived </I>2forte. Their recommended pronunciation \'fo rt\, however, does not exactly reflect French either: the French would write the word </I>le fort and would rhyme it with English </I>for. So you can take your choice, knowing that someone somewhere will dislike whichever variant you choose. All are standard, however. In British English \'fo -"tA\ and \'fo t\ predominate; \'fo r-"tA\ and \fo r-'tA\ are probably the most frequent pronunciations in American English.

[jclark1]

Originally Posted by jschulte

James, I wish that was the case.

I was looking at one that had 3 50a 220 breakers installed in the unit, so you had to run three seperate 220 lines to it. I have also seen one that requires 1 100a line.

Have you had any experience with the units to say why you don't think they are the way to go?

No I have no experience inspecting this particular equipment. I've read opinions by some that the electric units may not be able to keep up with heavy demand. So I guess it depends on the size of the household and whether or not there will be a lot of simultaneous use.
As a licensed Journeyman Electrician (18 yrs) I have seen a lot of equipment that had on board individual ckt brkrs, fed from a single 240 volt ckt or a 240/120 v ckt. from the panel. It sounds like that unit may have three heating elements each with it's own overcurrent protection, that doesn't mean it needs to be fed with three different circuits, but as I said I don't know about this unit.

[jclark1]

Well I guess I should have looked at Brians link first. That pretty much lays out the electrical req. for that unit.

[ebadofsky]

Originally Posted by rray

Pronunciation:[/B] 'fOrt, 'fo rt; </I>2 is often 'fo r-"tA </I>or fo r-'tA </I>or 'fo r-te</I>...[/I]Their recommended pronunciation \'fo rt\, however, does not exactly reflect French either...So you can take your choice, knowing that someone somewhere will dislike whichever variant you choose...

*shrug*

I guess I'm just old-fashioned when it comes to "variants." Every time I hear someone say "for-tay," my toes curl.

But then, the (off-)topic is mute anyway, isn't it?

Thanks for the feedback nonetheless, Russel. We haven't had a chance to meet in person (perhaps at the '07 convention over a beer?), but I've heard really nice things about you. First round's on me.

Cheers,
Eric