Electric whole home (2 bathrooms) tankless water heater experiences?

Electric tankless heaters are NOT efficient at all. Your electric bill could skyrocket. They are great if you have gas but are a power sump with electric heat. Tanked heaters have come a long way in the last 20 years.

Move it to the garage and vent it there.

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Electric is gonna be very expensive to run, and I don't think you can get more than a 50gal regular one now.

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That's entirely dependent on usage and I've just installed a 90-gallon electric conventional unit for a client, 50, 60, 80 gallon units are easy to find.


So much misinformation in these threads, let me tell you about the electric tankless water heaters I've personally installed and where they make a good choice. First, understand those region maps are very general and you need to measure the actual inlet water temps yourself. A 200A model is probably your limit anyway unless you has a dedicated panel installed.

Installation is not a direct replacement for a tanked water heater, you need several runs of 8/2 wire and each run needs its own breaker in the panel, need to see if you have room in your service panel for three 40A two-pole breakers for the 29Kw model. This alone is often a deal breaker because there is not enough room in the existing service panel and the cost of installation runs people off.

Tankless heaters in general like to be centrally located or located as close to where they'll be supplying hot water as possible. Electric ones more so than gas which is why they make a better choice for POU than whole house. I've installed single and double units for whole house uses and they worked absolutely fine though they were attic mounted and could be located almost directly over kitchen or bathroom.

Power usage while heating water is variable with modern units, they regulate the power they need by themselves so they aren't drawing the same power for a sink vs the washing machine filling. That said, you should check your plumbing appliances to see their GPM ratings. Also, at full load even a smaller tankless water heater can have the service panel humming from the current draw and that can be an issue depending on where that panel is located.

The main advantage to these units is flexibility of installation, you can damn near put them anywhere you can supply electricity and water and since you can hang them on the wall or in cabinets or closets you can gain a extra corner of space. This very reason was why one of my clients chose tankless electric units to replace two conventional heaters, they gained the room for a big work bench area in their garage.

Is your current water heater electric or propane?

Propane is going to be a much cheaper option than electric for energy consumption unless you have an unusual dichotomy where you are.

Is there not an unfinished basement area where you can vent out the side of the house? It does not have to go vertical out of the house.

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hard water?

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yes we do

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I've had a couple contractors look at it and say propane isn't feasible.

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Did they give any reasons? Many contractors consider things they don't want to do as not feasible.

The only thing I could think of is maybe not enough elevation to support flue sloping due to the long runs to the sides.

I'm taking it the current 80 gallon is electric?

40 gallon tank will run you over $375 now.

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Any way to clean the scale? Why are 80 gallon tanks expensive? Seems like they were $300 just a few years back.

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You can drain and flush it, you'll have some fun running it to your basement sump though. Problem is that the government efficiency mandates have driven up the costs and made new residential electric water heaters gutless wonders. More insulation and lower powered heating elements means that the first hour ratings have plummeted. A new typical 80-gallon unit might see a first hour rating of 89 gallons where an older one was well into the 90's.

Pop both of the panels off and see if the lights are on to start. If it's not leaking it could be the element or thermostat and wouldn't be that expensive to swap out.

The hardest part about an electric water heater is moving the damn thing