OT hot water heater

[65rbdodge]

i`m thinking of putting an electric hot water heater in my house. the water is currently heated by the oil furnace $$$. does anyone have any idea if i would be saving money by doing this? i would think so because oil keeps going up and there is no end in sight. i think all i would have to do is connect the water pipes that go into the furnace to the water heater and get someone to run 220 to it too, is this right?

[jamesdart]

pretty sure they run on a 50 amp breaker, they are pretty expensive to run, especially if you are going to have it in a basement or somewhere cool. really depends how your electric rates are. you should have endless hot water with your current set up which you wont have with the electric. do you have well water with a softner? my grandfather is in the poconos and his electric water heaters dont last more than 5 years. just some things to consider.

[65rbdodge]

the hot water here sucks and doesn`t last long. i don`t have a softner either. my current electric bill is about $70 average a month.

[sbkidz]

I would ditch the HW heater unit completely.  the undercounter "on demand" small water heaters work great.  You need a seperate unit in at the point of delivery.  2 baths and a kitchen will need 3 total units.  they are very efficient units. 

[ValiantOne]

Always wondered why folks call 'em "hot water heaters"

If it is hot, why ya heating it?

Shouldn't it just be a "water heater??" 

Just my .02. I put a heat pump in my oil heated house 2 years ago. I have saved a TON of money over the past two years using the oil function of the furnace only as a back up.

As James mentioned hard water is, well HARD on water heaters. I have learned to drain the tank every year or so, and pull the heating elements out and check them too. The limestone in our water really cakes up the elements. But they are not too expensive to replace.

Good luck!

CE

[NYrr496]

Here's something to think about... My electric bill at my house under normal circumstances is about 230 a month. That's making hot water and heat with an oil burner. We gutted the entire house last year and rented a 14 x 50 trailer to live in while the house was apart. The trailer had electric heat and hot water. The electric bill to run the trailer was about 100 dollars MORE per month. Heating anything with electricity uses pure unity power factor, so it's going to cost more.

sbkids is right, those on demand units are very efficient. Do you have natural gas?

[acpat]

on demand hot water heater are garbage. They are a gizmo for people to spend money on. 

[Tiamat]

I have a friend who is running geothermal hot water in his house
It consists of a 100m pipe coiled back on itself, burried 5m below the surface of his lawn
and a small heat exchanger and pump
Who would have thought? Not me, but it works

[flyboy01]

I would ditch the HW heater unit completely.  the undercounter "on demand" small water heaters work great.  You need a seperate unit in at the point of delivery.  2 baths and a kitchen will need 3 total units.  they are very efficient units. 

, the nice thing is, you are not paying for it when the water is not running.

[Dono]

on demand hot water heater are garbage. They are a gizmo for people to spend money on. 

Point of source is the way to go.

Tweedy has a very new set up using solar infrared.  This is the way to go.  Here is his new add.  I hope he don't snap on me posting this in here.  Don't flood him with IM's and the web site is not up yet. 

It makes heat even in the dark.

Don.

[chryco]

The $ depends on your electric power rates in your area . A typical 40 Gallon water heater doesn`t run on a 50 amp breaker either more like a 20 A.
Again it`s all proportional to the demand you put on it.
   Chryco

[richard tarbox]

i installed a on demand oil hot water heater last fall used 1/4 of tank of oil for 6 mounths all the hot water you could ever want im telling you never runs out

[nothingbutdarts]

What are you guys that have the on demand heaters paying for the units?

[bbscamp]

http://www.gotankless.com/how-tankless-works.html

for information, this is pretty good.  I don't know how the products are... good luck.

[jamesdart]

it really does depend on your rates, my mom is in the next town over they have electric stove dryer and water heater, with oil heat there electric bill on the budget plan  is 260. ours is usually under 100 and we have all gas, except for when its blazing hot.  they are crying about it and the oil. maybe i was thinking of the big electric tankless gunits,  they go o na 50, right?

[68_Val_Sedan]

a typical propane tankless unit sells for $1200 with the vent kit. and will make more water than you can use ...

the typical tankles electrical unit goes for about $700 and uses about 100 amps to keep up with the typical house ... thats right (2) 50 amp feeds ... the ebay 30 or 40 amp ones won't make enough hot water to wash your hands ...

these $ figures are for PA and just for the purchase as a contractor ... installation is extra ....

[1DART440]

I have worked out some numbers:
Approx. 10 cents/Kwh is equivalent to fuel oil at $3.66 a US gallon (the efficiency of the oil was 85%).
I am switching my oil boiler (85% eff) to electricity this fall. In Canada(Ontario), I just paid $1.29 per liter ($4.97 US gallon)!!!!!!!!!!!!
If we ever get peak/off peak metering here, I will heat 1000 gallons of water all night long at 7 cents per Kwh and use that for heat in the daytime.
Oil prices are crazy!

[440Ken]

Down here in Florida my HVAC system is a heat pump. The water lines from the water heater run outside to the condenser unit and the heat pump heats my water. When the AC part of the HVAC unit is operating the heat  being removed from the inside of the house heats the water. I actually flip the breaker in the breaker box "OFF" during the summer. 

[65rbdodge]

ok so back to my question, shoiuld i stick with oil or put in an electric water heater? these are the only options i am considering.

[Ace]

http://www.gotankless.com/how-tankless-works.html

for information, this is pretty good.  I don't know how the products are... good luck.

I just saw this thread and this is what I was going to recommend.  As a general contractor, I see these things and the are way cool.  If you plan on staying in your home, these are the way to go, and will save you in the long run.

[NYrr496]

I'm making hot water with my oil burner. I have a 60 gallon water tank with a coil in it that gets heated by a coil in the burner. Works excellent. ONLY problem with it is that the burner maintains it all the time, so there's no shutting the burner off in the summer.
  The tank is so well insulated that it's always cold to the touch.

[Cpt Panzer]

I purchased a Bosch demand unit at lowes last week, to replace a leaking tank. ( its only 6yrs old ) cost just under $1000. Hopefully I can find time to install this weekend. I am sure I will have to spend more $ for parts unknown. If this thing works as well as they they claim. my gas bill will be cut by more than 50% it should pay for itself in less than a year. that means more $$$$ for  I did not know they made a fuel oil version . I would defanatly go with a demand unit. electic is for welding and P C's

[acpat]

Panzer that thing from LOWES is JUNK. I put one in my buddies house and it is missing half the parts to install it. I talked to the guy at LOWES and he said if asked he would deny it but he did not even know why they sold them as every one he ever sold was returned, Just giving you a heads up. I would return that POS without opening it. It was a bosch unit FYI

[Dono]

Down here in Florida my HVAC system is a heat pump. The water lines from the water heater run outside to the condenser unit and the heat pump heats my water. When the AC part of the HVAC unit is operating the heat  being removed from the inside of the house heats the water. I actually flip the breaker in the breaker box "OFF" during the summer. 

They are great but you are spending alot to get started but in 7-10years later your heating and cooling is for free.

[Cpt Panzer]

uh oh guess I'll do a little ivestigation.

[acpat]

Panzer it will be missing all the connecting fittings (Brass) $$$$$$$ I am not a proffesional plumber but I had my work checked by a master plumber and the gas company. (both were friends) They both said the same thing.......Junk.  It would barely make water hot enough to keep your teeth from chattering. On top of it all once installed it had a drip leak. It was a nightmare that was fixed by returning it to LOWES and installing a conventional unit. The worst part was the guy at LOWES telling me they were junk and had he been working he would have talked me out of it. I ,like my buddy thought it would save him money. It in the end was a nightmare because they don't want to take them back. If you call BOSCH they are about like dealing with INDY. Good luck let me know how it turns out