We have a 5 bedroom cottage in Northern Michigan that we do not heat in winter. We drain out the cottage in fall and open it in spring. We do not have natural gas or propane – all of the heat is either oil or electric.
The biggest problem we have for winter use is with hot water. We have a very good 50 gallon workhorse electric water heater that is plenty for our needs in summer. However, if my wife and I were to decide to go north for the weekend in the winter, we must fill the existing water heater, take a couple of showers, wash some dishes, and then drain it out when we leave. It’s not only time-consuming it is energy inefficient.
I was thinking of adding an auxiliary system that would be used only in the winter and would allow me to bypass the rest of the cottage and only have hot water in one bath and the kitchen. Would an electric tankless heater work for this or am I better off to install a smaller (say 30 gallon) capacity tank-type heater for this limited use? My guess is that it would be used maybe two to four weekends per year. Energy costs are not an issue here because of the limited use.
Any thoughts would be appreciated, including advice on tankless models that might work.
Thanks!
The biggest problem we have for winter use is with hot water. We have a very good 50 gallon workhorse electric water heater that is plenty for our needs in summer. However, if my wife and I were to decide to go north for the weekend in the winter, we must fill the existing water heater, take a couple of showers, wash some dishes, and then drain it out when we leave. It’s not only time-consuming it is energy inefficient.
I was thinking of adding an auxiliary system that would be used only in the winter and would allow me to bypass the rest of the cottage and only have hot water in one bath and the kitchen. Would an electric tankless heater work for this or am I better off to install a smaller (say 30 gallon) capacity tank-type heater for this limited use? My guess is that it would be used maybe two to four weekends per year. Energy costs are not an issue here because of the limited use.
Any thoughts would be appreciated, including advice on tankless models that might work.
Thanks!