How to choose tankless rather than old standard tanks?

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surfer349

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So new home owner here. One of the water heaters just blew out and I'm hoping I could get some advice on what to replace with.

They are plumbed in parallel with a single gate valve. Should I place individual valves to each one?

Heat pumps? replace with a single larger tank? Tankless? Stay with gas or switch to electric?
I would love your expert advice. I have the luxury of time and patience, as my parents live down the street and we can use their showers. I'm not interested in going cheap, I can afford to put a quality, premium tank in the house.


we are a family of 4 w/ 2 small kids in a 3br/3ba house.

$300 rebate for a hybrid heat pump for electric company
https://www.idahopower.com/energy-e...g-efficiency-program/qualified-products-list/

$50 rebate for gas heater
$150 rebate for tankless heater
https://www.intgas.com/wp-content/uploads/PDFs/Brochures/energy-efficiency-program.pdf

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Fitter30

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Have to know what the coldest incoming water temperature.
Have to know how many gpm you need. Do you use two showers at once, wash clothes at the same time, have a multi head shower, large garden tub. Can measure flow 5 gallon bucket and a watch. Time the fill for minute.
Have to know if the gas line is large enough to run the furnace, stove and water heater.
Heater are sized by temperature rise and gpm all manufacturers publish that info. These heaters based on water quality do require service at least yearly to clean filters and possibly running a vinegar solution through the heat exchanger. Might want to check out some you tube videos and talk with your plumber.
 

Taylorjm

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I was weighing both issues like you when it came to replacing our hot water heater. We went with this model. It can still use your existing gas line unlike most tankless which require a larger gas line. It has a small 20 gal tank to give you instant hot water heater verses waiting for tankless. It also keeps the water hotter, 140 degrees or more I believe and combines with cold water to get the temperature you want, so you use less of the hot water from the tank. It takes under 5 minutes for the entire 20 gal tank to heat up and when you call for hot water the center burner kicks on and it works like a tankless and will keep up with your needs. The only time I ever ran out of hot water was when the wife starts the dam washing machine when I'm in the shower, but the washer is equivalent to about 3 showers running plus mine, so it's understandable that it can't keep up for very long once she drains the recovery in the tank. They make larger btu models of this one if you wanted faster recovery. I have two teenage daughters that like long hot showers and it's worked great for us. I'd do it again if I had to. The nice thing is once the shower goes off, the burners turn off in just a couple minutes, so your not running a burner like a typical hot water heater for a long time to heat the entire tank again. I know there's other brands of the same type, but I can't remember what they were at the time. Vents with pvc pipe so that was easy too. Ours was the 75,000 btu model, this one is 100k btu. Can't find the one I bought.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Westing...rable-Stainless-Steel-WGRGH20NG100F/302480437
 
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Taylorjm

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