Rinnai Hybrid 180

[Pretzladay]

We currently have a 75 gal natural gas water heater, power vented. About 10 years old. Replaced the anode about 6 months ago because of rusty water, but it's rusty again. We found the Rinnai on clearance at Lowe's for $900. Only 3 adults in our house usually, but 3 full bathrooms, and when everybody is home we can use a lot of hot water. I thought the hybrid might be a good fit for us -- not heating 75 gal that we don't need on a daily basis, but 180 gal/first hour capacity when we do. The other factor is installation. I could probably put in a 50 gal tank myself, not sure what the Rinnai would entail. Any insights?

 

[WorthFlorida]

I looked up this unit on the Rinnai web site and they paint a rosy picture but it is more for supplying quantities of hot water than trying to save money. You'll need to find out if the unit is on clearance at Lowes only, Rinnai is coming out with a new model, or this type of unit is being discontinued all together. Most homeowners are sold on tankless and they work great but tankless only. You'll also need to check out the warranty, who repairs it and can it be repaired by the DIY'er. It does have an advantage that it is installed like most gas water heaters. Is there any Rinnai dealers in your area?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Dana]

For a showering family (as opposed to tub bathers) you'll get a lot more water and a better financial out of a drainwater heat recovery unit than a condensing tankless or hybrid. It needs at least 5' of vertical drain down stream of the shower(s), since it has to be mounted vertically. A 48' x 4" or 60' x 3" typically delivers 50% of the heat going down the drain back to the incoming water stream at 2 gpm shower flow a bit less than that at higher flows. The net effect is to turn a standard 50 gallon gas burner into an "endless shower" experience for much of the year at KS type incoming water temperatures, and roughly doubling the "apparent capacity) during the winter:

It usually can't be retrofitted for houses with slab-on-grade foundations, but usually can if there's a full basement. It's a fairly straightforward DIY project for those with plumbing skills.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

You would be wiser to stick with a 75 gal gas water heater... The reason being
that you are pretty much spoiled with the 75 and probably have never had issues with
running out of hot water even when a few people are in the shower at the same time...
this wont be the case with a tankless heater and you might be disappointed with its performance

The new Rheem power vents are pretty good and you wont be dealing with
de-limeing the tankless unit or having to fuss with it...

once you add in the de-limeing expences to the equation, usually there is no savings
at all with a tankless heater.. a
and that is assuming that you have a water softener in your home??.

good luck