electric tankless water heater

[ChickenLips]

My neighbor, a 72 year old widow has a 30+ year old electric water heater. Mine popped a year or two ago and was half the age. I'm encouraging her to swap it out before flooding her finished basement. I'll probably do the job for her.

I'll keep it electric but see some tankless options, which seem like a good idea.

Anyone have experience or advice with electric tankless?

She's the only user BTW. She will probably sell in a few years, and like my place, hers will be a knock down to make way for multiple houses on a larger lot so "investing" in a quality unit is wasted $$. This is simply an economical replacement for risk aversion.

[hsousa88]

No experience with them. I’m looking into them myself. Got quoted $5k installed last winter. I hear great things about them but it has to come with a crazy good warranty before I pull the trigger.

[92redragtop]

Not an expert here (I know there are folks in the biz on TMC) but I don't think the economics work that well with 1-2 people in the house (due to upfront cost)?

[ZR]

When replacing mine a few short yrs ago, pro's I trust strongly suggested conventional tank.

[ChickenLips]

When replacing mine a few short yrs ago, pro's I trust strongly suggested conventional tank.

tank style will probably outlive the neighbor. gotta say tankless prices around1K caught my eye.

[5.4MarkVIII]

When replacing mine a few short yrs ago, pro's I trust strongly suggested conventional tank.

Ditto. Was told the cheap ones are not serviceable. Poor parts availability. (And this was pre covid.)

[ZR]

^ Exactly that.

[ChickenLips]

thanks for replies. I'm debating on whether she's better to get a rental. I'd guess at 10 more years in that house on the outside

[ZR]

Rental prices saw me buy my own.

[Ponyryd]

Get a rental or leave it, if it’s 30 years old it may be one of the good ones and could until she moves. Rental is a cheap option you don’t need to worry about, and having her pay $30 (Windsor pricing, not sure about your area) or so every 3 months is well worth it I think (mine is a rental). Tankless is a nice option I guess, but they take a long time to heat up and have proven unreliable, so not worth the hassle I’m thinking.

[Gabe]

With the short window she will be there and only one person, tank for sure. She would never recoup the costs of the installation and equipment purchase to go with tankless at this stage.

that being said, we have been with tankless for 13 years, never had an issue. Initial warmup is a bit annoying, but the cost savings and increase space in the utility area make it something I am very pleased with

[ChickenLips]

With the short window she will be there and only one person, tank for sure. She would never recoup the costs of the installation and equipment purchase to go with tankless at this stage.

that being said, we have been with tankless for 13 years, never had an issue. Initial warmup is a bit annoying, but the cost savings and increase space in the utility area make it something I am very pleased with

I'd do the install for her so it'd be cheap. I am leaning towards a small tank style over electric tankless. I was initially drawn to tankless electric when I saw an average 1K price, but those sound like a bad bet. The current tank is huge and must be inhaling energy.

The room her tank is well sloped to a floor drain, so maybe a wait and see approach is the way to go. I was unlucky. My tank failure was at the top of the tank and sprayed. It also popped after I went to be and had all night to flood my basement. Mine was a gas tank and the leak was in the central flue. Hers is electric so a simpler vessel.

I think for now I'll advise her to do a daily health check and think on it some more.

If replacement is warranted, I'll be looking to tank style first.