Tankless Hot Water Heaters -- Your Questions, Our Answers
Q: "Is There Any Difference between a tankless hot water heater and a Continuous Flow water heater?"
A: Essentially, no. Tankless water heaters are actually called by a number of different names -- continuous flow water heaters, in-line water heaters, instant-on water heaters -- they all basically work the same way: the technology behind them allows them to heat normal-temperature water to the desired hot water temperature for use in your home.
Q: "In My House We Use Water to Heat Our Home -- Can We Use a Tankless water heater As Well?"
A: Yes you can -- all you need to do is have a condensing combination boiler installed. These are used a lot overseas (particularly in Great Britain) and most of these are very energy-efficient. If you have one of these condensing combination boilers installed, of course you will not need a separate tankless hot water heater, as this appliance will give you hot water for your space heat heater system, as well as hot water for your bathtub, shower, etc. Q: "What's the Difference between a Modulated and a Full off, Full on Tankless water heater?" A: The basic difference between these two types of tankless water heaters relates to the temperature of the water at various rates of flow. A modulated tankless water heater adjusts its heat generation to the amount of water flowing out -- with a modulated type, whether you are drawing a lot or a little bit of water should not change the water temperature too much. On the other hand, with a full on/off tankless water heater, the unit either operates or it doesn't, it doesn't attempt to adjust the heat output to different water flow rates. Q: "What Is Standby Loss -- and How Do Tankless water heaters Eliminate This?" A: To understand the concept of "standby loss" you must think for a moment about what happens with a traditional tank-type water heater. When cooler water enters the tank of these types of water heaters, it must be heated to the preset temperature. What happens then? The water stays in the tank until it is needed. Over a period of time, the hot water in the tank can begin to cool off -- and a tank-type water heater must heat the water up again. This loss of heat energy due to cooling is called standby loss. With a tankless water heater there is no energy standby loss -- simply because the water will not be heated until it is needed. And that translates into significant energy savings for you. Q: "Since We Installed Our Tankless water heater I Notice We Have To Wait a Bit for the Warm Water to Come through -- Why Is That?" A: Remember, when you are using any tankless water heater, that absolutely no preheated hot water will remain in your water lines if the unit does not operate for a while -- this means that when you turn on your hot water faucet, all the water previously left in the water pipe is cold. Your tankless hot water heater will switch on and begin heating the water to your desired temperature -- however it cannot heat the cooler water already in the pipeline -- and this is why you must wait a bit; it's simply a question of the time needed for the newly-heated water to reach your faucet. You will really notice this when there is a great delay between different times when you need hot water -- if you take a hot shower in the morning your tankless hot water heater will operate, but if you are are gone all day from your home, when you return and take a bath at night, all the warm water left in the pipes has had a chance to cool off by then. So don't be surprised if you notice a flow delay in certain situations after you have installed your new tankless hot water heater system.
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