Tankless Hot Water Heater Question

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About 8 months ago my Condo Commandos made a deal with a company to install Titan Tankless Water Heaters for 550 bucks each for the condo owners who wanted to get rid of their water tanks...A lot of the tanks were delvoping leaks and destroying the condo below them...Most of the owners went for it including me...It was aound 50 owners out of 56 who did this...So far only one owner has had a bad box which was replaced....When the company put the Titan Tankless Water Heaters in they did not put them on a 220 line and just plugged them in to the existing 110 line which the water tank was on.

I notice when the hot water is running the lights have a slight blink to them...Is this going to be a major issue down the road with this?...So far no circuit breakers have blown.

The company says generally you do not have everything running at one time when running the hot water so do not worry about it...So far everyone has just decided to live with this issue.

What to all you think?

Thanks in advance!
 
Low voltage is hard on stuff such as refrigerators. If your refrigerator kicks on while you are in the shower, it will shorten its life.

I am really surprised your old hot water heater was 120 volts. The wholer things sounds like corner cutting.
 
That's the heating element kicking on and off. That's just a sign of how much power it is drawing.

To heat the water in such a short amount of time, these units need a lot of electricity and a lot of gas at once. That's why up north, the tankless units need oversized gas supply lines, and 2 (or 3) 220 circuits feeding them.

In Miami, it isn't that big of an issue, since your water is halfway warm to begin with, year around. Up here, our water gets COLD in the winter. It all depends on how many degrees that the temperature of the water must come up to get to 120 or 130 degrees. Up here, the water must come up around 90 degrees, depending on how hot a homeowner wants their water to be. For you, it is substantially less than that. That's how you get away with a unit that only requires a 110 volt supply.

If it doesn't change over time, then I wouldn't worry.

The heating element on a typical 1500 watt portable space heater can do the same thing to lights.
 
If your breaker is sized properly and is not blowing, I'd assume you are fine. It would probably help to have a dedicated circuit. It's probably just the surge for when the heater turns on. What is the amperage of the water heater when it's on? What is the size of the breaker it's on?

In my old house (built in 1997), the cloths iron would dim the lights on and off as the wife did ironing. I always hated that cause the lights got so dim......and that was only a cloths iron.
 
Geez! I didn't think it would be possible to heat enough water w/ a ~1500W 120VAC circuit! I've heard good and bad things about the tankless wonders. If they're mounted locally they're great. Remotely w/ long pipe runs, you hear of complaints.

Joel
 
Often the Aluminum wiring outside coming off the pole to your power head is corroded when this happens. Scrub the aluminum wire with brass brush or emery cloth then then rewrap in electrical tape or liquid electrical tape or even plasti-dip in the spray can. This almost always is the source of the dimming lights the new appliance is just the thing to cause it to happen enough that it is noticed. About every 10 years or so this should be done to keep the aluminum wire un corroded. The electricity does not flow well with corrossion.

For the record I was IBEW Union member but I worked in telcom but was still a union electrician. My knowledge is all telecoms and industrial not residential so I suck with codes and stuff because I never had to learn them.
 
I heard what you say, but I am surprised that you have heater on 120 V circuit. I did not go with the tank less heater as the cost was $1500 and I could not justify it, but then they charged a total of $700 any way. "You shall not be allowed to win, and in most cases will not be allowed to get out of game also". Laws of the world or Thermodynamics.
 
Where is this Aluminum wiring, outside or inside the house, I had gotten incoming wires into my panel tightened about 10 years ago. I could turn the outside breaker and then tighten them again.
 
Sorry to get off topic a bit, but I don't understand mrsilver04 comments about the incoming water being colder in the winter. In Michigan, water lines are installed below the frost line, 42"+ where the constant soil temperature is around 55 F +/-.

How is it different in Illinois that you say the incoming water is colder during the winter? Maybe in Florida they run the lines shallower? But, in the midwest and north, I can't imagine a difference?

Just an honest question.....not trying to flame anyone.
 
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Sorry to get off topic a bit, but I don't understand mrsilver04 comments about the incoming water being colder in the winter. In Michigan, water lines are installed below the frost line, 42"+ where the constant soil temperature is around 55 F +/-.

How is it different in Illinois that you say the incoming water is colder during the winter? Maybe in Florida they run the lines shallower? But, in the midwest and north, I can't imagine a difference?

Just an honest question.....not trying to flame anyone.



The differences are very slight, you are correct. The northern climes have very little variance in incoming water temps from winter to summer. In my application the incoming temps are in the 45-50 degree range independent of season. The difference is there but it is negligable for this conversation. Also, there is absolutely no reason to state that one would require a temp rise to 130 or 140 degrees. That is only needed when one is mixing the cold with hot water in an attempt to stretch out your available hot water in a tank set up. With tankless its much more economical to set the unit at 100-105 degrees and not mix with cold water. That lowers your needed rise and saves energy.

To the OP, was the install inspected by your local building, electrical inspectors? What is the rated draw of your appliance?
 
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Is your water a constant 55F out of the tap year round ..or somewhere near it in a very narrow range? While the soil may be 55F "untouched", I'm sure that there's some variance betweem .00002" (or whatever) from the pipe to 35' (or whatever)from the pipe. The warmer the incoming water, at volume, the warmer the outlet temp at the tap.

Now if you're 10 miles from the source at low enough volume..and can have enough "thermally virgin" soil ..then you'll probably reach 55f in either direction from colder or hotter inlet water.
 
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Is your water a constant 55F out of the tap year round ..or somewhere near it in a very narrow range? While the soil may be 55F "untouched", I'm sure that there's some variance betweem .00002" (or whatever) from the pipe to 35' (or whatever)from the pipe. The warmer the incoming water, at volume, the warmer the outlet temp at the tap.

Now if you're 10 miles from the source at low enough volume..and can have enough "thermally virgin" soil ..then you'll probably reach 55f in either direction from colder or hotter inlet water.


Good point, those with City water will notice a larger variance depending on their particular application.

In my case with well water, the temps are almost constant winter to summer.
 
Electric heat is pretty inefficient (i.e. costly). The heaters themselves are actually not to blame (100% efficient) but the problem is that the powerplant is about 33% efficient in converting chemical energy to the electric power you see at the plug.

I would go with a gas heater, it'll definitely pay for itself within a short number of years.
 
Our clothes washer has to dump more warm water into a 'cool' water cycle (not cold) during the winter to keep it up to the desired temperature. I also beleive our tankless has more capacity during the summer months.

Now I'm curious. I'll have to record the water temperatures in January, and then check them in June/July.. We're on city water FWIW.
 
Yikes, stupid me.....posting with my blinders on once again. I have been on a well system all my life and forgot about "city water" or any other type of system. Thanks for clearing up my confusion.
 
Our gas water heater lasted about 18 years and was just recently replaced.

Are you happy living in a condo and have the Association making decisions like this ?
 
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Sorry to get off topic a bit, but I don't understand mrsilver04 comments about the incoming water being colder in the winter. In Michigan, water lines are installed below the frost line, 42"+ where the constant soil temperature is around 55 F +/-.

How is it different in Illinois that you say the incoming water is colder during the winter? Maybe in Florida they run the lines shallower? But, in the midwest and north, I can't imagine a difference?

Just an honest question.....not trying to flame anyone.

The water coming out of the tap at my house has gotten down to 35F. Most winters it is under 40F. In the summer it is in the high 50s. This is part of the reason I went with a tankless heater. Even with a 50 gallon water heater, I could not get enough hot water to fill up my bathtub, a 6 ft long whirlpool tub, The incoming water was so cold it would lower the temp in the tank. With the tankless, I get unlimited hot water. The flow rate is slower when it gets cold out because the unit will restrict flow rate so the water has a chance to heat up.
 
I hope it's at least plugged into a dedicated 20A outlet. If not I would guess that it isn't up to code and should be.

I still don't know how you can get away with hot water with that little power. That's like a coffee maker.
 
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Sorry to get off topic a bit, but I don't understand mrsilver04 comments about the incoming water being colder in the winter. In Michigan, water lines are installed below the frost line, 42"+ where the constant soil temperature is around 55 F +/-.

How is it different in Illinois that you say the incoming water is colder during the winter? Maybe in Florida they run the lines shallower? But, in the midwest and north, I can't imagine a difference?

Just an honest question.....not trying to flame anyone.



You're not taking into account what happens to the temperature of the water that is stored or passes through water towers, which are exposed to whatever the air temperature is at the time.

Plus, in this area, water is treated above ground, in tanks that are open at the top to the elements.

The only thing that keeps that water from freezing while above ground in winter temperatures is that they keep it moving.

The temperature of tap water on the last day of winter is substantially lower than it is on the first day of winter.

Here, the temperature of tap water at the end of winter will sting your hands. Right now, it really doesn't seem that cold.
 
Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
The differences are very slight, you are correct. The northern climes have very little variance in incoming water temps from winter to summer. In my application the incoming temps are in the 45-50 degree range independent of season. The difference is there but it is negligable for this conversation.


The difference in the temperature of the water this area from season to season is far from 'very slight' or 'negligible', or which ever words you choose to use.

There may be huge differences between your water treatment and delivery systems and mine.

However, as always, you are entitled to your opinion...
 
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