HQ Propane Tankless Water Heater or Electric Tankless Water Heater - $500 rebate which is cheapest?

Hello

Since I have wood pellet heat now (Dualing Harman P61a-2 for 122K BTUs), the old 109K BTU Buderus baseboard hydronics are in shutdown mode all year round. However the cold start triple pass oil boiler with indirect SuperStor is still cranking out the hot water using aprox. 1 tank of the old dinosour oil per year at a cost of approx. $700.

Therefore, from what I hear switching to a High Quality Tankless DHW can save some big bucks!

We do have new Tri-Plex electric wires and a new transformer and 5 foot higher pole outside my window, But we have an overloaded older 100 amp Challanger circuit breaker panel.

We also have a 100 Gallon LP tank that I use once in a while for the Heat N Glow SL550D Zero Clearance FP with no pilot electronic ignition.

Lowes LP Tankless DHW
Jacuzzi Gas Tankless Water Heater (Liquid Propane) $1049.18
http://www.lowes.com/pd_373119-35419-J-SP199F_4294765369__?productId=3606332&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=?Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=

LP gas water heater rebate of up to $500 for this year 2014
http://jacuzzihotwater.com/j-sn199w.php

Lowes Electric Tankless DHW
Lowes - AquaPower 240-Volt Electric Tankless Water Heater $799.00
http://www.lowes.com/pd_595089-50857-DHE PRO 36_4294765369__?productId=50189151&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=?Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=

Yearly Costs
The Oil costs approx $700
LP Gas is approx $250
Electric is $??

Anyone know if Electric is cheaper, we have National Grid in Salem NH that was part of Mass Electric?

 

What about a Heat pump water heater? My Geospring has a energy sticker that says it "should" cost around $220 per year. It was just installed this month, so I don't have any idea how much it will run me yet. It should help a lot though, as the heat pump also helps to dehumidify the basement air, thus allowing my dehumidifier to shut off occasionally.

 

I bought the Geospring also and really like it so far. AEP power had a $500.00 rebate which brought the price down to what a normal electric hot water tank would cost. It was really a no brainer for my use and it uses roughly half the electricity of a normal hot water tank when running in heat pump mode. I bought it at Lowes when they had a sale. Paid $899.0o plus tax less the $500.00 rebate make it something like $470.00 total.

The yellow energy consumption sticker said it uses 1875 KWH per year versus 4850 for a family of four.

Depending on what you pay per KWH for your electricity, say a normal electric hot water tank uses 4850 KWH for a family of 4 and you pay $.13/KWH = $630.00. With 100 amp service in your home, you might be challenged using any electric hot water options without upgrading your service. The Geospring uses 550 watts when running in heat pump mode and 4,000 watts if you set it for conventional heating.

This is a good video reviewing the older Geospring model. Sorry if I'm coming across as a Geospring spokesman, don't mean to be doing that. It does have some negatives such as noise, expels cold air, slow recovery time and it needs a condensate drain.

 

Ditto on the heat pump hot water heater as Fanatical1 says. I went with another manufacturer, Stiebel-Eltron a little pricer than the geospring.

http://www.stiebel-eltron-usa.com/accelera.html

 

old post... but I had a NG tankless heater installed about 5 years ago and I'm disappointed. No savings that I can see since we have to let the water run forever to get hot (140F) water… Paid $900.00 for the heater then got nicked several hundred more for the install… union plumber.

 

We will be buying a tankless LP for our vacation place for few reasons.

First, we are looking for a little more space in the 6'x8' utility room it shares the furnace with. That room is going to be a second bathroom.

Second is the endless supply of hot water. Frequently, there are 10-12 of us there (hence the dire need for a second bathroom). We also rent it on a weekly basis when we aren't there, and sometimes get larger groups, since we have beds for 12 people.

Third, we don't heat it in the winter. Seems like such a waste to dump out 40 gallons of hot water after being there for a weekend, plus it takes about an hour.

When it comes time to replace my electric water heater at home, I'm going heat pump.

 

I moved into a house that was already equipped with the tankless heater. I also do not see what the hype is all about. I use about 200 gallons of propane a year for it and my stove. And there is not a lot of stove top cooking going on in my house.
Usually I am done washing my hands before the water heats up, pretty annoying. Only good thing is I can take endless showers, which happens maybe once a year.

Edit: I also want to add that at least I cannot use low flow shower heads, you need a certain flow rate to trigger the heater. Not that I care much, but if you are in to conservation than it is something to consider.

 

I installed a Bosch AE125 tankless electric back in 2006. It worked great for two years, then crapped out. They sent me a new one under warranty, and it crapped out in less than a year. Bought a third one and it too crapped out in less than a year. Switch to an EcoSmart ECO27 and it has performed flawlessly. It modulates its heat output based on water flow as opposed to the Bosch, which was either "ON" or "OFF". The Ecosmart comes with a lifetime warranty.

 

Hi Wildwest
I am upgrading the 100 amp electric panel right now, looking at 200 amp panel but would like to go higher. Do you know of any 300 amp panels?

 

Whatcha plan on doing that you'd need 300 amps?

 

My plan would be a good electric on demand water heater that can put out the heat!

 

Not sure how cold u get but a coupla guys at work tell me if we get into a stretch of -25* at nite that the water comes in so cold that it can not bring it to top temp.