31 March 2020
 Categories: , Blog

Are you preparing to install a new hot water heater, but using this as an opportunity to upgrade to tankless water heating? If so, it helps to know the following things about this type of hot water heater.

Ventilation

Ventilating a tankless water heater is quite unique because you have a few options for how to do it. If you have a chimney in your home that you have access to, you can ventilate the unit by using direct venting. This allows the fumes to naturally travel upward through an exhaust pipe to your chimney, where the fumes travel upward and escape through the top of your roof. This is an easy ventilation solution, and often possible if the location is the same as your old water heater. 

You can also use power ventilation, which requires a fan that is powered by electricity to force the fumes out through a PVC pipe in your wall. This allows you to place the tankless water heater almost anywhere in your home since the fan pushes the fumes generated to the outside of your house. The problem with this method is that your gas water heater won't work when you have a power outage, because those fumes have no way to get out.

Installation Location

There are plenty of options when it comes to where you can install a tankless water heater. The unit is so small that it can be placed out of the way, which is the direct opposite of traditional hot water tanks that take up quite a bit of room. This means the tankless water can be placed in a closet or on a recessed part of a wall. 

A tankless water heater can also be placed outside your home. It requires a special aluminum casing that waterproofs the unit, but it will be completely functional on the outside of your home. This allows easy access to the unit to service it, solves problems with ventilation, and could even make installation a breeze. 

Capacity

Tankless water heaters do not have a water reserve tank to determine their capacity. Instead, they are rated for how many gallons of hot water they can create per minute. A higher flow rate will result in more people being able to use hot water at the same time. This means that multiple people can shower at once, or you can run your washer and shower at the same time without sacrificing hot water. 

To learn more about installing a tankless hot water system, contact contractors offering plumbing services in your area.