Tom Kraeutler : This is The Money Pit’s Top Products Podcast. I’m Tom Kraeutler at the 2015 International Builder’s Show. Well, the name that comes to mind when you talk about tankless water heaters has to be Rinnai. They were one of the first manufacturers on the market with tankless water heaters. We’ve covered them for probably over a decade. The most popular question we get from consumers when we talk about tankless is, “Is that going to make the water get to my morning shower faster?” While tankless water heaters are incredibly efficient and never run out of hot water, no, actually it won’t because you have to wait for the water to make it’s way through those pipes. Well, that’s all about to change.
Rinnai is now introducing a new model of tankless that actually recirculates that hot water and brings it on in seconds. With me to talk about that is Susan Mittelbrun from Rinnai. Hi Susan.
Susan Mittelbrun : Good morning. How are you Tom?
Tom Kraeutler : This is really exciting because it’s a real big problem. No one wants to jump into a cold shower or wait a long time for the shower to warm up in the morning. How does this technology work?
Susan Mittelbrun : It really is life changing. What you need is faster hot water, right? You don’t want to get up in the morning and wait 15, 20, 40 seconds while you’re waiting for that shower and really wasting a lot of water. What this technology does, we’ve got a recirculation pump right inside the unit. We leverage a bypass valve. What that’s going to get you is faster hot water. Now, imagine first thing in the morning, turning the shower on and stepping right in and enjoying your water. No waste. Time efficiency. It really changes your life.
Tom Kraeutler : Now, there have been recirculators in the past that required separate plumbing to actually use this. Plus, it was expensive because it kind of had to be on all the time. Have you solved those problems?
Susan Mittelbrun : We absolutely have. You can do this with a dedicated line. Very few homes in the US have a dedicated line and that’s a lot of plumbing to run. We can do this without a dedicated recirculation line with a cross-over valve. We put that underneath the sink and that will recirculate the water. We’ve got this with a timer. The timer, you set it to your lifestyle. When you’re getting ready in the morning. When you’re getting ready at dinner time. When you’re getting ready to put the kids to bed and you run that unit only when you have those high-volume times with the timer recirculating or as always you turn the faucet on and then you get your hot water without running that unit constantly.
Tom Kraeutler : I’ve had people tell me that they step into the bathroom in the morning, turn the sink on full blast, turn the shower on full blast just to shorten the amount of time it takes for that hot water to come up. I guess that could be a thing of the past.
Susan Mittelbrun : Absolutely a thing of the past. A lot of people will tell us, “Well, I’ll turn the shower on and then I’ll brush my teeth.” Right? Think about the water you’re wasting. Think if you’re in a market that has water constraints. Stop running that down the drain. You are now turning the water on and proceeding with whatever that task is of the day that you want to get to directly.
Tom Kraeutler : The product is called the Rinnai Ultra Series Tankless Water Heater. Is it available in the market now?
Susan Mittelbrun : It is available on the market. We just launched it. Available in January.
Tom Kraeutler : Fantastic. Susan Mittelbrun from Rinnai. Thank you so much.
Susan Mittelbrun : Thank you Tom.
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