Choosing a Tankless Water Heater

JIM: Well, I’m planning on remodeling my home in the near future and the water heater now – it’s a propane heater – is about 20 years old, so I’m expecting it just to go at any minute.

TOM: That’s probably a reasonable expectation. What kind of water heater is it?

JIM: It’s white and it’s old. (chuckles) (Tom and Leslie chuckle)

TOM: What’s the fuel, though? What’s the fuel, Jim?

JIM: Oh, I’m sorry. It is propane.

TOM: It’s propane. OK.

LESLIE: Propane works for tankless, right?

TOM: Yeah, it sure does. Tankless water heaters would be a really good option for you. That’s the high-tech way of the future and they work fantastic. You have a lot of advantages because, first of all, they only heat the water when you need it, which is a huge advantage over the old-fashioned water heaters that heated a lot …

LESLIE: Continuously.

TOM: Yeah, it heated continuously including when you don’t need it.

LESLIE: They take up far less room.

TOM: Yep.

JIM: Fantastic. Yeah.

TOM: And you can control the temperature very easily. Usually, there’s a thermostat where you can dial it up and dial it down very, very simply and they do run on propane. So I think tankless water heaters would be a great option.

JIM: Got it.

TOM: SmarterHotWater.com. That’s the website for the Rheem folks who have been a sponsor of the program over the last year and they make a really good product. And they’ve got a very informative site there; you can learn about the different options and try to figure out which size you’d need for your house.

JIM: Fantastic. Appreciate the information.

TOM: You’re welcome, Jim. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.