emma96•12d ago

Picked tankless water heater over traditional and kind of regret it

I went with a Rinnai tankless water heater about 18 months ago for my house in Decatur. Everyone on here was saying how great they are and how much money you save. But I'm sitting here after my third maintenance call (over $600 total now for descaling and a sensor replacement) and I'm not sure it was worth it. My neighbor has a basic 40-gallon Rheem that cost him $500 and he's never had a single issue in 5 years. Yeah I get endless hot water, but the install was $3,800 and these repair bills are adding up. Has anyone else gone back to a tank setup after trying tankless? I'm thinking about it.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_sean12d ago

$3,800 install plus $600 in maintenance in 18 months... that's rough. Have you actually run the numbers on what you're saving in gas bills vs what you're spending on upkeep?

simon_carr10d ago

$4,400 total in less than two years on a heat pump? That is absolute madness. I'd be livid if my gas bill was eating that much of my paycheck just to keep the thing running.

corah7512d ago

I read somewhere that heat pumps work great until they don't, and then the savings vanish fast. "Rough" is putting it lightly, @the_sean, $600 in maintenance on a system that new is basically a lemon. I saw a report saying the average heat pump needs a major repair every 5-7 years, not 18 months. Your gas bill would have to be sky high to make up for that kind of bleeding. Makes me wonder if they just slapped it in without sealing the ducts right.