Save Time with an Instant Water Heater
"Have you used an instant water heater before?"
Just what, exactly, is an instant water heater? Does that mean you simply flip a switch and you magically have scalding hot water gushing through the pipes in your home and out of the faucets and shower heads? That’s the idea with these new instantaneous types. There is a lot of buzz going on about them, but do they live up to it? Or are they simply faster versions of the standard natural gas and propane models? And what is the difference between them and point of use and on demand models? Let’s take a look and see what we find.
Basically, all the typical brand names manufacture these, so you can tell that they all wanted to ride the wave of hype that was surrounding them. You’ll see the standard names like GE, Bosch, and Paloma. You’ll also see newcomers to the table, including Titan, Rinnai, Polaris, and AO Smith. And I’m pretty sure that I don’t have to introduce you to Bradford. All their machines compare very closely, so you won’t see a lot of reason to seek out a certain maker. They all run the same price, as well.
If you read the reviews, you’ll surely see the same result across the board: They aren’t literally instant, but they definitely do warm the water faster than the standard model. They can be tankless or have a tank, as well as direct vent or not. They come with a standard thermocouple, and they still do leak (unlike electric types), so you might need repairs or a replacement down the road.
They aren’t sophisticated enough to be in commercial building yet, as that would require an enormous amount of power (which is not a good thing in our high efficiency conscious society). They can be white or black typically, and come in sizes like 75 gallon, 80 gallon, 50 gallon, and 40 gallon. Hopefully the people that install it will be able to tell you what you need and get the right one.