installing a gas water heater, difficult?

[PEARCE]

We have a tankless water heater in our house and we love it. It was installed when we built the house in 2002. It's a Rinni (sp?) unit and it's gas. We have to set a timer for the kids showers or else they'd be taking 45 minute showers. We have a controller mounted in the laundry room that is on the opposite side of the house from where the unit is to control the temperature output. I don't know of any maintenance procedures that need to be done because I've never done them. If we get to build our next house it will have the same system as long as gas is available.

 

[Heizen]

We have a tankless gas hot water heater and it took a long time before the water got hot for the kitchen faucet. After reviewing the options, I got the 2.5 gallon model. I thought about installing the unit in the crawlspace to also supply other lines but decided against it because I don't know anything about PEX pipes. I also did not supply the dishwasher line for the same reason. My wife loves instant hot water in the kitchen now and I do too. I hope it lasts and stays leak free.

 

[jdkaeser]

The gas is the only somewhat tricky part, but it's not hard. Use some dish soap/water solution in a spray bottle, spray on the joints and check for leaks, bubbles will appear if it is leaking. Use the pipe dope, not the tape for the gas lines. Make your life easier and use shark bites with Pex lines. Just cut off your current copper lines if they don't line up and run a short 16" - 24" line of Pex with a sharkbite fittings to reconnect. The hardest part will be getting the old tank out of your house as they are usually full of scale and weigh a ton. Don't forget to replace the expansion tank and strap it with a hanger as to not have stress on the pipes. When they fail they fill with water and can put stress on the T-joint they hang from.