What brand of water heater

[kurt]

I have installed small electric tankless units inside the sink cabinet on a few jobs recently and they are pretty satisfying in terms of performance. You have to run a huge wire from the panel, and you have to spend some money to avoid buying a cheapo heater, but if you can afford it, it works.

That's the "correct" application for these things; point of service. In China, we have the tankless heater (Ariston, Italian) in the kitchen which backs up to the bathrooms. Total pipe run is a couple feet. It's perfect; no wait time. It's a dual heat exchanger type; we also use it for our radiators. I love the thing. Most everyone has one hanging on the wall just outside the bathroom; south China, it doesn't freeze and it's a great place to locate it.

Put these things in conventional American housing with spread out floor plans and long pipe runs and they can be problematic. Some of my customers love them (those with point of service or smaller well designed houses) and others hate them (those with giant houses with the water heater down in the basement and 2 floors away from the fixtures they supply).

It's kinda personal. If they work to someone's satisfaction, they're a nice way to go.

[ghentjr]

John, Bock is kinda pricey? I have limited experience, but an oil fired one was $2400.

Not sure what the price is today but they are long lasting units. Oil 50 gal are around $1500.

http://www.bockwaterheaters.com