review of the rinnai tankless water heater
598695
My old rinnai bit the dust after ten years. The new version of seem to be better than the original one that I had. It cost less and one feature that's important to me is when you lose power the new version remembers the temperature settings.
Most importantly by ordering the unit from Amazon, I received it within two days.
1066659
I purchased this Marathon 50 gal water heater for a couple of reasons. After doing a lot of research, including speaking to a plumbing supplier, who sells and installs this heater, I was basically told the unit is a good quality heater and not sold in large numbers because people just don't hear about them. They sell more to the farming community than any one else as a second storage unit where large amounts of hot water are needed.

My recently replaced water heater was a natural gas power vented unit and it was 13 years old. The water heater was working as expected and provided continuous hot water. What I didn't like about it was I started to notice it was constantly kicking on throughout the day and night (could hear it)and it would run anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes to reheat water.

There is only the two of us and apart from daily average of 2 showers, a dish washer and occasional hot water use from the tap very little usage of hot water occurs in my home.

So I did some investigating of my gas water heater and I found out it has an open pipe up the center of the heater that is used by the burning gas to channel its burnt fuel to the top and then the power fan would move that along its plastic vent pipe and outside. Inside this pipe is supposed to be a piece of angled shaped metal that slows down the movement of burning fuel so the heat can be absorbed into the surrounding metal jacket of the heater and heat the water. My angled shaped metal part, about 50% of it was now a pile of rusted metal flakes and pieces laying beneath the water heater on the heat pad.

So what has been happening is the cooler air is being drawn into the center pipe travelling up and outside while the heater is not running. This vacuum of cool air is cooling the water in the tank and setting off the thermostat which explains the constant running. Having found that out and realizing I probably got about 4 more years of use than normal for these water heaters I turned to the Marathon.

Marathon themselves list features of the heater including one that it was more efficient than a natural gas water heater. I believe everything they say about their heaters but I was skeptic about its efficiency. Well I am no longer skeptic. I have had my heater one year now and the Marathon has saved me some money in comparison to my replaced natural gas heater. Not much but enough to give an opinion that the Marathon will perform in efficiency, money wise, either the same cost as a natural gas heater or slightly better.

I have printed material where Marathon claims a savings of $70/year over gas but in my case it is only $20/year over gas. So for anyone who has an 1800 sq ft house, 2 occupants, using hot water conservatively as I have, can relax, that an electric water heater such as this will not shock you when the electric bill comes in. So now I have the advantage over all other water heaters as this will be the last one I should have to buy due to its construction and resistance to internal rusting and lack of moving parts and possible failing gas valves.

Because I am the home owner the warranty on the tank is lifetime, parts 6 years. If I move the next guy in gets a 15 yr warranty, 6 years parts. Price comparing on this unit puts it higher than natural gas but shop around at your local plumbing distributors for a better deal. I did my own installation so I saved on labor and had lots of room in the panel for 50 amp expansion. And I now have one less fossil burning device capable of blowing my house up or gassing us to death with carbon monoxide. Thanks Rheem for designing such a simple water heating device that actually is efficient and long lasting.
4406626
The tank, once installed, had a bad pressure relief valve (leaked a cup of water every 30 minutes).  Blowing the value, under and OFF pressure, did not fix.  Called the number on the paperwork that came with the tank, and they shipped a new one overnight.  Tank working great as a secondary tank for a Rinnai tankless heater for several months now.
3008089
The Unit is amazing for the size and the price....the only regret is that I didn't "oversize" the unit to provide the hotter water I prefer. I read the previous reviews and it seemed to indicate nearly scalding temperatures for even shower usage, however, my experience is that the water is certainly warm, but not hot for normal GPM shower usage. That being said, it is warm enough and I am still amazed it can provide the level of heat it does for the size and price.
2370705
We used various water boilers over the years. The last one was a Tatung we took with us from Taiwan.

Was looking for a Zojirushi, Tatung, or Panasonic, but overall the reviews of this item was so good, and the price attractive that I wanted to give it a try. So far this unit has been surprisingly good. It's the best water boiler we ever had so far.

Good:
- Seems well built, even the water spout is silicone
- Stainless steel, so no exposure to plastics (many of the water boilers have Teflon inside)
- Good temperature controls
- If you hit the reboil button by accident, you can switch it back off
- Staged water output, it starts slow for a few seconds, and then it switches to high speed
- Light next to water spout (not very bright but sufficient)
- 4L is a good size
- Seems to boil the water in a 'smart' staged way, not continuously on like other boilers (which causes a lot of steam)
- Auto off mode after 2 days of non-use (nice if you were to forget to unplug it off before a vacation)
- Dry cook detection

Less good:
- The buttons are placed a bit unintuitive, but you get used to that quickly.

Bad:
- Nothing bad about this unit

Power use:
I used a Kill-a-Watt to determine power use. After a few weeks of use, it's 1.12 KW per day (note: we are avid tea drinkers, so we use it frequent). Most of the power is spent when the unit is refilled. For our area this means it costs us $32 to run it for one year. There are probably units that insulate better, but I suspect this would only give a marginal improvement in power use (since most power is spent heating up the water) and probably does not justify purchasing a much more expensive unit.
318482
It has been installed just over a month. It has done exactly what I hoped it would. No more running out of hot water. 3 showers back to back to back while the dish washer ran during one shower and the washing machine ran during another and still plenty of hot water.

Also it was very simple to install and saves huge amounts of room compared to our old 50 gal. tank water heater.
3485001
We purchased ours through another online vendor, but we are very happy with the quality so far (after just a few weeks in service). The self installation went smoothly, relying on both the Takagi user manual and Youtube DIY videos. Our installation involved tearing out a tank type water heater in our one-story house and then extending the plumbing for relocating the tankless heater into the attic above the original site. I used a PVC 4" schedule 40 pipe ventilation setup, which is a valid option since this condensing unit doesn't produce very high heat in the exhaust gases. I vented sideways about 20 feet to an outside wall of my house, through the attic, rather than a vent through the roof (trying to minimize things that protrude through the roof before we replace our shingles). Intake air comes directly from our large, well-ventilated attic (I installed a 4" PVC 90-degree elbow at the intake port and then stretched a loosely woven sock over the intake to lightly filter out attic dust ... not required, but seemed like a good idea). My plumber did the half-inch gas connection from a 3/4" existing gas line in the attic. I used PEX to hook up all the plumbing and installed a proper overflow pan (plastic) that was designed for on-demand water heaters, and used 1" PVC for a drain line about 20 feet to my outside wall. We have very hard water with no softener, so I installed a flush valve kit to allow for using a sump pump and a pair of hoses to flush vinegar through the heater for an hour or two each time, probably 5 or 6 times a year. There are great how-to videos on Youtube for this flushing procedure. Our Takagi works beautifully with no issues so far.
657090
I am very happy with this piece of kit. I hired a plumber to install- I know DIY ninjas have done themselves; Bully for them. The average person-me, is much better off hiring a pro.

I can confirm a low flow rate of just over a trickle of water to activate the heater. The tech manual claims 0.26 gpm, sounds right.

Worth mentioning; on the residential model (REU-VC2837FF UD-US) the controller is limited to 120 F. If you want a higher setting- up to 140 F, you're going to have to flip a switch inside the box. 120 F is hot, but not quite hot enough for most people. I would recommend you have the installer flip that the switch to get you up to 130 F. Makes a big difference.

I got the info above from a quick call to Rinnai tech support after my initial installation. The advisor was knowledgable and helpful. And, navigating the Rinnai in-call system wasn't too bad- to get out recorded responses and speak to a real person- who incidentally was an American!!!!!!!! Hard to believe talking to someone who isn't reading a script. Yea Rinnai for that one.

Bottom- line. I went with Rinnai over some other units because the company I hired to install was most familar with them. The point was made that since Rinnai is the biggest, spare parts will be more available. Made sense to me.

I am glad I went with Rinnai and recommend it for the reasons i listed.
628200
I purchased the Ecosmart water heater to put into my new home that I built last year. I hired a plumber to do all of the new plumbing work so plumbed it in for me, I did the electrical work myself.

I ended up spending about $180 on wire and breakers. The ECO 27 requires 3-30amp breakers at the panel and 3 runs of 8 gauge, 2 conductor wire. I live in Canada and 8/2 wire is rare apparently, so I had to go with an 8/3 wire and simply didn't use the third wire, and taped it off. The electrical installation was pretty simple, I followed the directions, watched their YouTube installation video, ran through the tests with my tester, and viola, hot water.

My complaints. The water takes awhile to get hot for some reason. I don't know why. It seems as if all the cold water in the lines has to disappear first, then be replaced with hot water, then the hot water starts to come out. Washing your hands in the bathroom sink or kitchen sink can be slightly frustrating, as you have to wait a bit before the water gets hot. This is different from how I remember the way a hot water tank works. That's it. On to the good stuff.

First things first, the shower. In my master bath I have two shower heads in the shower. A Delta 57014 Slide Bar and an American Standard 10" Rain Head. I installed a diverter so I can use one or the other, or both. I had to tweak the temperature settings a little bit, at first I figured 105 degrees would be best, as I enjoy a nice hot shower. However it was a bit too cool, perhaps the distance the water had to travel cooled it down? So I stepped it up a bit to 128 degrees. With a single shower head running it is right on the edge of being too hot, but I really enjoy hot showers. If it becomes too much for me to bare I turn it down a little or just flip on the other shower head. With both running, it is a temperature I think most people would enjoy. I try, most of the time, to be energy and water efficient, I turn the shower off and soap up, turn it back on to rinse. But let me tell you! I've had a couple of mornings after being out late and having a couple too many drinks, and I have laid in the shower with both shower heads going for upwards of an hour. It doesn't stop, it doesn't slow down, it doesn't get cold. Even when it was -20 Celsius outside, it kept heating my water up for my shower :) The last thing I would like to say about the shower, since I have the Ecosmart set at a temperature that works for me, all I do is turn it straight to hot, no mixing. This allows toilets to be flushed, sinks to be ran, etc. without ever flinching a degree when I am in the shower.

Next! I installed a Roman style faucet for my tub. This baby pours water out. It pours too fast actually. The Ecosmart cannot keep up. This was actually the first test I made with the water heater and I was very disappointed at first. However, if I turn the tap down a bit, it heats up, turn it down a bit more, and it gets even hotter. Simple fix really. The tub takes a little longer to fill, but it's not a huge deal. I don't bathe often anyway.

The dishwasher.. I have a Whirlpool dishwasher that has an element in it to help heat the water beyond what the Ecosmart can do. I never had any problems with washing dishes, I'm not 100% sure how well it would perform without the element in the dishwasher to help heat the water more, but I purposely bought a dishwasher that would do this just in case.

All in all, it's an excellent and aesthetically appealing unit. I don't have any complaints, and it seems as if it's only limitation is at higher flow rates. I cannot say if it's saving me any money, as I haven't anything to compare it to.
4385583
RHEEM 50 Gallon NATGAS Water Heater arrived in excellent condition in a timely manner and at a great price.
the installation was easy the quailty of the product appears very good.
The end result was perfect.
Only demerit to the the entire experience is Buy Plumbing chooses to use a shipper which requires buyer to be present to sign for item.
There was no option available to waive this requirement.
I only learned of this requirement after the item was in transit leading to an unexpected hassle to meet a shipper's delivery requirements.
If my mother were to need a new water heater, I would buy this item, from this vendor - the product, the transaction and price were great.
1852568
I have been very happy with this unit since I purchased it a few weeks ago.  The medium and low lettings are not noisy enough to disturb sleep.
The high setting is noticeable but not annoying. It sounds like a fan which is actually whats inside it. The water tank is easy to fill and the controls are on top which is convenient. I clean it once a week following their instructions by using vinegar and bleach as directed. I have not put the base into the dishwasher yet.
2195273
This is the third electric tankless water heater with which I have had some experience.  The first two were of a different brand, but I opted to go with this one for my most recent foray because of the price and the reviews.

Like any installation of an electric tankless water heater, it's always easiest to do when you're doing new construction.  Trying to retrofit a home for one of these would be much more difficult just because of the electrical requirements.  In this case, I was installing in a volunteer fire department where hot water isn't used everyday but when it is used, they need a large volume of it. So it seemed ideal to use an electric tankless water heater.  Thankfully, the location for the heater wasn't too far from the breaker box, and it wasn't too difficult to run the wiring because of a dropped ceiling that gave access where needed.

However, a cost that potential buyers should think about is the cost of WIRING.  This installation requires two separate double-pole circuits with 8-gauge copper wire, and that is not cheap.  In my case, I needed approximately 80 feet of wire for both circuits.

Hookup isn't difficult at all.  The wire is understandably stiff for that gauge wire; so you have to be aware of it, but it's not insurmountable.  Because there are two separate circuits, you must remember to keep the two hot leads for each circuit separate:  that is, each double-pole circuit's hot leads need to stay paired up.

I used flexible water heater connectors (braided metal) for the plumbing side of it and then connected to CPVC.  Again, it's not complicated.

Construction on the inside looks solid and actually quite elegant.  The basic premise of the circuit is simple.  Two heating elements (each one is fed by its own circuit, hence the need for two circuits) are provided power through high current relays that are controlled by a microprocessor.  The relays are kept cool by a heat sink that is connected to the incoming water line.  A flowmeter is attached to the inlet; so the heaters do not operate until it detects water flowing.  The display on the heater lights up whenever it's switched on and gives an indication of the water temperature that you've selected.  You can select up to 140 degrees F, but I've kept ours at 120 F thus far.  There are safety features built in in the form of thermostats on the inlet and outlet to disable the current if temperatures exceed a safe level.

Because this heater is designed for low flow rates (2-3 gallons per minute), users should be reasonable with their expectations.  It is NOT designed to run two bathrooms, a kitchen, a dishwasher, and a washing machine simultaneously.  I had two sinks going at once, and the temperature did drop some, but it is quite manageable.  One thing you can do to minimize frustration is to just reduce the flow when multiple locations are used.  Most people want to turn on the water full force; just turn it on halfway or less and you will have sufficient hot water for 2 or more locations simultaneously with only minor issues.

This unit has not been in service too long yet; so I can't speak to long-term use issues, but I am impressed thus far with the ease of installation and the quality of construction.
378384
This is an exceptionally compact unit which is great for proving modest quantities of hot water for uses such as hand washing sinks.  Theoretically it is more energy efficient than a large centralized water heater because only small quantities of water are heated as needed rather than keeping it hot all the time.

The fit and finish of the unit I received are ok, but do not show extreme attention to detail. This doesn't matter directly to the unit's performance, but it gives me some concern about how much attention there is to details I can't see, and how that will affect long term reliability.

Do be aware that this unit requires a heavy duty direct wired power connection and doesn't simply plug into a typical outlet.  Only the most experienced electrical DIY person should consider doing the installation themselves.  Otherwise, a call to a professional electrician is in order. The plumbing part of the job is more straightforward if you are comfortable with basic plumbing.

The "US9" version we received is labeled Made in England, but from other reviews it seems like some might be coming from different places.
3150969
I just tested this unit.  It works as advertised.

I filled the unit enclosure with 58 degree water.  The unit on full raised the temperature of the water to 72 degrees - too cool for comfort. Recirculating the output back into the bucket for 4 minutes resulted in a very nice 95 degree output.  4 gallons lated about 4 or 5 minutes.  It pumps water 8 feet up well but don't expect the flow to be amazing. I actually took a shower in the back yard, sorry, no video, and it was adequate, although I am a retired Submariner used to taking a water conserving shower, and I quite bald. Women with a lot of hair to wash... yeah it will probably take a larger bucket or someone to assist by refilling, or use out of a lake or river (which would likely mean a colder shower).

A con is it would be nice if you could start it and stop it , you know, wet down, off, lather up, then start to rinse.  but to stop it you have to turn off the heater and then turn off the hose... not something you can do from within a shower shelter. You'd need an assistant.  As it it it's a 4 minute race to get done before the water runs out.  If the water runs out (or you turn off the pump) and you leave the heater on, you will damage the heating coils, another issue with the unit.

a word of extreme caution - the heater gets very very hot.  You will burn yourself if you touch it! Use near dry grass would be a fire hazard.

Pros:
Works well.
Long output hose.

Cons
Fire hazard, burn hazard
Pretty weak flow, but you'll get clean.
Inadequate temperature without preheating the source water by recircing
Running the heater without water flow will ruin it.
Pick up hose should be longer.
3121952
I wasn't sure the water would be hot enough, WOW I love being wrong for once.lol. Location is a must though, in fla. nice an hot so water is hot. If your in Northern states I would have choosen a stronger unit (reading the zones to match your needs is a must)
As far as install we had our church family help (electric and plumbing need professional for warranty. I was nervous to attempt as diy project. Thank God we did because we found main breaker problem and pipes were moved to bring unit down from attic) Over all easy for pro to install in case of existing unknown issues found and peace of mind, no fire not leaks is always good :-)

We have had no problems, about 8 months now, shower always has hot water for everyone. Yeah! As long as we don't run the dishwasher or laundry at the same time, no problem there, it beats waiting an hour between hot water needs.
3396821
So far it is wonderful. It has a slight click when coming on and shutting off and that is it. I use it to power a hot water recirculating pump to get water hot to the bathroom sink. As soon as I enter it clicks on and I can hear the pump whirring a little. When I am done with my business the water is hot. When I am not in the restroom the water pump can not turn on so I am not heating water in my pipes unnecessarily. What a good combo.
4219832
I must admit, I was a little spectical of the tankless water heater but have to admit it works like a charm. Hot water comes out immediately. Great investment. Look forward to see my electrical bill if any savings.