HVAC - Day 7

The HVAC contractors returned for the final day of work.  We bid a fond farewell to our traditional 40-gallon water heater...

and issued a warm welcome to our new fancy-schmancy Noritz tankless on-demand water heater.

The new unit is wall-mounted and vents directly outside the house (instead of up through the chimney).   It requires significantly less space than a traditional water heater.  The water is heated "instantly" as needed so there is no need for a storage tank.  When you turn on the hot water at the tap  or in the shower, a gas burner is ignited within the unit that heats the water.   The hot water makes its way through the pipes to your location.  When the hot water is turned off, the unit also turns off.  

The benefits of a tankless unit include not running out of hot water, increased energy efficiency and lower cost of energy to operate.   The drawbacks are the large up-front cost to install and the unit will not work if there is a power outage.

For more detailed information on how the tankless unit works, stop by the Noritz website.