;

Today in class we learned all about water heaters.  When considering a tankless water heater there are several questions that come up.  The first thing to consider is to heat water “instantly” it takes a LOT of energy.  Let’s consider a modern residential tankless gas model.
tankless-waterheater-btu

Here is the math to equal that heat in using electricity.  We all love math…
tankless-btus-wattsSo the next question should be “How much power do I have in an electrical panel?”
I am sorry, more math….
whole-house-watage-200-amp-panelSo that is the power for the whole house, 48,000 watts and to equal this gas equivalent water heater you need 58,000. So..electrictanklesswaterheaters

In all but small point of use applications, tankless electric is not really practical.

This concludes today’s plumbing lesson, tomorrow we learn electrical.

Categories: Uncategorized

JJ Greive

JJ & Suzanne are both licensed, highly skilled inspectors and educators. We are the authors of our class curriculum, and truly enjoy sharing this with our students