Condensing Verses Non-Condensing Tankless Water Heaters

Condesning tankless

As tankless water heaters become more and more popular the number of manufactures and models are increasing.  A tankless is also referred to as an on demand water heater and as you would expect there is no storage tank on these systems.  Using a more powerful burner a tankless can heat water instantly removing the need for the storage tank.  Although it uses more fuel while heating water it uses absolutely zero any other time, this results in an average of 40% fuel savings over a conventional tank that always keeps your water hot.

On the newer side of things are the condensing tankless water heaters available to home owners now.  These units use two heat exchangers.  The first is primarily used to heat water to your desired temperature.  The second is smaller and located near the top of the unit where the exhaust gases are used to preheat the incoming water.  Using this normally wasted heat in the exhaust bumps up the efficiency of a condensing tankless to 95% or better.

A conventional tankless doesn’t take advantage a second heat exchanger and thus the exhaust gases are much hotter and actually require special venting materials.  This can sometimes add to the cost of installing a tankless.  Whereas your condensing tankless utilizing that second heat exchanger significantly reduces exhaust temperatures, this allows contractors to use less expensive venting materials.


In general for Canadians a condensing tankless works a little better. Preheating the incoming water (which is cold during our winters) allows the tankless to throttle down its gas usage when only a little hot water is needed. Yet, when a high demand appliance requests a lot of hot water the tankless has more than enough power to supply the request. See the recommended Canadian tankless installers and tankless systems.


A condensing tankless cools the normally hot exhaust so much that moisture actually builds up inside the heat exchanger.  Moisture and steam are by-products of combustion and this is a very normal result.  As water clings to the side of the heat exchanger it builds up until it starts to drip down, this water is acidic due to combustion; the water has a pH between 3 and 5.  Rheem has a buffer tank built into its tankless systems to neutralize the condensate.  Rinnai has an external system that buffers this excess water.  Other manufactures have different systems, if you’re interested in any particular one give us a call.

 

To Conclude condensing tankless water heaters are incredibly efficient (up to 98%), and use inexpensive venting material saving on installation costs.  A condensing unit is more expensive to purchase but prices start to even out when purchasing exhaust materials for a regular tankless.  The choice is yours with regards to which system you feel best fits the needs of your home.

If you have any further question don’t hesitate to ask us

Tankless And Water Heater Servicing In Toronto

Water heaters

If you own a tankless it is important to service your system.  A tankless is designed by engineers to have, first and foremost, the heat exchanger and internals scrubbed with a mild acid (vinegar).  The vinegar reacts with a buildup that occurs in all pipes and watercourses (scale and lime deposits) effectively eating it away and clearing the heat exchangers and pipes. This scale acts as an insulator significantly reducing the transfer of heat to water. Engineers have also taken many precautions to ensure that internals and parts of a tankless have as few wear points as possible.  This has increased the lifespan of a tankless water heater to over 20 years!

Direct Energy and several other large companies that rent water heaters are trying to reduce the tankless emergence.  Currently if you’re renting a conventional water heater the system is designed to have a lifespan of around 10 to 12 years.  After this point the water heater will have significant buildup inside severely reducing its efficiency.  The thing is that none of these companies will push you to replace your system since you are the one paying the gas bill and it only affects your homes energy consumption.

What Can You Do?

That’s easy, call the company your renting your water heater from.  They will tell you the buyout costs and the age of the water heater you have.  If the system isn’t very old I would recommend you keep the water heater until it reaches its operational lifespan (10-12 years). If your system is already quite old you may simply need to schedule a removal with your water heater rental company. Then start getting quotes for a tankless system.

Once that new tankless is installed make sure you take care of it, have it flushed once every two years at the minimum (or flush it yourself).  A flush is simple preventative maintenance that will ensure your system makes it past the expected 20 year lifespan while maintaining its 98% efficiency rating!

Tankless Water Heater Service Valves

Toronto and Area Tankless Services

Service Valves on a Tankless are Important

The service valves on a tankless are essential for cleaning the insides of your tankless.  The valves allow an easy method of changing the incoming and outgoing water from one source to another.  Why would you need this feature? Well your tankless is designed to last more than 20 years and this requires that the scale and lime buildup that forms on the inside of the system is flushed or cleaned out.  The scale forms fastest in situations where water is rapidly heated, so the heat exchanger is the primary location of buildup.

It is not mandatory that these service valves are installed but any good contractor will have included them in the price and if you have a tankless you probably have some already.

The Service Valves Use

Cleaning your tankless requires you to shut the fuel source down, unplug the unit, switch the incoming and outgoing water over with the service valves.  Then you can simply hook up some hoses to the in and out ports on the service valves and pump vinegar or some acidic solution though the tankless.  The acid eats the scale and restores the tankless to its original efficiency.Toronto and Area Tankless Services

Scale buildup quickly reduces the efficiency of your tankless by significantly slowing the transfer of heat to water. 

So if you have a tankless tank a quick peek at your system and see of your contractor or installer included the service valves.  If not, don’t worry they can always be installed after the fact.  Give us a call and we can install some and flush your tankless at the same time.

Service Valves Specifications

  • 3/4″ union connections
  • Colour coded handles and unions
  • Staggered connection points to easy access and installation
  • Forward facing purge/flush ports ease routine servicing
  • Purge/drain hose connection port and cap
  • Full port, quarter turn valves

Ontario Water Hardness Levels

An instant hot or tankless water heater is extremely efficient.  The system relies on its advanced heat exchanger to quickly heat up water.  Scale and Lime tend to build up faster when water is heated, so to combat this problem a tankless is usually installed with flush valves, which allow vinegar to be pushed through the system dissolving the build up and returning the tankless to its original efficiency level.  This build up is exponentially increased as the grains or water hardness increases in communities and towns throughout Ontario.

Hard Water Causes Inefficiency

Below is an extensive list of Ontario cities and the corresponding water hardness that is present in the water supply.  The higher the number of grains the harder your water is, which, in turn produces more scale and deposits in your water heater, on shower heads, around faucets, and so forth.  A conventional water heater will become much less efficient with time in a hard water situation, and it can’t be cleaned. For this reason we recommend a tankless system that can be cleaned with a vinegar solution, restoring efficiency.

Quick Hard Water Exercise:

  1. Lookup your city and see if you have hard water
  2. Think about how old that 40 gallon hot water tank is in your house
  3. Know that in on average at 7.5 grains of hard water a regular tank loses 2% efficiency a year to due scale build up
  4. That 2% doubles to 4% at 15 grains and so on…..
  5. After you do the math a tankless that is able to be cleaned of all scale becomes very economical

 

CityHardness (grains)Population
Almonte17.52805
Amhurstburg6.56060
Ancaster196718
Arnprior12.28663
Aurora17see Newmarket
Azilda121403
Barrie9.541990
Beamsville15.63864
Belleville634391
Bracebridge25304
Brampton24.258571
Brantford2442053
Brockville7.511302
Burks Falls101200
Burlington947562
Carleton Place5.54956
Cayuga120905
Chatham1319874
Cippawa8.6N/A
Clifford15660
Clinton13.22136
Cobalt4461
Cobourg7.57234
Cochrane182474
Collingwood4.59632
Copper Cliff2N/A
Cornwall719290
Craigment4N/A
Delhi182819
Deseronto8.41314
Dryden3.55900
Dundas1710320
Dunnville213830
Elmira29390
Essex33.43658
Etobicoke8109153
Fonthill15.62495
Fort Williams1N/A
Galt22930
Gannonoque73759
Goderich5.54808
Grimsby86821
Guelph2230652
Hagersville302055
Haileybury21243
Hamilton7.5147943
Harrow49.83112
Hanover133915
Hawkesbury25300
Hespeler26550
Ingersoll24.44269
Iroquois Falls4.52005
Islington16.220137
Kapuskasing63490
Kemptville16.46130
Kenora49929
Kingston7.537776
Kirkland Lake34712
Kitchener4087480
Lansing21N/A
Leamington1417253
Lindsay8.527220
Listowel139907
London25149133
Lucan13N/A
Lucknow16.4977
Meaford122978
Merritton8.5N/A
Midland816268
Mitchell16.21907
Matawa5
Mount Forest252937
New Liskeard163306
Newmarket10.553915
New Toronto8see Toronto
Niagara Falls829250
North Bay124960
North York Twsp.18173099
Norwick141220
Oakville734364
Orillia1019999
Oshawa7.538796
Ottawa3181258
Owen Sound1520688
Paisley19.5829
Paris202984
Parkhill141145
Parry Sound43020
Pembroke215357
Penetanguishene7.5see Midland
Perth45596
Peterborough540913
Picton72265
Port Arthur6N/A
Port Colborne76291
Port Dover13.2N/A
Port Elgin38.41852
Port Hope7.55553
Prescott73553
Preston17620
Renfrew2.512221
Richmond Hill17.272717
St. Catharines740750
St. Mary’s22.81475
St. Thomas11.529300
Sarnia738869
Sault Ste. Marie329847
Scarborough8.5155061
Seaforth17.51496
Shelburne12N/A
Simcoe1216900
Smith Falls56904
Stratford3014604
Strathroy17.55543
Sturgeon Falls23134
Sudbury2.553168
Tavistock30.41893
Tecumseh7.85953
Teeswater32616
Thorold85848
Tillsonburg128925
Timmins219055
Toronto7.5319202
Trenton146120
Twin Province17.5N/A
Uxbridge15.43533
Walkerton8.82651
Wallaceburg6.55822
Waterloo28see Kitchener
Welland819258
Weston109448
Whitby7.519750
Windsor672436
Woodbridge16.211770
Woodroffe22.5N/A
Woodstock2.526041

It’s always a good idea to have your water tested to determine not only water quality but water hardness and this list should be considered just a rough guide.

Tankless Flushing 139$

Flushing your tankless is essential to maintaining its high efficiency rating. A tankless flush will remove all of the scale and lime that has built up on your heat exchanger saving you money and helping the environment. Give us a call today to schedule your next service.

Scale builds up fast inside a tankless as the water hardness of a certain area increases.  Check out this chart of water hardness in cities around Southern Ontario and see how much your water heater is at risk for scale buildup.

Having a clean tankless is the most important factor in keeping your tankless at its highest efficiency level. If you have had a tankless installed already by a reputable company you will have service valves, but if you paid a bargain basement price for your tankless the contractor probably omitted the valves to save money (they can still be added to the system after the fact). These valves isolate the heat exchanger allowing it to be flushed or cleaned of lime scale, calcium, and general buildup which acts as an insulator preventing the water from absorbing heat more readily. A tankless flush with a vinegar solution will dissolve the buildup effectively reviving the factory level of efficiency.

We at Go Tankless only use food grade citric acid or food grade phosphorus acid to flush the inside of your tankless. This is a potable water system and if any contractor says they use a solution of CLR or some other highly acidic poisonous solution do not let them near your house! The last thing you want is to be introducing poisons to your drinking system.

Our tankless flushing service covers most of Southern Ontario, give us a call and we can schedule a flush for your water heater.  A tankless flushing is a quick process and only takes about an hour.