If you've been shopping around for tankless hot water heaters, you've likely noticed that while the price is often comparable or even lower than that of a traditional hot water heater, the installation charges are significantly higher. This may have you wondering if you should just install that tankless water heater yourself.
Well, there's a reason why having a tankless water heater installed costs so much more than having a traditional one installed. Installing a tankless hot water heater is significantly more difficult and time consuming than installing traditional hot water heater. This is one of those times when you may want to think twice about being a do it yourselfer.
The tankless hot water heaters work best when there are short distances between the heater and fixtures, and the fixtures are clustered.You may have heard the term, "cold water sandwich" in relation to tankless hot water heaters. A "cold water sandwich" is a pocket of water in the pipes that has cooled in the time lapsed between the last fixture demand and the faucet you just opened. These are no fun, and they waste water, since you're likely to just let that water go down the drain. Cold water sandwiches are much more likely to happen when the distance between the heater and the fixture is great. This is why reviewing your home's layout is so important. You might be better off with multiple units.
When installing your tankless hot water heater, you'll also want to prevent back drafting of the exhaust, so the heating unit's proximity to operable windows and other openings must be considered according to the manufacturer's recommendations. You'll also need a dedicated flue for your tankless hot water heater.
As you can see, the installation is pretty detailed and requires a significant amount of knowledge. We all like to save money by doing it ourselves, but this is one time when you probably should leave the installation to the professionals.
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