Hybrid Water Heater

 I watched This Old House tonight and they happened to talk about the water
heater they put in the lastest fixed up house. After years of pimping
tankless water heaters as the greatest thing since the invention of indoor
plumbing the smiling faces finally realized that tankless water heaters have
drawbacks and just suck. So now they are pimping hybrid waster heaters.

So I figured given the track record of This Old House that hybrid waster
heaters must be even more expensive than tankless water heaters, still
manage to suck and make no economic sense.

I was right. One of the cheaper ones, at a discount price, is $1655. And the
3 out of 4 reviewers agree it sucks.

(Amazon.com product link shortened)

I didn't even  bother to look at the ones that cost over $2000. And don't
forget that installation isn't cheap for hybrid or tankless water heaters.

I'm glad to just be using the old fashioned tank water heater (natural gas)
and wasting about $11.99 a year in standby energy loss.

 
  [ ... ]

I looked into a tankless water heater a few weeks ago; not only would it
cost $1600 for the heater, all tankless water heaters require at least a
3/4" gas line (the one to my water heater was 1/2"), changing the gas
pipe requires a permit from the city, which would take a week, and they
require cleaning every four months--or they clog with scale.

Not being interested in cold water showers for a week in January, or the
nearly 3x price for the heater, I stuck with a tank-style heater.

In the course of all this, I discovered that Mr. Rooter bases prices for
water heaters on popularity--the most popular (30 gallon) are the most
expensive at $750. I ended up with a $675 40 gallon, because a even
cheaper 50 gallon wouldn't fit.

This is one case where higher volume production doesn't lead to lower
prices.


Gary