Seeking Advice: Hot Water Supply

[havasu]

Are they point of use electric tankless, for hand washing in a sink, or will they work good in a bath or shower?

 

[chinarus]

I have a large RHEEM that is whole house - 2 baths with showers, 1/2 bath sink, kitchen, and laundry. The rental house was a remodel addition of a new master and laundry and it has a small tankless unit for the original kitchen, bar sink, and full bath. I added a larger unit for a new master bath and laundry. In progress of adding another bath upstairs and may have to add point use unit there but maybe not with infrequent usage.
So right now I have 3 different brands in service each one is a different capacity.

Distance (time to wait for hot water to reach the faucet or shower) and concurrent demand for hot water are the biggest variables for happiness.
They work for me as a good tradeoff to reduce electricity consumption without moving to a complex solution.

 

[MicEd69]

Quick follow up question from folks suggestions - do you guys have a suggestion on the best place for sourcing elements? I have been looking for titanium heating elements online but I only find ones for Rheem. Not sure if that is a Rheem only thing or I am just looking in the wrong places.

They are out of stock at Home Depot in my area.




But I don't know if they are really worth the extra price versus standard copper or chrome plated copper.

And as long as the dimensions are the roughly same and the threads are a standard 1", the Rheem elements will likely fit and work just fine.

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

They are out of stock at Home Depot in my area.

View attachment 47438


But I don't know if they are really worth the extra price versus standard copper or chrome plated copper.

And as long as the dimensions are the roughly same and the threads are a standard 1", the Rheem elements will likely fit and work just fine.

Seeing that price difference, I'd probably buy stainless steel and a spare set to have "on the shelf" and still have money in my pocket...

 

[GReynolds929]

I have several tankless electric units that work great. In my opinion, the primary concern for installation is the distance from the tankless unit to the faucet and having adequate electrical wiring and for installation. The original units were conventional electric and propane was my only other option.
A Licensed plumbing contractor owned the properties prior to me.

If your ground water is warm enough they can work okay, but in most situations they are not practical due to the large amount of power required to use them for whole house situations. You cannot use the same wire that powers an electric tank heater. For a 36+ Kilowatt tankless your looking at 4 separate 40-60 Amp circuits and appropriate wiring, possibly a panel/service upgrade. In my area the ground water is 50°-55° and the largest unit will only produce 2-3 gpm at best. Not practical at all.