Posted by Harold Kestenholz - Hydronic Network on January 05, 2000 at 10:07:50:
In Reply to: BOSCH AQUASTAR posted by JIM on January 05, 2000 at 08:59:37:
If your hot water use is for showers and tubs of water, and you heat your tea and small amounts in a pot, and you will have factory representatives in to completely clean and repair your instantaneous heater every year as done in Europe or Japan, the unit should suit your needs.
An instantaneous gas heater uses the same blowtorch to heat a cup of water as it does your shower water, so you will have a water heater that has a gas flame that is larger than the one used to heat your house.
Your old water heater lasted many years, so the water is not hard; this is important, because many instant water heaters use small tubes that can lime up and burn out in hard water areas.
Otherwise they do save money by not losing heat as does a 40-gallon vessel sitting all day throwing heat away. As the gas bill for heating water for a family is about $240 per year, you could save about $60 per year, This would amortise a $1000 installation in about 16 years.