Home Improvement

In that case, I would assume they’re talking about how cold the incoming water would be.

I used a tankless in a zone five area where our incoming water in the winter was often below 60 degrees. You’ll have to compare the charts of input temp and output GPH to determine how it would work for your specific use case.

I used an indoor mounted one, but there are tankless models intended for places like CA and AZ where they can be mounted outside.

We liked the endless hot water - we only had one bath and three people, so we offer were bumping against the 60 gallons of our old tank model.

Why do you want tankless? If it’s not for space and “endless” hot water, then tankless may not be right for you.

Consider a heat pump tanked water heater if you’re looking for efficiency improvements.

A good reason to get one is for endless hot water. We had kids in sports and on Sunday night everyone could shower and run the clothes washer. Now they are out of the house it doesn’t make much sense. We also live in a drought state so hour long showers aren’t an option.

Another reason is space. We reclaimed the water tank space and put in a mud sink.

Reasons to stick with a traditional tank:

The tank can act as a water supply, if you need it.

The upfront costs to add upgrade the gas line and venting are steep.

I live in Canada where it often gets below -20c in the winter. I have a cheap electric water heater (eco smart) and it does our house of two people fine. It's a little slow to fill our tub, though. Cold weather has nothing to do with tankless vs storage water heaters. The company we hire to do our plumbing and HVAC installs in new homes we build often recommends Navien gas water heaters. They work great at high flow rates but require direct ventilation of the combustion gas. The last two homes I built used Navien tankless heaters and the home owners are extremely happy with them. Talk to a different installer in your area. HVAC contractors are probably to be the most knowledgeable.