Propane Gas Tankless Water Heater Guide

Gas tankless water heaters are the most preferred tankless heaters right now simply because of the easy availability of propane. Natural gas is the most efficient when it comes to gases but it is not as widely or easily available. Propane on the other hand is very easily found.

A propane tankless water heater works along the same principle as an electrical tankless heater system. They have a flow monitor that monitors the flow of the water through them. When this flow is nil a auto shut-off switch cuts off the supply of propane killing the flame. When you need water and turn on the tap, this switch opens the valve that supplies propane while at the same time giving a spark that will cause the gas to ignite. This is done electronically and is pretty safe and sure. In fact if the flame does not catch within a few seconds, the propane supply is automatically shut off once again.

Reliable and Long Lasting

This is a tried and tested technology and there has not been many cases of this failing. If you go for the better built ones from the good quality manufacturers this risk is reduced even further. In fact most companies give you a 5 yr warranty on parts, so sure are they that there will not be a problem with their product.

If you have a storage water heater, you would be surprised to find out how much electricity is used just by that one element. Up to 20 to 30% of your power bills come from just this one appliance so if you manage to get even a 10% savings it is a big deal. Most gas heaters will give you up to 50% less on your heating bills. No wonder then that this is catching on quite fast.

Obviously if you already have a working storage system in your home, it may not be worth it to replace it with one of this, unless your power consumption is going too high. If however you are looking to change it then going for one of these is a very good idea.

There is nothing additional that is required except for a vent that is needed to carry out the exhaust gases. If you are installing it outside then even this is not required. You just hang it on the wall, yes it is only around 40 or 45 lbs when it is full and connect it to the cold and hot water pipes and you are done. Obviously you will have to keep monitoring the propane cylinders, but if you are getting piped supply, you are pretty much set for life.

Heater Capacity

Just make sure that you get the required capacity. The flow rate reduces with higher temperature and if you have harsh winters you should get one that will satisfy your needs even when it is operating at minimum capacity. For example if you feel that you will need a system that will supply two showers at the same time then going for one with a 5 Gallon Per Minute flow rate is more than sufficient. The problem is that at this flow rate you will get water that is only around 35 °F higher than the ambient water temperature.

While this might be sufficient it is definitely not in winter when you may have to heat water up to 75 °F more than the ambient temperature. At this temperature setting you will get only around 3.5 GPM which may not be sufficient for your needs at all.

These heaters can pretty much be used anywhere and as long as proper venting is provided there are no issues with having them indoors too. In fact if you either have a very large household or are looking for hot water solutions for hotels and such this provides a very good option because of its scalability. A number of these heaters can be connected either in series or parallel and controlled with a single controller which will either switch on or off any number of these heaters depending on the demand.

Propane Problems

The only negative is that if you are installing them for your home, you cannot keep them set at a temperature that is right for you to have a bath in. this means that you could either go with having two separate units, one for the rest of your home and another for your bathrooms, or you could install a small electric water heater that will heat water just that little bit more so that you can take a shower. Although the former way would be a better option, not everyone would have set their piping to accommodate this, and you need to choose the right option for you.