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(More customer reviews)My conventional water heater died and I decided to go tankless since this is a second home. The price was quite a bit higher than a replacement tank heater, but since I use very little hot water it seemed like a good fit.
The first thing that I ran into was the electric requirements. This thing has four 7000W heating elements and each one requires a separate 30A 240V circuit. Since I didn't have that much room in my service panel, I had to install a 125A sub-panel. This also required pulling four 10-2 cables through the attic and into the utility room. Given the price of copper, this is not an insignificant expense. If I had it to do all over again, I might have moved the water heater closer to the service panel.
The actual pluming was pretty easy. It works just like a regular water heater with 3/4 inch inlet and outlet. The specifications say that a blowoff valve is not required, so I did not install one.
I am a little upset by the design of this thing. The pipes come in from the top and the wiring is on the side. The problem with this arrangement is that any sweating from the pipes runs down into the unit and onto the electrical wiring. I had a small leak in a connection when I first turned the water on and the water dripped down onto the circuit board in the unit. Fortunately, I didn't have the power on yet, but it did take a bit of work to dry everything out. I would have much preferred that the water connection would have been on the bottom and the electricity on the top.
When I powered the unit up, there were a number of clicks and beeps and flashing LEDs. The unit quickly settled down into a constant blinking of a single green LED. The very limited manual indicated that this was the normal operating mode. After a few small tests at the kitchen sink, I was satisfied that the unit was working, so I decided to take a shower.
Everything worked fine and the water was plenty hot enough. As a matter of fact, I will probably turn the temperature down a bit from the factory setting. One issue that I have is that when any of the four elements turn on it causes my lights to flicker slightly. This is a common problem since this also happens with any large electrical load like the heat pump or hot tub. The issue is that the elements seem to be turning on and off constantly during the shower causing a lot of flickering. This is something that I guess I will have to live with.
I only have a 200A service into my house and this is the minimum recommended for this unit. It will be interesting to see how well the power holds up when I have the heat pump, hot tub, and a shower all going at the same time. I probably ought to turn on all the burners on the stove at the same time just to really give it a shakedown.
The only other issue that I have is the apparent lack of information on this unit. I don't believe that the manufacturer has any useful web site or customer support. The manuals that come with the unit are very limited in information. With the unit powered on and idle, there are periodic relay clicks that I assume are normal, but nothing is mentioned in the manual. I am guessing that this is some sort of diagnostics, but I am not really sure.
Over all, I probably would not replace a conventional water heater with this unit again. Given the total cost and time involved, I cannot see that I will ever come close to recovering the investment. I am a technology junkie and like to try new things, so the experience is worth something I guess.
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Watts 500528 Premier Four-Chamber Tankless Electric Hot Water HeaterThe Watts Premier 4-chamber tankless electric hot water heater provides an endless supply of hot water. Designed for potable whole house residential applications as well as commercial applications, such as specialty restaurants, convenience stores, hotels and pet grooming shops, this hot water heater is ideal as a back-up to solar and/or geothermal passive heat recovery systems. Compact, lightweight, and microprocessor controlled, it contains power-sharing technology. The heating chamber is made of performance polymer nylon material.
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