Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions about Tankless Water Heaters in Austin Texas
1. What is a tankless water heater?
2. What type of fuel do Rinnai tankless heaters use?
3. Does Rinnai make electric tankless units?
4. How does a Rinnai tankless system work?
5. Why are Rinnai tankless water heaters so efficient?
6. What is the Energy Factor of Rinnai tankless heaters?
7. Does a higher Energy Factor mean that I will always
have lower operating costs?
8. Do Rinnai tankless water heaters qualify for an energy
tax credit?
9. How much do Rinnai tankless heaters cost?
10. Why are tankless units so expensive?
11. Rinnai makes exterior units. Do they freeze in the
winter?
12.
How much power does a Rinnai tankless unit use?
13. Does a Rinnai tankless Heater have a standing pilot
light?
14. How is the Rinnai interior unit vented?
15. Why do I need exterior combustion air?
16. What is the minimum water flow rate required to
operate a Rinnai?
17. What does it mean when Rinnai says that the R85i fires
from 15,000 to 180,000 btus / hour?
18. Why do Rinnai tankless units use touch pad controls?
19. Do all Rinnai tankless units come with Remote Touch
Pad controls?
20. I want a control in each of my bathrooms. How many can
go on a single Rinnai?
21. I have an existing home and control wire is difficult
to run. Does Rinnai have wireless controls?
22.
Are Rinnai tankless units mobile home approved?
1. What is a tankless water heater?
Tankless water heaters in Austin Tx are revolutionizing the way modern
homes meet their water heating needs. These compact units can produce an
unlimited amount of hot water to without any fluctuation in temperature.
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2. What type of fuel do Rinnai tankless water heaters use?
Tankless Water Heaters in Austin Texas installed by us are Rinnai.
All Rinnai tankless units are either LP or natural gas fired. This is
because clean burning gas systems can be designed to provide hot water
to a large household at the highest efficiencies available.
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3. Does Rinnai make electric tankless units?
No. There are electric tankless units available, but they have two
distinct problems:
First, the cost of electricity is, on average, significantly higher than
LP or natural gas. The operating cost of electric tankless units tend to
be much higher.
Second, electric tankless water heaters can only produce a relatively
small amount of hot water. This is because they require a large amount
of electrical current to produce a significant amount of hot water. For
example, in order to have the same capacity as our smallest unit you
would need to provide about 120 amps of power to an electric tankless
unit. This represents well over half the amperage capacity of a typical
home and 5 times the amperage of a typical central air conditioning
system.
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4. How does a Rinnai tankless system work?
Conventional water tanks heat and store hot water around the clock.
Because of this you are heating and re-heating water, and constantly
losing energy up your vent and through the walls of the tank. A tankless
water heater installed in Austin Tx by Texas Water Heaters only comes on
when you start to use hot water, and immediately shuts off when you are
done, so you are not wasting energy when you do not need hot water.
Tankless water heaters have much more effective heat exchanger and
burner systems than conventional tanks. This allows you to utilize a
much higher percentage of your energy dollar rather than wasting it up
the vent stack of a conventional tank water heater.
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5. Why are Rinnai tankless water heaters so efficient?
Rinnai has decades of experience in designing and building tankless
water heaters throughout the world. Rinnai's precisely designed
components are microprocessor controlled to maximize efficiency. They do
not store hot water, waste energy by using a conventional chimney, and
have electronic ignition so there is no wasteful pilot flame.
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6. What is the Energy Factor of Rinnai tankless heaters?
Water heaters are performance rated by the US Department of Energy. The
performance measure that they have developed is the Energy Factor (EF).
The higher the Energy Factor the more efficient the water heating system
is. Most gas fired water tanks have an Energy Factor of only about .62.
If you have an existing older tank it is likely to be .55 or less.
Rinnai tankless units all have Energy Factors of .80 or greater so they
are much more efficient than tanks.
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7. Does a higher Energy Factor mean that I will always have lower
operating costs?
Given a specific fuel and a specific number of gallons of hot water
used, the higher the EF, the lower the operating cost.
Some people do not experience as much savings with tankless because with
tankless there is no longer an artificial barrier to hot water use. With
conventional tanks you will run out of hot water after a period of use,
but with Rinnai tankless, this will not happen. In some homes this
increases the gallons of hot water used, but its great to have all the
hot water you need, when you need it.
Given different fuels EF may not accurately predict energy cost. For
instance a Rinnai tankless unit with an EF of .85 will always have far
lower operating cost than an electric tank with an EF of .90 (given
current national average fuel costs.)
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8. Do Rinnai Tankless water heaters qualify for an energy tax credit?
Yes, most Rinnai tankless units qualify for the 2006-2007 $300 tax
credit.
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9. How much do Rinnai tankless heaters cost?
In general modern tankless units cost 2 to 3 times as much as
conventional tank type water heaters. However, the energy saved
typically results in paybacks of a few years or less for a family of
four.
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10. Why are tankless units so expensive?
Tankless units cost more than tanks, but are a better value. They save
money every day, provide a high level of performance and safety, and
last three times as long as a normal tank type heater. They save floor space
and have a unique flexibility to be placed in locations closer to points
of use to further cut energy cost and reduce water consumption. They are
one of the best investments you will ever make.
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11. Rinnai makes exterior units. Do they freeze in the winter?
Rinnai makes both interior units (which are sealed combustion and vented
outdoors) and exterior units. All Rinnai units are designed to operate
properly to outdoor temperatures of minus 30° F. Exterior units will not
freeze even well below zero as long as they have electrical power and
gas. However, the water connections to an exterior unit must be properly
protected from cold conditions by the installer to prevent these water
lines from freezing.
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12. How much power does a Rinnai tankless unit use?
This varies based on the size, but this is typically less that 100 watts
per hour during operation, and adds up to only a few dollars of
electrical energy per year. The Rinnai operates on normal household 120
volt AC current.
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13. Does a Rinnai tankless Heater have a standing pilot light?
No. It has direct spark electronic ignition.
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14. How is the Rinnai interior unit vented?
Rinnai interior units are all sealed combustion and utilize a power
draft system. Rinnai's exclusive pipe within a pipe concentric vent
draws combustion air in from outdoors and expels flue gas back out
through a single wall or roof penetration. This is the only cool to the
touch tankless water heating vent system available.
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15. Why do I need exterior combustion air?
Many of our competitors offer units that utilize combustion air from
inside your home. While this might sound like a good idea, we have found
that it is not. Tankless water heaters have a large gas capacity and can
need a lot of combustion air. Most homes do not have the free space
necessary to install a tankless water heater to code with out making
significant modifications to your home. For us, it just makes sense to
do it right the first time and not take the risk associated with
improper interior make-up air design.
Even if you do have the huge open space necessary to install a system
with interior combustion air, that unit will be drawing thousands of
cubic feet of conditioned air from inside your home each day, and will
discharge it outdoors. To replace this, outdoor air will be drawn back
into your home through infiltration and will need to be warmed or cooled
by your HVAC system. To us, this is an unacceptable waste of energy.
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16. What is the minimum water flow rate required to operate a Rinnai?
The Rinnai tankless water heater must be able to sense water flow in
order to initiate operation. Most Rinnai models will operate with flow
rates as low as 0.5 gallons per minute. This is the lowest minimum flow
rate in the industry and is an important benefit.
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17. What does it mean when Rinnai says that the R85i fires from 15,000
to 180,000 btus / hour?
Unlike old style tank water heaters which fire at only one rate, most
modern tankless water heaters will use only the amount of gas necessary
to heat the hot water being used at any given time. To do this they
measure the incoming water temperature and the flow rate, compare that
to the desired output temperature, and fire at the rate necessary to
meet this need. If you change any of these variables, the tankless unit
re-calculates and adjusts its firing rate accordingly. The tankless unit
will therefore fire anywhere between its minimum and maximum firing
rate.
Rinnai units offer the lowest minimum flow rates available. As with
minimum flow rates, the lower the minimum firing rate the more
flexibility you will have when you only want a small amount of hot
water.
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18. Why do Rinnai tankless units use touch pad controls?
They allow the homeowner to interact with the water heater. You can set
your desired temperature from a minimum of 98 degrees to a maximum of
140 degrees. You can verify that the unit is operating, and our optional
advanced controls can perform many additional functions.
The touch pad displays any service information or error codes. This
allows you, and your professional Rinnai service person, to quickly
review the unit history, determine the cause of any problems, and
correct those issues accurately and quickly.
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19. Do all Rinnai tankless units come with Remote Touch Pad controls?
Yes, all Rinnai models come with a touch pad control.
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20. I want a control in each of my bathrooms. How many controls can go
on a single Rinnai?
Four
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21. I have an existing home and control wire is difficult to run. Does
Rinnai have wireless controls?
Yes, and we have advanced controls that allow you to interact with your
water heater even more effectively.
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22. Are Rinnai tankless units mobile home approved?
No. Federal law governing manufactured housing requires that gas
equipment installed in mobile homes be field convertible from LP to
natural gas or visa versa, and Rinnai tankless units are not
convertible.
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