Anyone have a Rinnai tankless water heater?

[tinkerer]

Hello! I am thinking about replacing my current water heater with a rinnai tankless water heater. I currently have a Bosch tankless that has been somewhat troublesome. A plumber recommended a rinnai and I just wanted to see if anyone has had any experience with them and if they like them or not?

Ben

[Thob]

I have a Rinnai, I think it's the RL75i (or similar).  Runs on propane, we've had it about 9 months.  The only problem I've had is that it doesn't work well with high incoming water temperatures.  In the summer, our incoming water gets fairly warm and the unit will shut off if you're not using a fair amount of water.  This has lead to a couple of surprises during the middle of a shower!  So in the hottest part of the summer I have to keep the flow rate at max during a shower.  Other than that, it has worked great.  I bought it online, and bought the service valves and vent kit online as well; then installed it myself.  I had to do a lot of digging to find the right vent, mine goes up thru the roof.  It seems that most of the online vendors want to sell the "thru the wall" vent.

I think somewhere on these forums there was a discussion about tankless water heaters that work well with solar heat, you should try a search and see if you can find it.  I think some of them are more friendly with pre-heated water.

Sometimes I just love to take a very long shower...

[DanG]

Watch the pH of the water & minerals content. Many top name on-demand water heaters die an early death from carbonates, iron. etc. Our city-water here comes out of the tap at 8.4pH and 440ppm salts so the high-tech things are off-limits!

[bobansen]

Hi all, Yes I also have a Rinnai, its a model# REU-58E. six (6) years old used daily for the family bathing, plus at the kitchen sink. I would highly recommend you get one.
Although Thob reports incoming water temp can cause problems, ours is unaffected, it has low and high water flow input and also high-low gas input. if water is warm input simply put gas on low setting and water on high flow.
I also have a solar water heater on the roof and that DOES get the temp high, but is fed into a storage tank so I can blend it with cold.
good luck with whatever route you take.
Bobbie

[tinkerer]

Thanks everyone for your input. I plan on feeding mine preheated water from a coil in a coal stove and possibly a solar setup for in the summer. I've had a few poeple tell me that the incoming water should be atleast 20degress less than what you have your temp set at for best luck.

Ben

[Thob]

Check the instructions for Rinnai - I think you can download them before you buy.  I recall that they specify max of 90 degrees F on the incoming water.  It may also depend on which model you buy.  I don't think I mentioned it, but I'm really pleased with mine.  The problem I described above with it shutting off during the hot summer was pretty minor to me.

Which reminds me, it's almost time for the annual flush.  Which is why you need to get the service valves, you shut off the incoming and outgoing water, then use a submersible pump in a bucket to circulate vinegar thru the unit (shut it off so it doesn't heat).  The service valves come with water hose connections and make this easy.