When it comes to on demand hot water, many consider the gas fired tankless hot water heater to be the gold standard. Of course, there is a big difference between the best and the run-of-mill. So here is what we should be looking out for.
The tankless gas water heater has been a feature of homes in Europe and Japan for a long, long time, but has only recently begun to gather a loyal following in North America. But the technology is well worked out, tested around the world over many decades.
One of the biggest advantages of instant hot water heaters are that they do not run out of water like a tank does. There is however a caveat to this - these instantaneous units can only supply a certain maximum rate per minute. If your combined appliances exceed this limit then the water will not be piping hot.
This is where most electric tankless water heater systems lose out over gas. The vast majority of electric units cannot handle high loads (though they are perfect as booster units and are usually very reasonably priced). Gas on the other hand can produce a lot of hot water, providing you buy as sufficiently rated unit. This is the first thing to get right - gallons per minute.
The other thing with a propane or natural gas tankless water heater is to check the efficiency. This is where the biggest gains have been made recently and you should be easily able to find a unit that performs at 90% plus efficiency.