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Tankless water heaters are rising in popularity thanks primarily to their limited energy consumption. Besides savings, however, many consumers have switched to tankless water heaters for their space-saving design and variety. Those looking to heat water for a small house or an entire office complex can usually find a model and plan right for their project, regardless of whether they need a central water heater or demand heaters next to major appliances.
Not all tankless water heaters are suited for every situation, however, and here are five very important things to consider before going tankless.
Do you need Natural gas or Propane?
Although tank-less water heater are electrical unit they run off either natural gas or liquid propane. This source of gas at times can be an issue and the question must be asked.
Which is the best choice for you and your water heater? The choice is up to you.
Depending where you live. Some areas only offer natural gas which in most metropolitan areas is the norm. For those who live if the aerial areas propane is the only choice which when it comes to tank-less heater you still have the ability to use large residential propane tanks this can be an issue when choosing the correct heater for one’s application. Propane tanks would need to be filled every time one runs out of gas, which presents a dilemma if one is not aware how much their propane capacity is.
How Effective Are Tankless Water Heaters?
Traditional water heaters can boil water just as hot as any tankless water heaters but are less efficient and less timely in the way they heat the water. Tankless heaters are more effective in heating water by a factor of plus or minus 2 degrees in less time.
In addition, tankless heaters can heat multiple fixtures with ease. But depending on the ratio of water to fixtures you may have to purchase multiple units.
If you properly install your tankless heater with a Noritz professional, users can reduce the hassle of experiencing heat loss, temperature fluctuations, or calls to Noritz Support for troubleshooting.
What Can You Afford?
Tankless water heaters save money in the long run, but they do cost more up front than a traditional water heater. If you decide you need multiple tankless water heaters, you have the ability to connect multiple units such’s as a NRC98-DV through system controllers. This allow the units to communicate and work together to meet the heating demands when necessary.
Do You Re-Circulate Water?
While it isn’t impossible to attach a re-circulation system to a tankless water heater, it comes at a cost. Not only will your ‘tankless’ water heater likely need a side tank, but contractors will have to dedicate a lot of time to the project. One way to cut down these cost is by looking into tankless heaters such as the NRCP or the Combi line of heaters. Both lines come with built- in re-circulating pumps which cut down on additional hardware.
Are You Ready to Make a Change?
Once you’ve thoroughly examined your options, it’s important to make sure you’re ready for the change. A new system will always require an adjustment period for users. Change can be a good thing, though. After all, going tankless means lower energy bills, and that is something consumers are always ready to try.
As you consider, think about your situation, your demands, and the potential benefits of a tankless water heater. Are you ready to go tankless?
Combi Boiler Training
Noritz University has a new class. Part one of what will be a two-part course on the new CB Combination Boiler is now available for professional plumbing, hydronic heating and HVAC contractors to take online, free of charge.
The training prepares contractors to be on the forefront of a rapidly expanding segment of the residential boiler market, offering them a competitive advantage in meeting this growing demand.
The award-winning CB Combi is a year-round, whole-home solution that delivers hot water to both plumbing and hydronic heating applications. Its fuel-saving performance meets “Energy Star Most Efficient” standards, which represent the EPA’s highest efficiency rating and allow homeowners to qualify for various state energy rebates.
Part one of the course covers basic features, specs, system components, applications and venting options. Here’s a breakdown of the course contents:
PRODUCT SERIES:
RESOURCES
Trainees can register by signing up at www.training.noritz.com. Members of Noritz’s PROCard program can elevate their Noritz “Power Rankings” by successfully completing the course. This means their contact information will show up higher in the program’s search results and thus be more visible to prospective customers.
The course takes approximately 30 minutes to complete and includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end. A second part to the course, which will offer a more in-depth synopsis of system setup and troubleshooting, will be available by the end of August.
In addition to this latest course on the CB Combi, Noritz University offers three others: The Online Residential Level 1 Training; The CDR1 Training for the NRCP series of residential, condensing tankless water heaters; and the EZTR40 Training.
“The CB Combi is a revolutionary product that allows consumers to combine their comfort heating and domestic hot water into one space-saving solution,” explains Jason Fleming, Sr. Marketing and Customer Care Manager for Noritz. “Taking the course will effectively prepare contractors to offer this unique technology to their customers.”
We’re launching a competition here at Noritz where you could win a $500 Visa gift card by sharing up to three of your best Noritz tankless water heater installations, including photos and a brief description, on our Facebook and/or Instagram pages. Here’s how it works:
Perhaps you’re a plumbing contractor who recently installed a new Noritz tankless water heating system in your customer’s home. Or, perhaps you’re a homeowner who now has a tankless unit providing limitless hot water. Either way, snap a photo and share it with us. Be sure to include our hashtag #GoForNoritz with each post!
Posting on Facebook:
Posting on Instagram:
Entrants may enter up to three times between the dates of August 10-31. Three winners will be randomly selected during the final week of August and announced across all Noritz social media platforms.
Tankless Builder, Charlie Russell is general manager of Quality Built Homes, a builder of single-family, move-up homes, headquartered in Prince Frederick, Md. Founded in 1987, the firm produces around 200 units annually with an average sales price of $400,000.
We recently spoke with Charlie to learn more about his business and his builder’s perspective on tankless water heaters, such as those manufactured by Noritz.
"Our company has been through several different types of markets."
We survived those, fortunately, and have been successful as a result. Ironically, while everyone else shrunk during the recent economic downturn, we actually got a lot busier. We were at 140 homes the year before the 2009 downturn. We followed that with 210 and 240 units over the next two years. Our owners actually saw the downturn as an opportunity, so we were more aggressive in terms of starts and had more product on the market. Our pricing was fair, and that allowed us to be a little more successful.
"Conditions got a little out of hand with pricing before the downturn."
We had to roll back prices, too. Everyone suffered losses, but we didn't get anywhere close to how far others fell. When things get that easy, people can get sloppy. We never did, so the adjustments we had to make to get through the downturn were way less than what others had to do.
"We have been working with tankless heaters for roughly five years."
The energy efficiency of these products spurred our involvement. Tankless water heating is by far the most energy-efficient product you can install in a home, in terms of dollar savings. It is now standard on every home we build. When we made the commitment to Energy Star, we embraced tankless heaters as a product that would enable us to achieve a lower HERS [Home Energy Rating System] score. Anything that provides savings and comfort for the customer helps differentiate us.
When we talk tankless options with a buyer, the main benefits we stress are energy efficiency and never running out of hot water. When a tank heater runs out, the user must wait through the recovery time to get hot water again. With tankless technology, there is no recovery time, because there is no storage. The space savings is not such a big factor in our new homes, which have basements equipped with utility rooms. It simply doesn't come up as much as it would if we were doing retrofit work.
"The Energy Star rebate is very important to us."
It doesn’t offset all of the costs of participating in the program, but it is certainly an incentive. That rebate helps drive our use of various Energy Star features. We actually recently won a 2016 Energy Star Partner of the Year award for our sustainability efforts.
The only buyer objection to tankless water heating I ever encounter — and it is very rare — comes from the consumer who just cannot bring himself to believe that little appliance is going to provide all the hot water his household will need. We have a lot of experience and knowledge, so we are usually able to reassure the buyer that the number of customer-service problems is very small. Our experience and credibility tend to quiet their concerns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXoOtF8ooc4
"The outlook for our market is definitely steady."
The cost differential between tank water heaters and tankless water heaters are definitely a factor, but a couple of factors are changing that. For one, we are the market leader in this area, and the only one offering tankless options as standard, to my knowledge. Our competition must decide to follow our lead on sustainability and take on the extra costs. Typically, they will begin by offering energy-saving features as options, but not make them standard like we do.
The other factor involves the recently mandated energy-efficiency standards for tank-type water heaters [NAECA, or the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act]. That means their costs will rise, so the up-front cost differential between tank and tankless is bound to narrow.
For more information on Quality Built Homes, please visit qbhi.com
A-1 Total Service Plumbing
Tankless water heaters are Michael Henderson’s life. For the past six years, the Los Angeles-based plumbing contractor has specialized in installing only tankless—and only Noritz.
His first encounter with the brand came more than 25 years ago while stationed in Japan as a Battle Damage Repair Specialist for the U.S. military. “I had a Noritz water heater in my home back then and was thrilled with the unlimited hot water it provided,” he recalls.
Upon returning stateside, Henderson decided to become a plumbing contractor. He eventually went to work for A-1 Total Service Plumbing in Los Angeles, where he remains to this day as that company’s tankless water heater specialist for residential, commercial and industrial applications. “The technical experience I gained in the military made the switch to working on plumbing systems and tankless water heaters much easier,” he explains.
Why Tankless?
Henderson cites tankless water heaters’ ability to provide unlimited hot water as the major reason he has chosen to specialize in them, versus traditional tank types.
The other major benefit is the energy savings that accumulate over the system’s life. “Although the upfront costs of tankless are higher, what many potential customers don’t understand is that long-term energy savings will compensate for them,” he says.
To illustrate, he mentions a recent tankless installation undertaken for an elderly woman living in Los Angeles County, which involved a Noritz NR981-OD water heater. “After the installation, this customer ended up saving 60 percent on her monthly utility bills because the tankless unit only fires up on demand, instead of throughout the day when not in use, and heats her water more quickly.
Henderson also praises the tankless water heaters’ smaller size. “Unlike a bulky tank, a tankless water heater is much more space-efficient,” he notes.
Why Noritz?
Although many plumbing contractors specialize only in tankless water heaters, Henderson takes it to the next level by specifying only the Noritz brand. “No other tankless manufacturer compares to Noritz in overall quality and durability,” states Henderson. “I have performed service on all major tankless brands and can attest that Noritz has the highest quality materials that last the longest time.”
Another advantage he notes is the ease with which certain Noritz units can adapt to a hot water recirculation system. “Unlike other brands, Noritz does not require any third party equipment, such as an external heat source, to run a recirculation system,” says Henderson, “which makes it much more straightforward to receive instant hot water.”
To those contractors still hesitant about adopting tankless technology, Henderson offers some advice. “As long as the initial installation is done properly and the customer understands the need to have routine service, like descaling, tankless will perform longer and more efficiently than any tank heater. I would not have specialized in Noritz tankless water heaters if I didn’t feel they were the best on the market.”
Henderson handles installations through A-1 Total Service Plumbing throughout California. For more information, please visit: https://www.a1tsp.com/
How to Use the QR Code in the Noritz PROCard Program
Whenever you go shopping or look through a magazine, you may notice, on a product or product ad, several dots clustered together in the shape of a square. If you have the correct scanning application on your smartphone, you can scan these dots using your phone’s camera and receive a wealth of information on the given product.
Known as a QR code, or Quick Response Code, this innovative technology connects users to relevant information in a fast and easy way. Recently, Noritz has placed QR codes on its products as part of its PROCard program for contractors in an effort to help them register tankless water heater installations and put product information right at their fingertips.
The new PROCard program allows contractors to receive and respond to consumer leads using the PROCard app. Although the QR code has multiple functions, it is used especially at the end of the installation process, when PROCard members scan it to record their completed job and product.
The QR code was incorporated into the PROCard program in an effort to:
According to Andrew Tran, marketing supervisor at Noritz, “Under the old PROCard program, getting contractors to register their installations was more difficult and tedious because it required manually typing in a bunch of information.” The revamped PROCard app uses the built-in QR code scanner, which auto-populates much of this information, saving the contractor time and hassle.
“We wanted to make registering an installation so easy, that a contractor could do so right on site,” explains Tran.
Here’s how easy it is to use the QR code:
The QR code opens up endless possibilities. Future updates will include various kinds of service and support for Noritz products, and a simple scan will yield manuals, videos, etc. “It will continue to develop into a pass code for info on all things Noritz,” says Tran.
Noritz Combi Boiler Wins Design Award
Noritz is constantly striving to create the most effective, efficient and easy-to-install water heating solutions for our consumer, contractor and building owner-manager customers. It’s therefore extremely gratifying to be recognized as a leader in product innovation by winning an Excellence in Design (EID) Silver Award for the new CB Combination (Combi) Boiler.
Held annually by appliance DESIGN Magazine, the EID competition recognizes products that have been judged to be outstanding in the areas of innovation, design, and functionality. The CB boiler, which delivers hot water to both domestic hot water (DHW) and hydronic heating applications, earned the Silver Award because its efficient design and operation stood out from competing entries.
Able to convert 95 percent of the fuel it consumes into useable heat, the CB meets “Energy Star Most Efficient” standards, which represent the EPA’s highest efficiency rating and allow homeowners to qualify for various state energy rebates.
Other factors separating the CB from competing products include:
EID entries are evaluated by a prestigious panel of judges from respected industry associations and may receive Bronze, Silver, or Gold recognition. In 2015, Noritz won an EID Bronze Award for the EZTR40 residential water heater.
For more information on Appliance Design’s EID Awards, please visit https://www.appliancedesign.com/Excellence-in-Design
For more information on the Noritz CB Combi boiler, please visit https://www.noritz.com/combi/
It’s time for an upgrade, contractors. Get The Noritz PROCard App.
Noritz is revamping its 13-year-old PROCard trade incentive program to better connect qualified, professional tankless water heater installers with prospective customers.
Chief among the upgrades is the new PROCard app that will deliver customer leads to a contractor’s cell phone, tablet, etc. more quickly, so that he can respond with equal speed — both to Noritz and to the prospective customer.
How it works:
>>Read more about how Noritz locates the optimal tankless installer
The new app helps bring more leads to contractors, better enabling them to grow their tankless businesses. Concurrently, it helps ensure that customers interested in purchasing a tankless water heater are steered toward the most qualified and motivated installers in the industry.
For more information about the PROCard, please visit: https://procard.noritz.com/procard/
To download the PROCard app for Apple, please visit: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/procard/id1110311645?mt=8
There’s an aspect of your tankless water heater installation that you may not even realize exists. If you own a condensing tankless water heater, your installer should have included a drainage system to drain your water heater.
Wait a second. Drain your water heater? Why is it leaking? Don’t worry, it’s not leaking, but rather undergoing a normal process called condensation, and Noritz makes the removal process easy with its condensing tankless models.
Think back to grade school science class and the three states of water—liquid, solid and gas. Water cycles through these different forms depending on the temperature. For example, when the temperature sinks to 32○F, liquid water freezes into ice. At 212○F, liquid water evaporates into a gas.
While in its gaseous state, water can turn back into a liquid when it cools to the dew point temperature, which varies depending on the saturation of water vapor in the air. Condensation is the physical process by which a gas turns into a liquid. This liquid is called condensate.
Inside a condensing tankless water heater, the combustion process superheats the water that enters your shower, sink, etc. Water vapor is a byproduct of combustion, although, in this case, the vapor contains elements such as methane, nitrogen and oxygen.
According to Randy Oshiro, Assistant Manager of Engineering at Noritz, when this vapor cools to the dew point temperature, it forms condensate, which must then be drained. This phenomenon is almost exclusive to high-efficiency condensing tankless water heaters. “In condensing units, the second heat exchanger extracts heat from the combustion gas to enhance energy efficiency, so when the gas rises up the flue, it cools enough to form condensate inside the unit,” explains Oshiro.
If you have noticed condensate coming out of your condensing tankless unit, hopefully it’s already set up to drain in compliance with local plumbing codes. Contractors need to take condensate removal into account when installing a high-efficiency unit.
Noritz makes condensate removal easy with its condensing tankless models. Inside the unit, a special tray collects the condensate and feeds it to the bottom. At that point, there is a connection for the condensate to be ejected to a floor drain or pumped to an external pipe, depending on local codes.
Note: If improperly drained, the condensate will simply collect on the floor or carpet, so make sure your contractor addresses this. Although only a maximum of two gallons of liquid per hour is released, it will accumulate if improperly drained.
Another consideration when draining condensate is the liquid’s acidity. “Water-heater condensate usually has a pH of two or three,” says Oshiro. “This acid can corrode drain pipe walls over time, leading to permanent damage.” He says one solution is installing neutralizer agent that essentially removes the liquid’s acidity, protecting the pipes from damage. Noritz offers such an agent, the NC-1, as an accessory.
Thus, Noritz solves the condensation problem for you. For more information please visit www.noritz.com.
Want to save on energy costs and enjoy unlimited hot water when you need it? One of Noritz’s most high-efficiency and function-rich products is the NRCP line of residential tankless water heaters.
Usually, no matter what kind of water heater you have, there is a wait for hot water as it travels through the pipes to the outlet, such as a shower head. The NRCP line of heaters, however, can couple with an external water recirculation system to bring you instant hot water.
In recirculation systems, a circulating pump that is external to the tankless water heater moves hot water through a pipe “loop” created in the plumbing system of a home or building. In addition to supply lines connecting the water heater to each outlet, a recirculation system also contains either a return line back to the heater from each hot-water outlet or from only the farthest fixture.
An added feature of the NRCP is its internal circulation pump, which regularly circulates about half a gallon of warm water inside the unit, with a temperature sensor turning the burner on or off. This prevents freezing if the unit is not in use for an extended period during the winter. It also makes the water heat up more quickly, since it’s already quite warm, allowing for an even shorter wait at the hot-water outlet.
Below, we discuss the basics of setting the date and time on your NRCP.
Setting the Date and Time:
An upcoming blog will examine how you can program your NRCP to recirculate water only at certain times of the day. For more information on the NRCP, please visit https://www.noritz.com/nrcp/.
Embed Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6mFLOLroOU