NORITZ BLOG

Tankless heaters aren’t just for homes anymore. Here are four ways a commercial tankless heater can help your business—and save you money.

Often when we talk about the advantages of tankless water heaters, we frame the conversation in terms of the home consumer. But increasingly businesses are switching to tankless as well. Why? Well, here are four major benefits a tankless heater brings:

1. Save money on water heating. Without a doubt the biggest benefit of a tankless water heater to any business is the one that affects your bottom line. Tankless heaters run more efficiently than traditional water heaters and they cost less to run. This savings happens twice over: first because the tankless unit itself is more efficient when heating up any given quantity of water, and second because it only heats water when you need it. A traditional heater keeps burning energy to heat up the tank over and over, even during low demand periods. Tankless eliminates the waste and business owners can see the difference in their energy bills.
2. Keep up with demand. No matter how big the tank, with enough customers and enough faucets running a traditional heater will eventually run out. With tankless, when you choose a unit with enough capacity for your needs, there is no such thing as running out of hot water. It heats up however much you need, when you need it. For small businesses this can be as simple as a small tankless unit with enough capacity for a single family home. But even for high demand businesses like a large restaurant, there are tankless heaters that can keep your water steaming hot indefinitely.
3. Show your dedication to the environment. As an energy saving appliance, a tankless water heater is green technology and showcases your dedication to the earth. Not only does that appeal to more and more customers, it can also save you money, helping you qualify for LEED credits and local or state rebates and tax incentives.
4. Get more years of hot water. Any appliance you put in your business will wear out eventually, and maintaining or replacing them is a big part of the cost associated with the space. Tankless heaters offer a big advantage in this regard: they are very low-maintenance units, and they typically last years longer than their traditional counterparts. That means savings.

What kind of hot water capacity does your business need? What has you considering going tankless?

Ever notice a crusty white or green substance on your shower wall, showerhead or faucet? It’s called lime scale or scale deposits, and it forms when the calcium in water separates and begins to accumulate.

Although not as visible, this same process occurs inside both storage tank and tankless water heaters to varying degrees, depending upon the hardness of the water in your area. Randy Oshiro, Assistant Manager of Engineering at Noritz, explains how this happens and how to eliminate it in a tankless unit.

“Scale is formed when the heat energy inside a tankless water heater separates calcium from water,” explains Oshiro. “Those calcium deposits will accumulate on the heat exchangers over time and, left unchecked, lower your water heater’s efficiency and life span.”

Essentially, the built-up scale makes heat transfer within the tankless unit more difficult. As a result, the unit has to work harder in order to heat the water to the set-point temperature. As with anything that is strained, an overworked water heater can potentially give out long before its time. Meanwhile, it will unnecessarily waste energy through its inefficient operation.

Detecting scale buildup is not always easy. Fortunately, many Noritz tankless water heaters come with scale detection software technology. This technology measures changes in heat transfer inside the unit to figure out if there’s too much scale. If it detects that heat transfer has slowed, it sends an error message that it’s time to descale.

For those units that do not include this software, Oshiro recommends relying on experience when deciding when to descale. “After installing your water heater, schedule a maintenance checkup in one year. If, during that checkup, your plumber notices significant scale buildup, you will know that you should descale at least once per year. If not, you can go longer,” advises Oshiro, adding that Noritz does plan to implement scale detection software on all future products.

We’ve mentioned descaling, but what is it exactly, and how is it done? “Descaling refers to neutralizing the calcium deposits,” states Oshiro. “If you’ve ever poured vinegar on a clam shell, you probably noticed that it disintegrated into a milky liquid. The same principle applies to getting rid of scale.”

To descale a tankless water heater, Noritz recommends pumping kitchen-grade vinegar through the system for about an hour. Although a plumber is recommended, if you have the right equipment and ability, Oshiro says it can be a do-it-yourself job.  Noritz provides descaling procedures in this FAQ.

When you descale your tankless water heater, all of the calcium deposits will dissolve just like that clam shell, and you will once again have a fully operational and efficient unit.

Noritz Tankless Installer of the Year Contest

What sets you apart from your fellow installers? What drives and inspires you to do the best work possible? We’d love to hear about it!

Noritz is having our first ever Noritz Tankless Installer of the Year Contest , and you could be the winner!

To enter, make a video that is no longer than 15 seconds. In this video, briefly tell us why you choose to install Noritz tankless water heaters in your projects. Your reason could be anything from being one of our original installers, to your commitment to being green, or your hard work and dedication to your profession. We want to know why you spec Noritz!

Entering is simple!

Phase One: September 8 to October 31

1. Tell us why choose Noritz in a 15-second-or-less video (Pro tip: Record with your cell phone!).
2. Post it to Instagram or YouTube using #NoritzPro OR email us your video at Noritz.marketing@gmail.com and we’ll do the submitting process for you!
3. Once uploaded, submit your video to our Installer of the Year landing page here<LINK: https://woobox.com/5uc24d >! It’s easy, just copy and past the link to your video.

Phase 2: November 2 to 6

Once your video is posted, it’s time to vote. The video with the most votes by November 6 will earn the title of Installer of the Year and our amazing prize pack!

Follow the conversation online by tracking the hashtag #NoritzPro <link: https://bit.ly/1JPpvse> and contact us at Noritz.marketing@gmail.com for any details.

In today’s fast-paced society, people want everything now. We are equally impatient when it comes to instant hot water — and for good reason: a lot of water is wasted down the drain, as we wait for the warm water to arrive. Whether you are washing your hands, the dishes, or taking a shower, you want hot water immediately.

By now you may have heard about tankless water heaters and how they provide instant hot water “on demand.” You may interpret this as meaning that as soon as you turn on the faucet, warm water will begin flowing like a geyser.

It is an understandably common myth. Although tankless water heaters do provide hot water on demand by detecting when you turn on the faucet and instantly heating incoming water, they cannot make that water move any faster through the piping.

“The speed at which you get hot water is wholly dependent on the location of the tankless water heater relative to the fixture,” says Jason Fleming, marketing and customer care manager at Noritz America. “If your fixture is right next to the heater, you will hardly have to wait at all. But if you are showering at the other end of the building, that wait time is not going to decrease.”

With tankless, once the hot water does reach you, however, it will never ever run out, unlike a tank-type heater, which contains a finite amount of water.

Those who want immediate hot water have the option of installing a hot water recirculation system. Recirculation operates through a “loop” created in a home’s or building’s plumbing system. In addition to supply lines connecting the water heater to each outlet, a recirculation system also has a return line back to the heater— either from each hot-water outlet or from only the farthest fixture. A circulating pump moves hot water through this loop — in some systems, constantly, even when there is no demand for hot water — resulting in “instant” hot water when the tap or shower is turned on.

The Noritz NRCP line of residential water heaters offers immediate hot water, but without the energy consumption and expense of an always-on circulator. Instead of having hot water flow through the system continuously, an integral display on the front of the water heater allows homeowners to program its arrival at the outlet with a precision down to the half-hour.

An alternative, “auto” setting permits the system to “learn” a household’s water-usage routines quickly and automatically control the recirculation loop-activation times, allowing for immediate hot water when it is needed most.

In a sense then, a hot water recirculation system is the high-speed internet of indoor water supply. Combined with a tankless water heater, it truly will allow for instant, unlimited hot water.

Taking a shower should be enjoyable, meant to energize you in the morning, calm you in the evening

and always leave you feeling refreshed and clean. Unfortunately, little annoyances can detract from the

overall experience, so we have created a list of the top five shower problems  and solutions to resolve them.

1. Running Out of Hot Water
If you have a tank-type water heater, there is a finite amount of hot water you can use before you deplete the reserve in the storage tank, which usually holds from 30 to 50 gallons. This becomes unpleasantly apparent whenever you start a shower after someone has just taken one for an hour—there is little to no hot water left.

A Noritz tankless water heater eliminates this problem. Unlike traditional water heaters, which constantly heat the water, tankless operates on-demand with a high-powered burner. This means that once you turn that faucet, the tankless unit will kick into gear, and you will enjoy as much hot water as you need for as long as you need it. You could even take a five-hour shower. Just don’t blame us for the water bill.

2. Waiting for Hot Water
When you step into your shower, you want to get clean now…not three minutes later when the water has finally warmed to a suitable temperature. Waiting around for warm water is not only an annoyance, but also an energy-waster, since potentially gallons of unused cold water — and hot water if you wait too long to get in — are flowing down the drain.

You may reduce the wait time for hot water by installing a tankless water heater, which will heat water on demand. However, this does not eliminate the time it takes for the water to travel from the heater to the shower head. A better solution involves installing a hot water recirculation system that will keep warm water close to the outlet with the help of a timer or sensor. The new Noritz NRCP Condensing Tankless Water Heater uses a built-in pump to circulate hot water on demand, eliminating both the wait for and the waste of hot water.

3. A Clogged Drain
Clogged drains can mean having to stand in stagnant water while showering. Yuck. Most of the time, hair and dirt cause these clogs, and they can be avoided by placing a hair catcher in your drain. Another preventive measure involves pouring a gallon of boiling water down the drain after showering to loosen up any remaining gunk.

For tougher clogs, you can use a bent wire to remove hair, dirt and soap scum. Vinegar or any CLR product can also be poured down the drain to unclog it. In some cases, a good old-fashioned plunger may be required to remove the obstruction. If none of these options work, it may be time to call a plumbing professional.

4. Reduced Flow
You are standing in the shower enjoying a refreshing blast of water when suddenly the torrent turns into a sprinkle and you can barely wash your hands, much less your body. What Most plumbing systems use a trunk-and-branch design, meaning that a large pipe (a “trunk”) runs from one end of the structure to the other, and smaller pipes “branch” off to individual fixtures. If you are taking a shower on the far end of your home and someone opens a faucet,starts a clothes washer or flushes a toilet, water will get diverted, and you will be left with less. Many fixes to this problem can be costly, such as increasing your pipes’ diameter so more water flows toward each fixture. One totally free option that you can implement today is to reduce your toilet’s water usage. Close the supply valve to your toilet slightly, so that it does not take in as much water. Check with a plumber before doing this, though, since the less water going to the toilet, the less flushing power it has!

5. Bursts of Hot Water
The opposite of running out of hot water in your shower is getting scalded by a sudden rush of This problem has the same cause as “Reduced Flow”: if you are in the shower and someone flushes a toilet elsewhere, cold water is getting drawn to the toilet. With less cold water “tempering” your hot water, the water coming into your shower will be much hotter than the Installing high-efficiency toilets should help alleviate this problem by reducing the amount of water needed to flush them. Another fix involves installing a thermostatic mixing valve in your showers. This device will modulate the hot- and cold-water flows, whatever the usage by other fixtures, to keep the temperature of the shower consistently safe as well as comfortable.

Are Tankless Water Heaters Too Small For Big Jobs?

We seem to feel more secure around larger people, objects, etc. Suppose you are a celebrity hiring a bodyguard. Who would you rather have protecting you? A 5-foot-2-inch, 110-pound teenager or a 6-foot-5-inch, 300-pound ex-football star? Tankless water heaters and water heaters tend to have the same effect.

That large tank in your basement or mechanical room is extremely reassuring. You know that there is water inside constantly warming up to fill your bath tub, sink or dishwasher. If you’ve never used a tankless water heater, it can be difficult to fathom how that compact, wall-hung unit can heat the water for an entire house or place of business. When you find yourself needing a new water heater, the temptation to stick with the larger tank-type unit can be decisive.

Unfortunately, your faith in size may be misplaced, because that larger tank-type heater will bring even larger headaches: higher energy consumption, a shorter life span and the threat of bursting. A properly-sized tankless unit from Noritz, on the other hand, will effectively handle any application without these problems.

According to Jason Fleming, Sr. Marketing and Customer Care Manager at Noritz, properly sizing a tankless water heater depends on climate and household needs.

Climate impacts the flow rate a given water heater can deliver. “Consider the differences between heating water in Los Angeles versus Chicago,” explains Fleming. “While in Los Angeles incoming water may be 65 degrees Fahrenheit, in Chicago it might be 45 degrees, and both water heaters need to raise the temperature to 120 degrees. Thus, in the colder climate, the water heater needs to heat incoming water by a greater amount to meet the desired temperature, which requires a more powerful unit — as measured in BTUs per hour — to maintain identical flow rate.” Essentially, a colder climate will require more BTUs and a warmer climate, fewer — assuming household needs are equal.

Household needs are rarely equal, however, and that is the second part of the equation for sizing a water heater. For example, a household in Florida that uses three times the amount of water in a given hour than a household in Alaska may need a larger unit to meet demand, despite the warmer climate.

No matter what your water needs, Noritz has a tankless unit to meet them, and you can use the Noritz tankless sizing calculator to find out what will work best. Tankless units may be much smaller than tank-types, but they will easily handle any water demands while using far less energy. In fact, their small size is actually an advantage in that it opens up space in your basement, mechanical room, etc. In warmer sections of the country, you can even install them outdoors.

It may be that we naturally feel safer around larger things, but when it comes to tankless versus tank, David beats Goliath.

Noritz doesn’t just make tankless water heaters, we also provide education on them for plumbers and engineers. Our training courses are now IACET accredited—and that makes a big difference for our customers.

Did you know that besides making high quality tankless water heaters, Noritz also offers instructional classes? We have become a major provider of formal training courses for HVAC professionals to learn the ropes of tankless water heating technology. And as of May, these courses are now accredited by a major adult education body, the IACET (International Association for Continuing Education and Training).

The IACET is responsible for setting quality standards and making sure that continuing education courses will truly live up to the expectations and needs of students. Only organizations accredited by the IACET can offer courses with Continuing Education Unit credit. Authorized CEU serves as a way to make sure that technical training from different providers lives up to a uniform set of standards.

At Noritz, our training classes are aimed at a variety of professionals: engineers, plumbers, technicians and anyone who works in HVAC design, installation or repair. The fact that we are now IACET accredited means that the professionals who take our classes not only walk away with new knowledge, but with a certified set of training that will be recognized by other institutions.

We originally established our training courses to address a lack of information in the industry about tankless water heaters. Offering this training is meant to benefits three groups of people:

• Noritz customers. One of the most important resources we offer to our customers is a lookup service to find certified Noritz installation specialists in your area. By offering this training, we increase the number of professionals who can install Noritz products.
• The plumbers and engineers themselves. Increasingly, plumbers and repairmen will find themselves looking at tankless water heaters, while engineers and HVAC professionals have more and more clients requesting this technology. It is to the advantage of anyone in the HVAC field to be well versed in tankless heaters and know how to implement or repair them.
• Homeowners generally. Tankless water heaters are simply a better technology than traditional water heaters: longer lasting, more convenient, cheaper to run and better for the planet. By increasing the number of professionals who work on these units, we improve the offerings available to homeowners everywhere.

At Noritz we want to be more than just a tankless water heater provider. We want to be champions for a technology we believe in. Going through the IACET application and accreditation process was rigorous and difficult, and we’re proud to have passed. It means we are providing only the highest quality education and that our customers will have more options than ever before.

How Can It Affect Your Home?

Hard water can be a pain when you’re trying to wash your hands. But it does much more serious damage where you can’t see it.

Depending on where you live you may have what’s known as “hard water.” Hard water is heavy in minerals and can be very destructive to pipes and water heaters, leading to costly repairs. However, there are ways to minimize the effects of hard water and some water heaters handle it better than others. Here is our complete guide to hard water.

How To Know You Have Hard Water

Hard water is water that contains three dissolved minerals: calcium, magnesium and manganese. All water has traces of these minerals, but it becomes “hard” when levels go above three grains per gallon (51 parts per million). Your water can be tested for these minerals, but in most cases you won’t need to. You’ll notice the effects for yourself, including:

• Soap will not “suds up” and reduced foaming/cleaning power from detergents
• Soap scum in sinks and bathtub rings in tubs
• Spots on clean dishes and shower doors
• Clothes require extra rinsing or look dingy after being washed

Why Hard Water is Bad

Besides the effects listed above, hard water can cause serious problems. The most well-known problem is that it clogs pipes. That’s because the minerals in hard water have a tendency to collect on the inside of pipes build up, and lead to damage and clogging. (Faucets and other fixtures can also be affected).

Another serious problem from hard water is that it decreases the efficiency of water heaters. Because they can start to clog up from mineral buildup, they have to work much harder to heat water and thus use more energy. The result is higher energy bills month after month. Hard water can also damage and destroy heaters altogether.

Solving Hard Water

Fortunately, there are solutions to hard water. The most common solution is to “soften” it. This is done with an “ion exchanging” water softener unit which should be installed at or near where your water supply first enters the home. The unit contains salts that “soften” the water (counteracting the “hardening” minerals) and prevent or reduce the effects of hard water. There are several types of ion water softener, but all of them work well as long as the instructions are followed.

Note that water softeners attached to faucets are not a good idea, because they may make it easier to get soap to foam up, but they do not prevent damage to pipes.

How Tankless Heaters Can Help with Hard Water Deposits

These days more homeowners are choosing tankless water heaters, since they are far more efficient than traditional water heaters. But how well do these units work when you have hard water?

The results are generally positive. Any device that handles water can become clogged by hard water. Although tankless heaters are not immune to clogs, they have a lot going for them. For one thing, since minerals in the water tend to clump together when heated, tankless heaters spend a lot less time heating water, and only do so when hot water is needed. Hot water in a traditional heater sits in the tank, getting plenty of time to build up on the tank walls as a tankless water heater, flushes through as soon as it is heated. Tankless water heaters, like all water heaters, should be cleaned regularly. If that is done, then they outlast traditional heaters substantially, even with hard water.

The Noritz tankless water heater product line can help you fight hard water where it matters the most.

See our current line of products here.

Hot Water for 20 Years: What Makes Noritz Tankless Water Heaters So Durable?

Durability is one of the most important qualities to consider when buying anything, often even more critical than price. Unless you’re 17 and clueless, you probably wouldn’t buy a ’96 Pontiac for $1,200—it likely wouldn’t last you the drive home.

When it comes to your water heater, you might be leaning toward a storage tank-type over a tankless only because the former is usually less costly up front (even though it actually isn’t in the long run). However, consider that while a tank-type water heater typically lasts 10-12 years, a tankless can keep on kicking for up to 20.

Why is that? Randy Oshiro, Assistant Manager of Engineering at Noritz, explains why tankless units will outlive tank-types.

They work less (and not in a bad way): To begin, tankless units are not operating nearly as much as tank types. Most families only use about an hour of hot water per day. Tankless water heaters provide hot water on demand, so the rest of the time is not spent wearing themselves out.

A tank-type, on the other hand, always strives to ensure that the stored water is hot and ready for whenever you turn on the faucet. This means it’s constantly cycling on and off, even for that long stint of time when no one is home during the day, thus causing unnecessary wear and tear and higher energy costs.

They’re built tougher: You may think that those giant, hulking tank-type water heaters must be built stronger with all of that steel, but it’s easy to forget steel’s inevitable weakness when water is involved—rust.

Noritz tankless water heaters are manufactured using mostly copper, plastic, or stainless steel; therefore rust won’t be an issue. They may be considerably smaller than tank-types—which is actually a plus because it saves space—but size doesn’t translate into strength and longevity in this case.

Water is less “hard” on them: Water hardness refers to the percentage of compounds in the water, like calcium and magnesium. “Hard” water will have a larger percentage of these minerals. In a tank-type unit, these compounds will gradually build up around the flue. Some will break off and settle at the bottom. Eventually, this buildup will impact heater efficiency (the fraction of available energy used to heat the water, as opposed to going up the flue) and even shorten the effective life of the storage tank.

The buildup potential is much lower in a tankless water heater because there are few places for it to collect. Even if some deposits do accumulate, the water rushing through the system often suffices to remove them.

Thus, under comparable conditions, a tankless unit will last longer than a tank-type. To maximize the chances of your water heater lasting a full 20 years, Oshiro offers the following tips:

Make sure to install it properly: In addition to having your unit professionally installed, it’s important to consider location as well. For example, if you install it in a laundry room, it may suck up damage-causing lint.

Perform regular maintenance: It’s important to descale your tankless water heater periodically. The frequency depends on your region’s water hardness. (See this water hardness map.) Preventative maintenance can go a long way to maximize unit life.

Ultimately, tankless water heaters’ longer life cycle does something magical to the higher up-front cost—it makes it irrelevant. In some cases, a tankless heater can last up to twice as long as a tank type! So it’s not inconceivable that you may have to buy two tank-type units during the lifetime of one tankless unit. If that doesn’t scream “go tankless,” then what does?

Tankless is Expensive

No one likes spending money (unless it’s someone else’s). This is especially true when an appliance breaks. All of a sudden you have to dish out the cash for something unexpected, meaning you must spend less on that vacation to Fiji, a new car or even that elaborate talking wristwatch-type gizmo.

No wonder then that many people balk at replacing their broken tank water heaters with a tankless model because of the perceived higher cost. It’s true that tankless costs more—up front at the time of their installation. What many do not realize is that tankless is a long-term investment. You may pay more now, but you will save money over time from Day 1, all while enjoying the benefits of hot water on demand.

Here are six reasons why the higher initial cost of tankless water heaters really doesn’t mean much:

1. Energy savings add up:

Tank-type water heaters are the second highest source of a home’s energy usage.  After all, the water stored in the tank has to be warm when you need it, meaning that throughout the day it’s being heated and reheated even when not in use. A tankless unit heats the water on-demand only when needed. That’s energy savings right there and, multiplied over many years, these savings will help recoup the extra money you spent going tankless.

2. Tankless costs are falling:

The costs of installing a new tankless water heater are now less than even a couple years ago. For example, the EZTR40 tankless water heater from Noritz has drastically simplified this process. Using two-inch, flexible polypropylene tubing threaded directly through the old tankless water heater’s existing B-Vent, the EZTR40 does not require a new vent. Its top-mounted water connections allow for quick and easy reconnections, without the need for new plumbing. Lastly, EZTR40 reduces labor time by up to half by utilizing the old tank unit's half-inch gas line. These savings have resulted in tankless units costing as little as 300 dollars more than tank-types in some instances.

3. Tank-type costs are rising:

In contrast to falling tankless prices, the costs of installing a tank type unit are increasing. New federal energy efficiency standards, effective this year, require a higher Energy Factor (EF) for all residential storage tank-type, gas, electric and oil water heaters. This means that tank-type manufacturers must implement expensive product-design changes that will inevitably increase manufacturing costs. Fortunately, tankless technology already meets and exceeds the demands of the new guidelines and does not need to change.

4. Rebates:

Many states and utilities have been offering rebates or tax credits for those who purchase energy-efficient products, including tankless water heaters. Depending on the amounts, these rebates can reduce, close or even exceed the cost gap between tank-type and tankless. Explore various energy rebates and credits here.

5. Tankless lasts longer:

While a standard, tank-type water heater typically lasts 10-12 years, the life expectancy of a tankless unit can be 20 years or longer. So it’s not inconceivable that you may have to buy two tank-type units during the lifetime of one tankless unit. So, what was that about tankless costing more?

6. It’s overall superior technology:

Tankless water heaters are more expensive than tank-type water heaters. Do you know what else? Blu-Ray is more expensive than VHS. Smart phones are more expensive than flip phones. Computers are more expensive than typewriters! You get my point. The world moves on and technology improves. It costs money to design state-of-the-art tankless water heaters that are more reliable, advanced and energy-efficient than their tank-type predecessors. You’ll pay more up front, but in the long run, you should not only recoup the extra costs, but actually spend less on hot water for your home.

Read Tankless Myths 1 in this series about Tankless Myths.