NORITZ BLOG

Promote Your Project & Win! We love our network of Noritz installers and all the amazing work they do. If you’re a Noritz installer, now is the time to show us!  We’re giving away a $100 prepaid Visa gift card with our #PromoteMyProject contest. All you have to do to enter is post a photo of your Noritz tankless water heater install on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #PromoteMyProject and you could win!

You’ll also get featured on all of our social media channels, giving you, your company and your work great exposure. What are you waiting for? Show us your Noritz installs! Contest ends July 3, 2015. For more details click here.

Promote Your Project & Win! We love our network of Noritz installers and all the amazing work they do. If you’re a Noritz installer, now is the time to show us!  We’re giving away a $100 prepaid Visa gift card with our #PromoteMyProject contest. All you have to do to enter is post a photo of your Noritz tankless water heater install on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #PromoteMyProject and you could win!

You’ll also get featured on all of our social media channels, giving you, your company and your work great exposure. What are you waiting for? Show us your Noritz installs! Contest ends July 3, 2015. For more details click here.

Save Space, Avoid Floods in Your Basement with a Noritz Tankless Water Heater

If you own a tank-type water heater, you’re probably used to having that water-storage tank crowding out space in your basement. You probably even have a hard time imagining a basement which, instead of housing that bulking behemoth, contains a Noritz tankless water heater that utilizes only a fraction of the space.

Although tankless water heaters provide many benefits, perhaps the most simple is evident right in the name—they don’t have a tank. No tank means two very crucial things for you the homeowner: You need not worry about leaks, and your basement suddenly opens up to new design possibilities.

No tank, no bursts

Fortunately, your tank-type water heater shouldn’t explode like in this Mythbusters episode, but the fact is that leaks and bursts do happen. According to Randy Oshiro, Assistant Manager of Engineering at Noritz, a water heater can spring a leak due to an over-buildup of scale and mineral deposits (click here to learn how to descale your water heater), rust and corrosion and pressure buildup due to overheating.

Although a tankless system is still susceptible to such things as scale buildup, you won’t ever have to worry about waking up only to find that the Great Flood has made an encore performance in your basement, at least not because of a water heater burst. Depending on the type of tankless water heater you own, there might be some water circulating within the unit, but not the gallons upon gallons you might find in a tank-type.

Saving Precious Space

Decluttering any space in your home makes it look cleaner and really allows you to get creative with design ideas. This is especially true for your basement, since that’s the place many homeowners keep the appliances they would prefer to have out of sight, like the furnace, boiler, washing machine, etc. Most of these appliances are unavoidably large, but your water heater doesn’t have to be, and that can free up precious living space. Because of its diminutive size, wall-hung tankless water heaters are easier to conceal behind a partition or inside a closet, leaving more space for furnishings, fixtures and other decorative elements.

A tankless water heater can be conveniently hung, so as to create more living space.

One homeowner we spoke to recalled that, had she installed a tank-type water heater in her laundry room, local regulations would have required the inclusion of a drip pan that would have protruded into the already tight working space. Instead of worrying about tripping over this pan every time she had a basket full of laundry, she decided to go with the wall-hung Noritz EZTR40 tankless water heater (measuring only 18.3 inches wide x 27.2 inches high x 9.4 inches deep), a decision that made the room safer, more attractive and more functional.

The absence of a tank does more than just provide more space for additional furnishings; it also eliminates the fear that such furnishings might be damaged by a leaky water heater. With tankless, you can place a designer couch or ottoman downstairs without worrying that it will be waterlogged one day from a water heater burst.

So the most obvious benefit of a tankless water heater is one of its best. You have enough things to store in your home. Hot water doesn’t have to be among them.

Tag Your Tankless Water Heater You Could Win!

Enter to win a $100 VISA prepaid gift card and all you have to do is show us where you would install your Noritz tankless water heater(or where it is already installed)! Submit your photos on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #TagYourTankless and you’ll be automatically entered in to win!

What are you waiting for? Get snapping! Contest ends May 31^st! Details here. LINK TO: https://www.facebook.com/notes/noritz-tankless-water-heaters/tag-your-tankless/10152895123326819

There’s a lot of things we have to do annually. Annual dental appointments are important to keep those pearly whites clean. Your smoke alarms should be checked once a year to ensure they are functional. If your car hasn’t had an oil change in a year, you’d better hightail it over to the nearest service station now!

With all these yearly tasks we’re forced to remember, wouldn’t it be nice to have something that you knew you could rely on for more than a year without maintenance? A Noritz tankless water heater could well be one such product.

Many believe that a tankless water heater needs annual maintenance, but that is a myth, according to Jason Fleming, marketing manager at Noritz America. “There’s no set time frame to service a tankless water heater,” explains Fleming. “It all depends on the hardness of the water.”

Water hardness refers to the percentage of compounds, like calcium and magnesium, in the water. Each region of the United States has water with varying levels of hardness. For example, many Western states have far higher water-hardness percentages than Northeastern states. (See this water hardness map.)

“The harder the water, the quicker those mineral deposits will build up in a water heater, be it tank-type or tankless, explains Fleming. Unlike a tank-type water heater, which forces the minerals to collect on the bottom of the storage tank, a tankless water heater pushes most of the scale through the system. If there is a buildup of scale somewhere in the tankless water heater, the burner will be forced to work at a higher temperature to properly heat the water. Eventually, the water heater, if it comes with scale detection software, will provide an error message that service is required

“In a very hard-water area, this could mean servicing the unit once a year, but in an area with softer water, you might go four to five years without any maintenance,” estimates Fleming. One way to cut down on the water hardness is to use a water softener with your tankless water heater.

To sum up: Maintenance frequency completely depends on location and whether the water heater has scale detection software. It occurs on a case-by-case basis, and there is no set schedule.

If you do get an error message and must descale or flush your tankless water heater, kits are available online to do it yourself. “We recommend a 60-minute flush, using a white vinegar as the descaling material,” advises Fleming. CLR-type products can be harsh on the copper heat exchanger within the water heater.

For more details on descaling your tankless water heater, including step-by-step instructions, please click here.

Read Tankless Myths 2 in this series about Tankless Myths. 

How often have you turned on the shower in the morning only to get an icy blast of cold water? For most, this is an everyday occurrence . Your solution has likely been to accomplish something else, like brushing your teeth, as the water heats up. Unfortunately, when you return to the shower, the water is hot, and probably has been for some time, meaning a fair amount of hot water has been lost down the drain. Over the course of a year, such waste of water and energy can prove costly both for you and the community.

Achieving instant and continuous hot water has long been a sought-after goal for homeowners and water heater manufacturers. No matter whether you have a tank-type or tankless water heater, though, hot water must always travel from the heater to the fixture, a distance that takes time to traverse. It means you must always wait for hot water. So what can you do to get truly “instantaneous” hot water? Place the water heater next to the shower?

Fortunately, you don’t have to resort to such extreme measures (although the size of a tankless water heater makes such a move far more practical). A solution that provides hot water with virtually no wait time is 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 contains either a return line back to the heater from each hot-water outlet or from only the farthest fixture. A circulating pump moves hot water through this loop — in some systems, even when there is no demand for hot water — resulting in “instant” hot water when the tap or shower is turned on.

You might be wondering how anyone can afford constant circulation, considering the energy costs of continuously heating and circulating this water. Although some water recirculation systems operate 24/7 (hotels), many are activated either by a timer (you preset a time for it to turn on), a motion sensor (it senses when you are approaching a fixture), or manually.

One more option exists for water recirculation systems — integrating the circulator into the water heater itself. The Noritz NRCP line of residential water heaters makes use of that technology. Instead of wasting energy by having hot water flow through the system continuously, an integral display on the front of the water heater allows homeowners to program the recirculation system only when needed, with a precision down to the hour.

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

“In order to maintain desired water temperature, the water heater’s recirculation control monitors the temperature of the water leaving the heat exchanger inside the water heater,” explains Randy Oshiro, Assistant Manager of Engineering at Noritz. “Once that temperature cools to a certain preset cutoff temperature, the burner kicks on again to heat the water to the set point temperature.”

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.

In short, a hot water recirculation system keeps hot water flowing and ready for the moment someone turns on the faucet or shower. Time and temperature sensors control when the recirculation kicks in, ensuring that energy is not constantly being wasted. It truly provides heated water “on demand.”

DID YOU KNOW: Some of the biggest changes to hit the water heating industry in years are just around the corner?

A higher Energy Factor (EF) will soon be required for all residential storage tank-type, gas, electric and oil water heaters. Sure, government mandates like these happen from time to time, but this time the changes will directly impact water heating selection and installation.

Just how well prepared is the industry for these pending changes, which take effect next month? A large trade magazine publisher in the field, BNP Media’s Plumbing Group, recently polled its plumbing wholesaler and contractor readers and found varied levels of awareness and preparedness.

The bottom line? If those who sell and install water heaters every day for a living feel they need more information and education, it’s obvious that everyone else in the distribution chain does too — including builders and remodelers.

Here is what you need to know:

What is NAECA? The new mandates of the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act (NAECA) go into effect April 16^th and will drive change for a good reason.

According to the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE), the latest standards to become effective for 2015 project approximately $63 billion in energy bill savings for products shipped over a 30-year period, from 2015-2044.

While these standards play a major role in the efforts to save energy, there will be obvious challenges for the installation of residential water heaters in replacement situations; specifically, those that involve storage tank-type units.

Why? Because manufacturer compliance with NAECA regulations will necessitate product-design changes. These changes, in turn, will require more installation space in both single-family and multi-family dwellings.

Under the new regulations, tank-type water heaters must use more insulation to stay in line with these new energy mandates. Tank-type water heaters under 55 gallons will be an additional two inches taller and two inches wider. That is, they will take up more space. Since many water heaters are situated in places — garages, basements, closets, attics — that cannot afford to give any more space, that could be a big problem when it comes time to replace them.

The following two tables outlines the changes in EF standards for common sizes of tank-type water heaters:

For gas-fired products over 55 gallons, fully condensing combustion technology will be required. Similarly, all residential electric models over 55 gallons must use hybrid electric heat pump water heater technology.

Impact on tankless? Fortunately, tankless technology already meets and exceeds the demands of the new NAECA guidelines. The average EF of most tankless water heaters is already 20 to 30 points above that of a standard, tank-type water heater. In addition, tankless units are wall-hung, meaning that they will easily fit into tight spaces that cannot accommodate the new and larger tank water heaters.

Using tankless water heaters in new and existing home applications will ensure that the NAECA guidelines will be met with ease, both now and in the future. What’s more, the latest solution from Noritz makes it easier and more cost-effective in tankless-for-tank replacement situations. The new Noritz EZTR40 Tankless Water Heater is able to meet the needs of an entire household that is currently using a 40-gallon storage-type water heater.

Noritz University has even created an online course for tradespeople interested in learning about this new, innovative solution. Be sure to check out: https://training.noritz.com/.

For more information on tankless waters and the EZTR40, please visit us at https://www.noritz.com/eztr.

Hydronic is the most efficient form of radiant floor heating, but does it have any drawbacks? Check out this complete pro and con list and find out for yourself.

Radiant floor heating (RFH) is a system where the floor itself is heated and serves as the heat source for your home. There are two kinds of RFH: electric and hydronic. Hydronic is by far the more efficient, and has been getting a great deal of interest for that reason. Even so, many homeowners aren’t sure which is the best way to go. So is hydronic worth it? Here are the complete pros and cons:

Pros

• Extremely efficient. Electric RFH may feel just as nice as hydronic, but hydronic is by far the cheaper one to run. Electric heating is not efficient especially over large areas. If you simply wanted a heated floor in one room, like a bathroom, then electric might be fine; but if you want to heat your house you’ll come out ahead by going with a hydronic RFH system.
• Long lasting. There are few home utilities that last as long as a hydronic RFH heating system. This is partly because of how they’re designed and partly because they’re so efficient, which in itself puts less wear and tear on the system. A good hydronic RFH system can last 40 years or longer.
• Interfaces with tankless water heating. One of the best features of hydronic RFH is that is can interface with a tankless water heater system. After all, both devices essentially heat water while it’s in the pipes and circulate it through the house. Since tankless water heating is itself a money saver, combining the two systems means even lower energy bills than using just one or the other.

Cons

• Works best in new construction. Bear in mind that installing hydronic RFH means laying a series of tubes down underneath the flooring. This is easy to do with new construction, but it can be harder to do in an existing home because of the added expense of tearing up existing floors. However, hydronic RFH can be a good choice if you’re remodeling and will have the floor up anyway.
• Higher up-front cost. There is no question that the up front cost of hydronic RFH is higher than that of a traditional furnace system. However, the energy savings will offset this over time, particularly if combined with a tankless water heater.

Are you considering hydronic radiant floor heating? What are the biggest factors affecting your decision?

There’s no hiding that we’re incredibly proud of our new EZTR40 tankless water heater.

It features top mounted connections that provide an intuitive and straightforward tankless water heater installation.

But, as the old saying goes, seeing is believing. See the installation for yourself and just how fast the process can be with this quick video.

Great question. Let us count the ways!

Serving both homeowners & commercial users across the U.S. and Canada, we offer a large range of tankless gas water heaters to meet the varying needs of our customers. Here are just a few of the benefits that come alone with a Noritz tankless water heater.

• Installation versatility: Compact design and easy venting permit convenient placement almost anywhere indoors. Outdoor models for warmer climates can be installed on home or garage exteriors.
• Manufacturing excellence: We own all aspects of the manufacturing process, assuring the highest quality materials and components, built to exacting, just-in-time procedures.
• Installed by plumbing professionals: Noritz partners with a nationwide network of professional plumbing installers that have been fully trained and certified in the sale and installation of our products.
• Responsive customer service: All Noritz service reps are certified tankless water heater specialists and can assist with any aspect of installation and servicing.

The process starts at Nortiz.com. Take a look: